Plot
Jerome and his friends are very adept at streetball, but are no match for the older boys in their neighborhood. When the friends realize a streetball team called Game On is coming to town to look for talent, they practice extra hard.
Jerome's dad rarely makes time for his son; after one of his short visits, Jerome is shooting some hoops and notices a pair of shoes (blue and white Nike Air Force Ones (probably a reference to Michael Jordan's North Carolina years) hanging up by a streetlight. Jerome retrieves the shoes, which are soon afterward hit by lightning, giving their wearer the ability to play as well as Michael Jordan.
At the Game On talent game, Jerome gets a chance to take a half-court shot and to play one on one with another streetballer; his new shoes allow him to win easily, leading the Game On coach to give Jerome a spot on the team. However, many people try to steal his glory. Jerome's sketchy quasi-relative Ray quickly claims to be Jerome's agent, and starts signing Jerome up with sponsors and otherwise making sure he has Jerome under his thumb.
During the first Game On game with Jerome, the team is struggling until Jerome gets in the game; they come back and win with his help. That night the guys go out to a club, but Jerome can't go because he's not old enough so he goes to an amusement park with his friends, where they give him the streetball name Triple J.
Under Ray's encouragement, Jerome becomes a ball hog. He fights with his friends, and his teammates start giving him the cold shoulder.
While on break from the team, Jerome goes home the day his dad is coming home. Ray wants Jerome's mom to sign a contract that lets Ray get 15 percent of what Jerome makes, and Ray also books Jerome in a music video. They say that they will be back before his dad gets back. In Jerome's clip his dad comes out of nowhere and takes him away. They get in a fight about what Jerome is doing.
Before the last game of the season Ray urges Jerome to wear some shoes made by sponsors, but Jerome refuses, knowing his magic sneakers are what give him his ability to play. They going up against the Drop Squad, the best team in the league. Jerome's teammate, known as Ghost in the Machine, is worried because his dad is in the crowd and this will be the first time Ghost's dad has seen him play since high school. When they go out to play the Drop Squad, Ghost is getting outplayed by the Drop Squad player. Jerome starts helping out Ghost and they come back at the half. During halftime, when Jerome isn't looking, Ray swaps his magic shoes with the sponsor shoes he wanted Jerome to wear. Suddenly Jerome starts getting his butt kicked and they lose. Angrily, Jerome says that he quits the team.
Outside Jerome has a talk with Ray, who reveals the extent of his power over Jerome. After Ray drives away, Jerome takes the bus home; he tells his mom he's quit basketball. The next day Ray comes over and takes all his stuff. Then Jerome goes to the court and apologizes to his friends. They say they will see him at the King Of The Concrete Championships, but he tells them that he doesn't have the magic shoes any more and that he's quit basketball. One of his friends says that Jerome should just play for fun. After giving his friends some pointers, Jerome realizes they really should play again, and they form a team called Triple Threat. Jerome also finds the magic shoes in Ray's stuff.
The next day at the King Of The Concrete Championship, Ray has a new team called Ray On, composed of players which Jerome had shown up on other occasions. Triple Threat makes it into the finals thanks to Jerome, but so does Ray On. When Ray On goes up against Triple Threat, Ray deliberately messes up Jerome's sneakers and one of the boys gets hurt. Then Jerome's dad leads them back at the final shot. Jerome shoots the last shot without his magic shoes and it goes in.
After the game, more sponsors ask if they can sponsor Jerome, but his dad says no. Then Ray tries to pull out the contract that he ripped up, but Dalton locks Ray in his trunk. Then Jerome walks home with his family. At the end of the movie Ray is screaming from his car and Jerome's shoes are hung up on a street light.
Read more about this topic: Like Mike 2: Streetball
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