(2002)

Submitted by Tornado Dragon

Lorne (Kevin Pollak) ends up scheduling Jamal (Miguel A. Nunez, Jr.) a meeting with the UBA’s commissioner to try to get his suspension lifted, but it’s on the same day the Banshees are starting their first playoff game. Jamal ultimately decides to become Juwanna and play the game, having accepted that being there for the team matters more. This makes Lorne realize that Jamal has changed for the better.

In the closing seconds of the game, an excited Jamal goes against Lorne’s earlier advice to not dunk the ball by hitting a game-winning slam-dunk that shatters the backboard. He falls to the ground, which causes his wig to slip off and reveal his true identity. Disgusted with him, the Banshees leave the court without him, and though Jamal tries to explain himself to Michelle (Vivica A. Fox), she won’t listen to him. Jamal is fired from the team, and the Banshees start to suffer on the court without his presence.

Some time later, during halftime at a semi-final game the Banshees are losing, Michelle complains to her teammates in the locker room that they won’t make it to the championship without Jamal. He then comes in, and first apologizes for deceiving them before telling them that they helped him understand that the only way to truly shine as a star is to be a team player, and they can win without his help. Though Michelle had walked out on him as he started his speech, she ends up listening to most of it just outside of his field of vision. The rejuvenated Banshees go out and win the game, and when they return to the locker room, Michelle finds that Jamal had sent her roses for no particular reason, which she had earlier said that her ideal man would do for her.

Jamal gets called in for a hearing with the UBA’s higher-ups, and due to the whole Juwanna scandal, it seems as if he is doomed to be permanently banned from the league. However, Michelle and the other Banshees show up in the midst of the hearing to vouch for him, and Michelle presents Jamal with a championship ring and kisses him. The higher-ups end up lifting his suspension, and he returns to action in the UBA.