Photo courtesy of Paul Gregory
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
Twelve years ago, Everett Osborne was leading the Palisades Charter High School boys basketball team to its first state playoff. Now he is starring in a feature-length sports movie titled “Sweetwater,” released nationwide in theaters April 14.
The 29-year-old Osborne—a 2011 Pali High graduate who played two seasons on varsity, earning Western League First Team honors under former head coach James Paleno—plays the lead role as Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, one of the first African Americans to sign an NBA contract in 1950.
The cast also features Richard Dreyfuss as Maurice Podoloff, the NBA’s first president; Kevin Pollack as Harlem Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein; Jeremy Piven as New York Knicks head coach Joe Lapchick; Cary Elwes as Knicks owner Ned Irish; Jim Caviezel as a basketball beat writer; and Eric Roberts as Judd, a racist gas station owner.
“I’m excited and want to get the word out to my Palisades family,” Osborne told the Palisadian-Post.
Osborne started acting at the age of 4. After graduating from Pali High, he earned a degree in psychology from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley before playing basketball professionally for several years in Australia. He founded Brand Evolving, a global inspirational company, in 2016.
“My basketball journey came with a lot of ups and downs, so I created my own personal affirmations that helped me through it,” Osborne told the Post in 2022. “I decided to share those affirmations with the world through means of products, apparel, speaking engagements and basketball camps. Every product is created to uplift, inspire and empower.”
“Sweetwater” gives Osborne a chance to show off his basketball skills in his “dream” role—but it is by no means his first appearance on the big screen.
He was in the 2017 award-winning Nike “Want It All” short film with LeBron James, Paul George and Kevin Durant. He had an uncredited role as an MMA straggler in the 2021 movie “Mortal Kombat,” made his network television debut as Harlen on the premiere episode of “Sistas” season three and played Will David Hollander in an episode of “Chicago Fire” last year.
The biopic about the somewhat obscure Harlem Globetrotters power forward who broke the NBA’s color barrier has garnered mixed reaction but in his online review for Variety, published April 12, Owen Gleiberman wrote: “Osborne plays Nat with a quiet dynamism, until he gets onto the court with his potential Knickerbocker teammates at which point he starts to coach and interact with them almost by instinct.”
“Sweetwater” is directed by Martin Guigui, produced by Sunset Pictures and distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment. It is rated PG-13 for racial slurs and violence, and the running time is 119 minutes.
Visit sweetwatermov.com for showtimes and locations, or to purchase advance tickets. The film is also available for streaming.
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