Daryl Morey of the Houston Rockets has a reputation as one of the best general managers in the NBA, and now he’s taking on a new challenge outside of the basketball world. Morey will produce a musical comedy called “Small Ball.” From Scott Cacciola of the New York Times:
The musical, called “Small Ball,” which is now bound for rehearsals and a six-week run in Houston, bridges two of Morey’s great loves: basketball and Broadway. Known for his savvy, analytics-laced way of leading the Rockets, Morey — former high school trombonist, current theater obsessive — has relished the chance to sneak behind the curtain.
“Someday,” Morey said, “I want to live in New York and just go to shows.”
Cacciola interviewed playwright Mickle Maher, who wrote the book and lyrics for “Small Ball.” Maher said that Morey “has as much of a passion for musicals as anybody I’ve ever met.”
The musical is set to premiere in April of 2018 at the Catastrophic Theater in Houston.
The story sounds a little bit out there:
The story that Maher wrote tells of a newly discovered island nation that decides to join the modern world by fielding a team for an international basketball league. The country — Lilliput, from “Gulliver’s Travels,” which, lo and behold, exists in Maher’s fantasyland — proceeds to sink its entire treasury into building a court and signing Michael Jordan, a journeyman point guard who just happens to have the same name as the iconic star. But that is all they share.
“He’s not a very good basketball player,” Maher said.
There are other problems: Lilliput is a land of small people, so all of Jordan’s teammates are 6 inches tall. Also, the country has no concept of the number five, so the coach is limited to sending just four players onto the court at a time.
