An upcoming drama film Sweetwater has dropped its trailer and will be released by Briafcliff on April 14, 2023.
In the trailer, we can see Clifton who is played by Everett Osborne saying “You saying about the color of my skin it’s about being true to the game of basketball”. He begins his career as the star of the barnstorming basketball club the Harlem Globetrotters in the late 1940s and he was supported by Globetrotters, Clifton was also approached by the coach of the New York Knicks, Joe Lapchick who wanted him to play for his club.
Clifton reminds Lapchick that there is no African-Americans player in the NBA but Lapchick tells Clifton that “it’s not going to be like that forever and NBA champs got their asses kicked” by an all-Black team. the trailer ends with “Ready to change the game oh I was born already“.
In the fall of 1950, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton forever changed the game of basketball at that time as he became the first African American player in the NBA.
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Update: ‘Sweetwater’ Struggled at the Box Office Despite Its Story
Updated July 2026. Sweetwater opened April 14, 2023, and grossed just over $541,000 theatrically, a disappointing result for the true story of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the first Black player signed to an NBA contract. Reviews were mixed, with some critics feeling the film underserved its subject, but it found a next chapter beyond theaters: Sweetwater picked up a nomination for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture at the 55th NAACP Image Awards, and Angel Studios later gave it a wider push on streaming, where it has reached more viewers than its brief theatrical run suggested.
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