The Final Four

Malcolm McBride possesses all the talent needed to make millions of dollars as a professional basketball player. He is feted as one of the biggest talents of his generation, and he hopes that his basketball skills will help to lift his family out of poverty. He is incredibly focused on succeeding as a professional and places his own personal success ahead of everything else, including the success of his team. As a result, McBride can appear self-centered and arrogant, but his unlikeable, selfish behavior is motivated by a desire to help the people he loves.

McBride’s desperate desire to help his family escape poverty is driven by his personal trauma and grief. His sister Trisha was killed when a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting hit her in the head. Her death affected McBride deeply. He has her portrait tattooed on his arm to memorialize his beloved sister and to serve as a reminder of what he needs to achieve. Trisha died while performing a favor for a friend so McBride blames helping others for her death. He focuses only on himself to avoid the possibility of suffering. He believes that favors can bring only pain, so he focuses on himself at the expense of everything else.