This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Move over, Rudy. Stand aside, Rocky.
Former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton is on the way.
Because theater-goers are suckers for an against-all-odds triumph by a likable underdog, Park City-based screenwriter/producer/director Stacy Dymalski has started work on a movie that chronicles Eaton's improbable journey from auto mechanic to NBA player.
"It's hard to consider your story being worthy of time on the screen," Eaton said. ". . . I know it's unusual, but she thought it was a great story."
Dymalski compares Eaton's journey into professional basketball to the ones portrayed by movie-makers in other underdog-friendly films like "Rudy" and "Rocky."
"Everybody keeps telling these people they are worthless," she said. "They are laughed at, ridiculed and others keep telling them, 'You're crazy.' But they keep moving forward, sometimes for reasons they don't even know."
Eaton's story is certainly one-of-a-kind.
In high school, he rarely played despite the fact the school's basketball coach had talked Eaton into giving up his favorite sport, water polo.
After graduating, Eaton kissed basketball goodbye - or so he thought - and enrolled in auto mechanic school in Phoenix.
Two years later, Eaton was working in Los Angeles when Tom Lubin, a chemistry professor and assistant basketball coach at nearby Cypress College, brought his car in for repair.
Lubin asked the 7-foot-4 Eaton if he played basketball.
"No," he replied.
That could have been the end of the story, except Lubin persisted.
"I love the confidence Mark had in Tom's confidence, for no real reason," Dymalski said. "That is so rare these days. It's an inspirational thing."
Lubin convinced Eaton to give basketball another chance, and he eventually enrolled at Cypress.
"So many people go through life and cannot change direction," said Lubin. "When I first met Mark, he didn't like being tall. He was very sound at work. He was a very good mechanic. But he didn't like himself for being that tall.
"The greatest thing I see is how basketball allowed him to smile and be happy with himself. Everything that has happened was supposed to happen. That's how I feel. It's just beautiful."
How did Lubin react to the news that someone was making a movie about Eaton?
"About time," he said.
At Cypress, Eaton started to develop into a basketball player, so much so that he was recruited to UCLA by legendary coach Larry Brown.
Eaton played one uneventful season for Brown and another even-worse season for Brown's successor, Larry Farmer.
A couple of times, Eaton was ready to quit out of frustration. But Lubin kept encouraging him and - somehow - he found the determination to stay the course.
"The fact that he never gave up is amazing," Dymalski said. "He had to deal with so many things that tore at his confidence. . . . His high school and college coaches didn't know what to do with him, really.
"At UCLA, he worked so hard, but stayed on the bench the whole time. He kept going back to Tom and saying, 'I'm done.' But Tom said, 'No, you're not done. You've got it in you.' And he did."
After graduating from UCLA, Eaton had a handful of opportunities to play overseas. A team in Israel offered $15,000. A team in Monaco offered $25,000. But Lubin suggested he wait to sign until after the approaching NBA draft.
In Utah, Frank Layden was trying to build the Jazz. When Lubin called, he agreed to look at some tape of Eaton, though there wasn't much of him actually playing at UCLA.
Still, Layden decided Eaton was worth the gamble and the Jazz took him in the fourth round of the draft.
Eaton signed for $45,000, spent 11 seasons with the Jazz, played in the 1989 All-Star Game and ended up as one of the most prolific shot-blockers in league history.
Last spring, Dymalski approached Eaton about buying the rights to his story. The two are neighbors in Park City and, as an accomplished writer, she helped polish his presentation as a motivational speaker.
The more Dymalski discovered about Eaton's improbable journey to the NBA, the more interested she became in spearheading another project .
"I thought, 'Man, this would make an inspirational movie,' " she said.
Said Eaton: "With my background as a professional athlete, you're always hesitant when people come to you with different ideas and different projects. But with Stacy, it's clear that she has the focus to follow through and get things done. . . . What interested me the most was the integrity she brought to the equation."
Eaton will act as an advisor and technical director on the movie. "It's kind of an unknown experience," he said. "[But] my family and friends are pretty excited."
Eaton's career highlights
* Spent his 11-year NBA career with the Jazz.
* Played 875 games in Utah, third all-time behind John Stockton and Karl Malone.
* Two-time Defensive Player of the Year (1984-85, 1988-89).
* Named to the all-defensive first team three times and all-defensive second team twice.
* Set an NBA record for blocked shots in a season (456 in 1984-85).
* One of 11 players in history to be drafted in the fourth round or lower and play in an All-Star Game (1989).
* Ranks fourth on the NBA's all-time list for blocks.