No, there's no pressure. People ask me that, but there's no pressure. You never thought of that. That's not even a question.

Hey guys, Barouk here with Young Hollywood, talking with the legendary Spike Lee about all things Brooklyn and basketball.

This is your grandson. This is your grandfather. There's some shady people up here. This is not Atlanta. You understand? Yes. Good. We live in a world of should not be. It should not be that radio and television and movies define who our boys are.

Barouk here for Young Hollywood with the one and only Spike Lee. How are you, Spike? How are you doing? Doing well. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us, I should say. Let's do that around. Thanks for having us over at your place.

Thank you for coming to the office of 40 Acres and a Mule filmworks here in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Thank you for doing that.

And we are in Brooklyn and your new film Red Hook Summer takes place in Brooklyn.

Yes, the Red the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York. We call it the Republic of Brooklyn, New York.

And you love you you've you've been very close with the Republic of Brooklyn and uh it's it's it's really featured a prominent role in your life. Why does Brooklyn mean so much to you?

Because it's Brooklyn. But let the record state that I was not born in Brooklyn. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. My family moved here at a very young age. I think it's one of the most unique, special places in the world. What's important that people understand is that Red Hook Summer is ongoing my ongoing chronicles of Brooklyn, New York. We started with my first film She's Gotta Have It, 1986, which is Fort which is Fort Greene. 1989 was Do the Right Thing, which is Bed-Stuy. Crokyln was Bed-Stuy. Clockers was Boerum Hill. He Got Game, Coney Island, and now Red Hook Summer.

What do you think of the changes that Brooklyn has undergone over the last few decades?

Well, Brooklyn is a urban progress. And now we got, I mean, if you walk outside my office and face that way, you're going to see the new Barclay Center where the Nets going to be playing this year. And my whole thing is this, I I'm for you know, urban renewal, stuff like that, but I'm also for affordable housing.

You mentioned the Barkley Center. You obviously have remained a very intense Knicks fan. Right. Did you have a lot of pressure to change your allegiance to the Nets?

No, there's no pressure. People ask me that, but there's no pressure. You never thought about it. It's not even a question.

So that's that's loyalty. Mr. Mookie comes back in this film, played by you. Who really is Mr. Mookie? What does he represent?

Mookie is is Mookie. Uh And as you remember, Sal's Famous Pizzeria burned down to the ground. So Sal used the fire insurance, left Bed-Stuy and took it to Red Hook. Then Sal took his sons, Pino and Vito and and Mookie went too. And they're all thriving in Red Hook. Red Hook's booming.

Clearly. You are now working on a new Broadway show with Mike Tyson. Right. Why do you feel like his story was so important to tell in this way?

He's I mean, he's one of the most amazing stories. I mean, his his story is a quintessential American story. And Mike's a great storyteller, so he he performed this six nights in Las Vegas. And the cameraman right here, Carwin De Vaune saw it. He called me up and said, you got to check it out. I cannot get to Las Vegas in time before his show closed, but I was able to talk to Mike and his wife, Kiki, wrote the the play. And they got me a DVD. I showed it to uh Mr. Jimmy Nederlander. You know, the Nedderlanders, the Shuberts run Broadway. And he said, let's do it together.

There we go. Spike Lee, thank you very much.

All right, man. Thank you.