To Native Americans in Montana, basketball is more than a game – it is a source of pride and a connection to a past way of life. Reservations travel across Montana to watch their high school teams play, and high-scoring superstars like Elvis Old Bull, Jonathan Takes Enemy and Don Wetzel Sr. become some of the most famous names in the state before they turn 18. But few of those players go on to play at the highest level collegiately. Many die young – Old Bull, perhaps the state’s greatest-ever player, passed away at the age of 42 – and their names become synonymous with tragedy.
For most of his life, JR Camel has been carrying on the legacy of those Native basketball greats. A member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who grew up on the Flathead Reservation, JR was Montana’s Mr. Basketball in high school and an all-conference selection at the University of Montana. But his greatest glory came after his organized basketball career ended. For years, his Desert Horse team dominated streetball tournaments throughout the region, including Spokane HoopFest, the largest 3-on-3 tournament in the world. Renowned for his athleticism and competitiveness, JR became a cult hero on reservation and blacktop courts across the Pacific Northwest.
DESERT HORSE traces JR Camel’s basketball life from childhood through the present day, connecting him to a long line of Native American basketball heroes and reliving the memories that made him a street ball legend.
In a climactic final scene, JR, now 50, returns to Spokane HoopFest alongside an old teammate. Surrounded by reminders of the past and the future, JR faces some big questions: Can he still compete in the elite bracket against players half his age? What drives him to keep playing? And what legacy does he want to leave for his own children?
