ESPN Films Unguarded: Chris Herren's Story is More Than Player Turned Addict

Chris Herren was a superstar athlete that got hooked on drugs.

That's not what makes his journey unique. We've seen plenty of players go down that road, and such a story of failure wouldn't warrant the making of an ESPN Film.

The upcoming film Unguarded is set to come out on November 1st at 8:00 p.m. ET. While all we have to go off of is a small preview of the film, it's not hard to read between the lines and see why the filmmakers took to this story of addiction in particular.

In ESPN's description of the film, they say Herren is

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"the youngest and most talented of three generations of local heroes, (who) has found redemption and personal fulfillment through the game, but only after it led him literally around the world, down a path of alcohol and drug addiction that nearly killed him."

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It's the redemption and personal fulfillment part of this story that are going to make it a solid film. If we wanted to see a story about addiction, we would watch and episode of MTV's True Life. The addiction problem and disappointing tale are only part of the story.

His rise to basketball fame provides a great backdrop. So much pressure was put on him from an early age that he resorted to indulging in drugs, which gave him the perfect opportunity to rebound and help others not go down his path.

ESPN has had some films that center around stories that end tragically, but this is a tragic tale with a happy ending. Hope Dreams with Chris Herren is a developmental program that Herren developed to not only make players shine on the court, but keep them focused off the court as well.

ESPN can knock this film out of the park. Herren's cautionary tale is certainly worthy of being the subject in an ESPN film, and director Jonathan Hock should make this another great addition to the ESPN films vault.