Bruce Lee 'Be Water' ESPN 30 for 30 TV Schedule, Live Stream, Preview

ESPN will continue its latest run of documentaries with Be Water, a 30 for 30 about the late Bruce Lee, on Sunday night:

The Last Dance kickstarted it all, averaging 5.6 million viewers across 10 episodes from April 19 through May 17 (h/t CNN). The docuseries re-examined Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' 1990s dynasty, orbiting around the team's sixth and final title run in 1997-98.

ESPN was not as successful with Lance, a two-part 30 for 30 about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. Lance garnered only 857,000 viewers for its first episode (h/t Sports Media Watch) and was generally met with more criticism than The Last Dance.

Regardless, the appetite is still there for Be Water.

Viewing Information

Date: Sunday, June 7

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Preview

Lee was a martial artist, actor and philosopher until his tragic death at 32 years old in 1973. The Chinese-American icon starred in films such as The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury ('72), The Way of the Dragon ('72) and Enter the Dragon ('73).

Lee was born in San Francisco in 1940 but was raised in Hong Kong before moving back to the United States at 18 years old, and a large part of his legacy is as a foundational Asian movie star in American film.

"I was just blown away," Be Water director Bao Nguyen told ESPN's Jeff Wagenheim. "I'd never seen a lead actor who looked like me. I couldn't get over the fact that he was the film's hero. He wasn't the villain. He wasn't a sidekick. He was a confident leading man. Growing up in America, I was not used to seeing this type of depiction of Asian males."

The documentary's title comes directly from one of Lee's most famous quotes: "Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless. Like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

Lee encountered resistance before ultimately breaking through in America, causing him to move back to Hong Kong temporarily—where he broke box-office records in three films, according to his official website. Be Water chronicles his journey for movie stardom in Hong Kong beginning in 1971.

Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, his daughter, Shannon, and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are among those featured in the documentary, according to the Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall.

"It provides a solid overview of Lee's life and legacy, particularly for the uninitiated who may have only seen Lee's face on T-shirts, or one of the many films influenced by his work," Sepinwall wrote.

ESPN will round out its schedule of documentaries whose air dates were accelerated due to the absence of live sports during the COVID-19 pandemic with Long Gone Summer, chronicling former MLB stars Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during the summer of 1998, on Sunday, June 14, at 9 p.m. ET.