A sports news feature video chronicling the bond between former UC Santa Barbara basketball player J.D. Slajchert and young Gaucho superfan Luc Bodden has been nominated for a Los Angeles Area Emmy.
Bodden died of sickle cell disease at age 10 in 2016.
“Luc Strong” — a 12-minute, “Beyond the Sport” segment produced by Spectrum News 1 — is one of three finalists in the sports feature category named by The Television Academy.
The winner will be announced at the 77th annual Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards set for July 26 at the Skirball Cultural Center.
The story focuses on the friendship between Slajchert and Bodden, which began when the former UCSB basketball player was a star at Oak Park High School.
Among the Gauchos inspired by the young fan was Gabe Vincent, now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He remains a close friend of the Bodden family.
Luc made a deathbed prediction when the Gaucho guard visited him at the hospital for the final time.
“He told me I was going to make it … that I was going to make it to the NBA,” Vincent said. “It was one of the last things he told me.”
“Luc Strong” was produced by Michael Koger and edited by Greg Louie.
“I actually met them through Gabe and the Lakers,” Slajchert said. “They’re the guys that run the show ‘Backstage Lakers’ for Spectrum News, and also the show ‘Beyond the Sport,’ which airs segments about interesting sports stories.
“They’re really keying this as a UCSB sports story. They usually focus on athletes in L.A., but they kind of made the exception because they felt this Luc story was so strong.”
The other finalists for the sports feature Emmy are “Fernando Valenzuela Tribute” (Access Sportsnet Dodgers) and “Evan Kim: Somebody Like Me” (Ford Sports Final).
The “Luc Strong” feature reveals how Bodden’s death redirected Slajchert’s life from that of an athlete to an author. He launched his writing career soon thereafter with a book about his friend called “MoonFlower.”
He’s also written a screenplay about Bodden as well as another book, “Darling You’re Not Alone,” and has traveled the country to tell the motivating story of his young friend.
Slajchert has also been a driving force behind the LucStrong Foundation, started by Luc’s parents, Matthew and Stacy. It aids the families of children suffering from sickle cell disease.
Its website — LucStrong.org — points out that the disorder occurs in about one out of every 365 African American births and about one out of every 16,300 Latino American births.
“The timing of this nomination is great because Thursday (June 19) is Global Sickle Cell Awareness Day,” Slajchert said. “To see it get selected has made these last couple of days unbelievable.
“It’s something I did not expect.”
Bodden died when Slajchert was about to begin his junior year at UCSB.
The Gaucho forward dealt with his grief by writing “MoonFlower.” He worked on it even during basketball road trips.
“I knew basketball was coming to a close for me,” Slajchert said.
Some of the most poignant segments of the “Luc Strong” film were the interviews with Bodden’s parents.
“Every time he was around J.D. — every time he was around the basketball team — it gave him a spark of extra motivation to keep going,” Stacy Bodden said. “He fed off of that.”
Luc made a request of his parents when he returned to the hospital a month before his death.
“One of the things Luc told me was that we had to stay connected with J.D.,” his mother said. “He’d say, ‘You have to keep up with J.D.’
“And I’m like, ‘Ok, we will … We will.’”