Billy Hoyle (Harrelson) is a former college basketball player who makes his living by hustling streetball who assume he cannot play well because he is white. Billy never degrades his race when joining in on pickup games; he simply allows his opponents, most of whom are black, to falsely believe they have a natural advantage over him due to his race and clothing style. Such a player is Sidney Deane (Snipes), a talented but cocky player who is beaten twice by Billy, once in a half court team game and later in a one-on-one shootout for money.