Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

Chronicling the short but eventful life of Hank Gathers (played by Donny B. Lord as a child and Victor Love as a young adult), this fact-based drama chronicles the hoopster's rise from the inner city of Philadelphia to a starring role on Loyola Marymount's basketball team before a heart condition cut his career short. Nell Carter plays Hank's supportive mom, and George Kennedy portrays a neighborhood priest who inspired the boy.

An enigmatic drifter from the South comes to visit an old acquaintance who now lives in South-Central LA.