5 movies about basketball
A drama based on real events, comedies, NBA and Hollywood stars together on set and even cartoon characters on one team with legendary Michael Jordan: all this you can find in movies and documentaries about basketball. In this list, we collected five movies with basketball at the fore or in the background. You will like them both if you are a sports fan or if you just like good movies.
He Got Game, 1998
IMDb Rating: 6,9
He Got Game was the acting debut of NBA star Ray Allen. At the moment of shooting Ray was just beginning his professional basketball career and was in then-average Milwaukee Bucks. Since then Ray has entered the basketball Hall of Fame and Milwaukee has won its first NBA championship in 50 years. The Bucks are coming back to the title race this year. You can choose a suitable bookmaker company at https://bookmaker-ratings.com/ and place a bet on them.
In Spike Lee’s movie, Allen plays Jesus Shuttlesworth, a young basketball player wanted by all the universities. To convince the young man to enter Big State University, the State Governor even releases Jake, Jesus’s father (played by Denzel Washington) from prison. But he had been imprisoned for murdering his wife, the young basketball player’s mother, for which the main character cannot forgive his father.
White Men Can’t Jump, 1992
IMDb Rating: 6,8
A comedy by Ron Shelton starring young Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes. Harrelson’s character Billie Hoyle is a modest-looking guy who successfully earns a living by using the stereotype that white people cannot play basketball and migrates from one basketball court to another. This is until he comes to Los Angeles and meets Sydney, a local player, and equal rival. They fool one another on the way, but unite at the court, each one having his reasons.
The critics didn’t like the movie because of the simple storyline, but the plot became popular among sports fans. The film has perfectly/accurately shown the atmosphere of a basketball court: passion is high despite the initial intent to play the simple game of basketball.
The Basketball Diaries, 1995
IMDb Rating: 7,3
Scott Calvert’s movie is not directly about basketball, but it is closely related to the game which appears both in the title and plot. Jim (Leo DiCaprio) is an outstanding guy from a poor neighborhood. He goes to school, plays basketball, and writes a diary about everything, even the innermost things. Having tried drugs with his friends, he gradually becomes addicted. The addiction sets off a chain of irreversible events, and the main character hits rock bottom.
The Basketball Diaries are based on a real story and the memoirs of Jim Carroll. Scary and sad, this movie raises the problem of teenage drug addiction. It is one of the most popular Basketball movies, thanks to young Leo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg, who later became Hollywood icons. This movie is visual evidence that basketball is good and drugs are bad.
Coach Carter, 2005
IMDb Rating: 7,3
This Thomas Carter movie is always on basketball movie lists and even top lists of sports movies. Ken Carter, the main character of the movie, is not an imaginary character. In 1997 this coach brought the Richmond High School team to a very high level: the guys achieved one victory after another, the school administration and parents were thrilled. That was until, amidst the victories, Carter banned his young stars from sports. The team missed several games, administration and parents went from admiration to resentment, but the coach kept the gym hall closed.и
Carter stipulated a condition for his students: no basketball until each team member improved their average school grades in every subject. As a result, all his players managed to graduate from high school, which was a major accomplishment for Richmond kids in the 90s. Fun fact: the real Ken Carter himself had chosen Samuel L Jackson for the role and was delighted by his acting.
Space Jam, 1996
IMDb Rating: 6,5
When major studio bosses want to have some fun, Michael Jordan enters a cartoon and plays basketball on the same team with Bugs Bunny for the fate of the entire cartoon world. A must-watch for everyone who missed the adventures of Looney Tunes characters and adores Jordan. Big studio bosses decided to have fun again in 2021 and sent LeBron James to the cartoon world this time.
Space Jam is not the most outstanding movie in terms of playwriting, but in 1996 this Joe Pytka movie became a great technological breakthrough: where else could viewers watch an NBA star along with cartoon characters?
