Best Basketball Movies

Hoosiers is a 1986 movie about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. The film is set during the 1950's, when all high schools in Indiana, regardless of school size, competed in one state championship tournament. It stars Gene Hackman as a new coach with. . . more

Glory Road deals with the events of the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in which Texas Western College coach Don Haskins led a team with an all-black starting lineup, a first in NCAA history. Several scenes in this movie were filmed at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP),. . . more

White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 feature film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as basketball hustlers. Rosie Perez co-stars as Harrelson's girlfriend. The film was written and directed by Ron Shelton. It was released to theaters on March 27, 1992 by 20th Century Fox. Woody Harrelson plays. . . more

Coach Carter is a 2005 film, directed by Thomas Carter. It is based on a true story, in which Richmond High School (Richmond, California, USA) head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results. At the start of the movie, Ken Carter. . . more

Hoop Dreams is a 1994 documentary film directed by Steve James. It follows the story of two Chicago, Illinois high school students and their dream of becoming professional basketball players. Originally intended to be a 30-minute short produced for the Public Broadcasting Service, it eventually led. . . more

BASEketball is a 1998 David Zucker comedy feature film starring South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Dian Bachar, Robert Vaughn, Yasmine Bleeth, and Jenny McCarthy. The movie follows the history of the sport (created by Zucker years earlier) of the same name, from its. . . more

Love & Basketball is a 2000 romantic drama film, written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. This film stars Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. It is the story of two next-door neighbors in Los Angeles, California who grew up loving basketball and, eventually, each other. Gina Prince-Bythewood, a. . . more

Above the Rim is a 1994 basketball-drama film, written by Jeff Pollack and Benny Medina, and directed by Jeff Pollack. This movie stars Duane Martin, Leon Robinson, Tupac Shakur, and Christopher Andrews. This film is the story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with. . . more

Space Jam is a 1996 American live-action/animated film starring Michael Jordan opposite Bugs Bunny (voiced by Billy West) and the rest of the Looney Tunes characters. It was produced by Ivan Reitman, and directed by Joe Pytka (live-action) and Tony Cervone & Bruce W. Smith (animation). This. . . more

Blue Chips is a 1994 film about basketball, starring Nick Nolte as a college coach and real-life basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway as talented "finds". It features cameos from Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Dick Vitale, Jim Boeheim, Louis Gossett,. . . more

The Air Up There is a 1994 comedic film directed by Paul Michael Glaser. It was a commercial for this film that inspired three college students (Craig Fass, Brian Turtle & Mike Ginelli) to invent the game and phenomenon known as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Jimmy Dolan (Bacon) is a college. . . more

Celtic Pride (1996) is a comedy film directed by Tom DeCerchio. It features Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd as Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty, two fans of the basketball team, the Boston Celtics. Mike O'Hara and Jimmy Flaherty love sports. So when their Boston Celtics get to the NBA Finals, the guys. . . more

Air Bud is the 1997 feature film that sparked the franchise centered around the fictional dog Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The movie's title may be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. The original movie was successful, grossing US$4 million in its opening. . . more