Photo: JESHOOTS
By: Nick Gambino
Sports movies exist in a category unto themselves, but if you look at the sports movie genre, you can usually break it down into subgenres. These subgenres might include rom-coms (Jerry Maguire) or animated family film (Space Jam).
But there’s another way to subcategorize sports movies and that’s by breaking it down by the game. There are Football movies, Baseball movies and, the subject of this article, Basketball movies.
In honor of March Madness, Andrew and Trevor discussed the top 3 basketball movies of all time. Their list is solid and kicks off with not only one of my sports movies of all time but one of my favorite movies, period.
White Men Can’t Jump
White Men Can’t Jump is a near perfect movie from beginning to end. A perfect sports movie that plays out like a buddy cop film. You just can’t beat the chemistry between Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. They even teamed up 3 years later for the vastly underrated Money Train.
While we haven’t seen the two together since 1995, they just appeared at the Oscars with Rosie Perez on the 30th anniversary of the greatest basketball movie ever made. (And that’s the only noteworthy thing that happened at the Oscars, I promise.)
Space Jam
I feel like it’s hard to truly grasp how big Space Jam was when it came out unless you were there in ’96. It was even more significant if you were a kid. The Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes team-up isn’t exactly a cinematic masterpiece, but there are enough elements here to make it a fun watch.
There’s something special about watching Jordan ball in his prime alongside comedy greats like Bill Murray, Wayne Knight and Bugs Bunny to a classic rap/R&B soundtrack.
Hoosiers
Setting the template for dramatic sports movies to come, Hoosiers is the first in a line of “outsider coach despised at first, shepherds local sports team to greatness.” Gene Hackman has never been bad in anything and he truly shines here as Coach Norman Dale.
If you’re looking for the model on which Coach Carter, We Are Marshall, Glory Road and a slew of other sports flicks are based, then you should start here.
Honorable Mention:
Above the Rim
This movie doesn’t get enough love. Starring Duane Martin, Leon and the late great Tupac Shakur, Above the Rim captures not only the love of basketball but also the golden era of Hip-Hop. The soundtrack released by Death Row and executive produced by Suge Knight includes classic songs like “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg.
An added treated is Marlon Wayans in one of his best roles, sandwiched between Mo’ Money and Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking You’re Juice in the Head.
If you need a little something extra to keep you pumped for March Madness, this list of the top basketball movies should do the trick.
