With the college basketball season starting tonight, I thought it would be fitting to bring you my top 10 favorite basketball movies of all-time. So without further ado...
10. The Sixth Man
This is a really fun adn sometimes emotional movie. After dying of a heart attack, Antoine (played by Kadeem Hardison) returns to propel his brother (played by Marlon Wayans) to the NCAA Championships. The Sixth Man has a rating of 23% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Eddie
While it's not the greatest film in the world, it's still a film with Whoopi Goldberg and you can't go wrong with her. Eddie (played by Whoopi Goldberg) is a New York limo driver and a fanatical follower of the New York Knicks professional basketball team. The team is struggling with a mediocre record when, in mid-season, "Wild Bill" Burgess (played by Frank Langella), the new owner, as a public relations gimmick, stages an 'honorary coach' contest, which Eddie wins. The fans love it, so "Wild Bill" fires the coach and hires her. She takes the bunch of overpaid prima donnas that make up the team and turns them around. But the owner hopes to move the team, now the darling of the New York fans, to St. Louis. Eddie has a rating of 15% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Hoosiers
This is just a brilliant movie and one of the best underdog tales I have ever seen. A coach (played by Gene Hackman) with a checkered past and a local drunk (played by Dennis Hopper) train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship. Hoosiers has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Semi-Pro
This film is absolutely hilarious and it is Will Ferrell at his best. The American Basketball Association is on the verge of collapse, and when a former NBA benchwarmer (played by Woody Harrelson) returns to his hometown of Flint, MI, to whip his former team into shape for the playoffs, redemption is just a free throw away. Semi-Pro has a rating of 21% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. White Men Can't Jump
This is a really great movie and it does somewhat of a good job not making racial stereotypes stand out. Billy Hoyle (played by Woody Harrelson) is a white con artist who hustles basketball games against black players who don't realize Billy is actually a gifted hoopster. One of his unsuspecting victims, Sidney Deane (played by Wesley Snipes), becomes Billy's "agent," arranging his various scams around L.A., and the duo quickly start piling up the wins together. White Men Can't Jump has a rating of 76% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Glory Road
I love the film, but it's only one of the handful of films that I can't bare to watch (if you know me then you know why). The inspiring true story of the underdog Texas Western basketball team, with history's first all African American starting lineup of players, who took the country by storm, surprisingly winning the 1966 NCAA tournament title.Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas) is the passionately dedicated college basketball coach that changed the history of basketball with his team's victory in this time of innocence. Glory Road has a rating of 55% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Space Jam
This is just an all-time classic film with some of everyone's classic cartoon characters. Michael Jordan (played by himself) agrees to help the Looney Toons play a basketball game vs. alien slavers to determine their freedom. Space Jam has a rating of 35% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Blue Chips
I'm a huge fan of college basketball and I personally love this movie and it (like The Program does with college football) goes into detail of how dirty college sports can get. A college basketball coach (played by Nick Nolte) is forced to break the rules in order to get the players he needs to stay competitive. Blue Chips has a rating of 37% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Coach Carter
This is a brilliant film and it's one that all young athletes should see Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter (played by Samuel L. Jackson) after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him. Coach Carter has a rating of 65% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Hoop Dreams
I truly love an underdog story and this one is on e of the best I've ever seen. Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. Hoop Dreams has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite basketball films of all-time and what did you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. The Sixth Man
This is a really fun adn sometimes emotional movie. After dying of a heart attack, Antoine (played by Kadeem Hardison) returns to propel his brother (played by Marlon Wayans) to the NCAA Championships. The Sixth Man has a rating of 23% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Eddie
While it's not the greatest film in the world, it's still a film with Whoopi Goldberg and you can't go wrong with her. Eddie (played by Whoopi Goldberg) is a New York limo driver and a fanatical follower of the New York Knicks professional basketball team. The team is struggling with a mediocre record when, in mid-season, "Wild Bill" Burgess (played by Frank Langella), the new owner, as a public relations gimmick, stages an 'honorary coach' contest, which Eddie wins. The fans love it, so "Wild Bill" fires the coach and hires her. She takes the bunch of overpaid prima donnas that make up the team and turns them around. But the owner hopes to move the team, now the darling of the New York fans, to St. Louis. Eddie has a rating of 15% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Hoosiers
This is just a brilliant movie and one of the best underdog tales I have ever seen. A coach (played by Gene Hackman) with a checkered past and a local drunk (played by Dennis Hopper) train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship. Hoosiers has a rating of 88% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Semi-Pro
This film is absolutely hilarious and it is Will Ferrell at his best. The American Basketball Association is on the verge of collapse, and when a former NBA benchwarmer (played by Woody Harrelson) returns to his hometown of Flint, MI, to whip his former team into shape for the playoffs, redemption is just a free throw away. Semi-Pro has a rating of 21% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. White Men Can't Jump
This is a really great movie and it does somewhat of a good job not making racial stereotypes stand out. Billy Hoyle (played by Woody Harrelson) is a white con artist who hustles basketball games against black players who don't realize Billy is actually a gifted hoopster. One of his unsuspecting victims, Sidney Deane (played by Wesley Snipes), becomes Billy's "agent," arranging his various scams around L.A., and the duo quickly start piling up the wins together. White Men Can't Jump has a rating of 76% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Glory Road
I love the film, but it's only one of the handful of films that I can't bare to watch (if you know me then you know why). The inspiring true story of the underdog Texas Western basketball team, with history's first all African American starting lineup of players, who took the country by storm, surprisingly winning the 1966 NCAA tournament title.Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas) is the passionately dedicated college basketball coach that changed the history of basketball with his team's victory in this time of innocence. Glory Road has a rating of 55% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Space Jam
This is just an all-time classic film with some of everyone's classic cartoon characters. Michael Jordan (played by himself) agrees to help the Looney Toons play a basketball game vs. alien slavers to determine their freedom. Space Jam has a rating of 35% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Blue Chips
I'm a huge fan of college basketball and I personally love this movie and it (like The Program does with college football) goes into detail of how dirty college sports can get. A college basketball coach (played by Nick Nolte) is forced to break the rules in order to get the players he needs to stay competitive. Blue Chips has a rating of 37% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Coach Carter
This is a brilliant film and it's one that all young athletes should see Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter (played by Samuel L. Jackson) after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him. Coach Carter has a rating of 65% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. Hoop Dreams
I truly love an underdog story and this one is on e of the best I've ever seen. Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. Hoop Dreams has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite basketball films of all-time and what did you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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