TRAVELING COACH PRESENTS: TOP 5 BASKETBALL MOVIES OF ALL-TIME

In a time in this world where words like “social distancing” and “quarantine” are more prevalent than “yes” and “no” in our lives, movies are some of the only entertainment we have to turn to. I could watch game six of the 1996 World Series again, but I will need to dust off my VCR and fast forward through too many Beverly Hills 90210 episodes. So with that in mind I began to think about my favorite sports movies of all time. Sports movies are a huge hit or miss. Some have a great story with awful and unrealistic game footage. Others can have fast paced realistic action and the story falls flat. Finding a balance of these two aspects is the key to a great sports movie. Since basketball seasons were first to be suspended during this the “pandemic era” in sports I decided to make a list of the Top 5 basketball movies of all time and 6 honorable mentions.

Traveling Coach 56 Top 5 Basketball Movies of All-time

5. White Men Can’t Jump:

This movie title put a phrase into a vocabulary of society. Today, when a white player dunks, some ESPN dork will declare “White men can jump” and this movie was made 28 years ago. Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes look like natural athletes during the game scenes. These two unlikely friends hustle their way through the Los Angeles street ball scene. They introduced the world to a new level of trash talk and introduced me to the “Your momma” jokes. This movie is coming off a Larry Bird and Magic Johnson run of success as the black and white faces of the NBA. They play the stereotypes to a tee with Snipes (Sidney Deane) being the flashy ball handler/scorer and Harrelson (Billy Hoyle) being a dead eye shooter. These two play great characters along with the intellectual sharp tongue of Gloria played by Rosie Perez and colorful fashion of bike shorts and Nike gear that mimic the times.

Quotes:

“You would rather look good and lose than look bad and win”. -Billy Hoyle

“Your mother’s an Astronaut” -Sidney Deane

“We goin Sizzler” – Junior

“Even the sun shines on dog’s ass some days” -Sidney Deane

“You can put a cat in the oven and doesn’t make it a biscuit” -Sidney Deane.

4. He Got Game

Jesus Shuttlesworth (best basketball name in movie history) is the # 1 recruit in the country from Coney Island. Jesus, while trying to make a decision about his future, has everybody pulling him in different directions and all wanting their piece of the pie. The cast takes this movie to the next level. Ray Allen as Jesus Shuttlesworth plays the role perfectly because he knows all the pressures and trust issues of being a top recruit. Denzel Washington plays Jake Shuttlesworth Jesus’s incarcerated father. He shows his range in flashbacks as the domineering father pushing his son so hard to greatness it costs him his freedom and then getting a chance for a second chance at life in the present day. This movie’s strength shows you the sacrifices of success and the bitter truth about trust when you get to that level. The moment in the movie when father and son play one on one is significant. No matter what level you get too, the day you can finally beat your father on the basketball court is the ultimate barometer that you have arrived.

Note: Just beat my son Anthony 1 on 1 but only by 2. I am holding on for dear life on this one.

Quotes:

“It’s your ball” – Jake Shuttlesworth

“When making a business decision the only color that matters is green” –

“You keep trying on shoes; sooner or later you’ll find a pair that fit you”

3. Hoop Dreams

A documentary set in early 90’s Chicago follows two high school basketball players with high aspirations of super stardom. Arthur Agee and William Gates are vying for the chance to star at the famous St. Joseph high school were basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas attended. This movie takes you through the journey of these talented players: their successes, failures, and everything in between. Both players take different paths to try and reach their dreams. You see the economic and emotional struggle both families go through as they try to support their son’s journey. This documentary makes you feel the anguish and pressure these two teenagers went through with their goals just beyond their reach. The business side of college sports reveals itself. The film gives you an inside look and the cut throat world of recruiting. The raw reality of the movie is what draws you in and as a viewer takes you on an emotional ride.

Quotes:

People always say to me, “When you get to the NBA don’t forget about me. Well, I should’ve said back, “if I don’t make it, don’t forget about me” – William Gates

2. Coach Carter

This movie is the city version of Hoosiers. Coach Ken Carter returns to his former high school and tries to turn around not only the basketball program but also the perception of the student athlete at Richmond high school. The players are learning to play as a team on the court and in their lives. Coach Carter’s makes the players sign contracts that will hold them to a higher standard. The amount of pushups and running they do for punishments make me have scary flashbacks to the Immaculate high school hills. I pretty sure I tore a pec just watching this.

Quotes:

“Teachers ain’t supposed to touch students” “I’m not a teacher I am your basketball coach” – Timo Cruz – Coach Ken Carter

“I came to coach players and you became students, I came to coach boys and you became men” –Coach Ken Carter

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is we are powerful beyond measure” – Coach Ken Carter

1. Hoosiers

Hoosier hits all the marks you want in a sports movie: an underdog team, a coach with a checkered past, and a backdrop of 1952 small-town America. The characters are unforgettable. Norman Dale a brash, “my way or the highway guy” who coaches a group of kids into his image of a basketball team. Jimmy Chitwood a quiet star who was torn between playing the game he loved and honoring his family wishes. Then there is Shooter the former Hickory basketball player who has fell on hard times and battles his demons while hitting both highs and lows in the during the course of the film. I never felt older as when my son asked me “where is the three point line” or when little Ollie steps up and shoots a “granny shot” at the free throw line, my daughter with a humorously confused look on her face and says “why would you shoot like that.” Hoosiers is the kind of movie that no matter what point you catch the movie, you have to watch the rest.

Quotes:

“My teams on the floor” – Norman Dale

“No school this small has ever won the state championship” – Shooter

“Don’t get caught watching the paint dry” –Shooter

“I love you guys” – Norman Dale

6 Honorable Mentions:

Above the Rim:

Great cast that brought the song “Regulate” by Warren G feat. Nate Dogg and I feel so white just typing this. Regulators mount up!

Teen Wolf:

Michael J. Fox plays a wolf, which plays basketball. Enough said.

The Air Up There:

This movie is how everything leads back to Kevin Bacon.