Even though it has never attracted as much attention as football in our country, basketball sport, which still has a place in everyone’s heart, has often been the subject of stories in the world of cinema. We have listed the best basketball movies that you can watch as much as a game and we briefly talked about the stories they tell.
Although both our local teams and our national basketball team have made us proud by achieving great successes around the world, unfortunately, basketball has never attracted as much attention as football in our country. Many of us were interested in basketball, especially in high school. Some of us continued, some of us quit. But in our hearts both this sport and basketball movies about this sport place is different.
There are many basketball-themed movies in Hollywood cinema. Some have documentary-like narratives, while others have cute stories that will instill the spirit of sports. Although it is possible to evaluate all these productions under the name of basketball films, each of them reveals how important sports are for humanity. Let’s take a closer look at the best basketball movies that you can enjoy watching as if you were watching at least one game.
Basketball movies to watch with excitement:
- Space Jam
- He Got Game
- Love & Basketball
- Glory Road
- The Basketball Diaries
- Finding Forrester
- Coach Carter
- Uncut Gems
- hoosier
- Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault
The timeless legend: Space Jam
- Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
- Year: 1996
- Director: Joe Pytka
- Cast: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle
- IMDb: 6.5
Even if it is remade in 2021 as Space Jam: A New Legacy, it still remains in the hearts of moviegoers. The place of the first Space Jam movie made in 1996 is different. In the movie, which offers the chance to watch the Looney Tunes characters we admire and master basketball players such as Michael Jordan, whom we admire as much as these characters, we watch a basketball game where cartoon characters and real people fight fiercely.
A difficult father-son relationship: He Got Game
- Genre: Drama, Sports
- Year: 1998
- Director: Spike Lee
- Cast: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Ray Allen
- IMDb: 6.9
We watch a father and son story in the film, in which the veteran actor Denzel Washington performed well in his youth. Young man on trial for murder It is planned to enter the university to receive less punishment. He has to work hard for the university he wants to enter with a basketball scholarship. The rest of the story is a tenacious success and a sincere family story.
Childhood love and passion for basketball: Love & Basketball
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Sports
- Year: 2000
- Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
- Cast: Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Glenndon Chatman
- IMDb: 7.2
In the movie Love & Basketball, the directorial debut of Gina Prince-Bythewood, a story full of love and basketball is told. Our male and female characters, Monica and Quincy, They have been together since childhood and there is a sweet love between them. As the ages progress a little and life conditions get difficult, the size of the love between the two changes and grows into love with the passion for basketball.
Beating racism is harder than beating rivals: Glory Road
- Genre: Biography, Drama, Sports
- Year: 2006
- Director: James Gartner
- Cast: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols
- IMDb: 7.2
In the true story set in the United States of the 1960s, during one of the harshest times of racism, The journey of a black basketball team to the top is told. Don Haskins, the coach of the Texas Western team, assembles a team of black youth struggling to get to college. Although the hard training of this team is enough to fight its rivals, it is not always enough against racism, which is a crime against humanity.
You will watch in tears: The Basketball Diaries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m-1et438BE
- Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
- Year: 1995
- Director: Scott Kalvert
- Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Marilyn Sokol
- IMDb: 7.3
In the movie The Basketball Diaries, crowned with the successful performance of the young Leonardo Di Caprio, We follow the real life story of poet Jim Carroll. There are many scenes that will bring tears to both young people and adults throughout the movie, which tells the salvation of a young person who was sexually abused at a young age, stuck in drugs and gradually seeing himself to death, with basketball.
Discovering a talented author: Finding Forrester
- Genre: Drama
- Year: 2000
- Director: Gus Van Sant
- Cast: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham
- IMDb: 7.3
Blacks play great basketball, but what about more? Jamal, a young black man who attends a private school in Manhattan, is a very talented basketball player, but He has a greater talent, writing. Jamal will discover this talent when he is discovered by an older, master writer. In the film, which is based on dreams and lives, we witness how a dream illuminates even a dark road.
Coach is a father to the team: Coach Carter
- Genre: Biography, Drama, Sports
- Year: 2005
- Director: Thomas Carter
- Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri’chard
- IMDb: 7.3
In the movie Coach Carter, based on a true story, a basketball team coach is more than a coach. We follow the story of how he can be a father figure for actors. In 1999, the Richmond High team were banned from the team for poor grades. However, thanks to their coaches, they never give up and struggle to achieve success in both sports and school.
Look at it from this angle: Uncut Gems
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Year: 2019
- Director: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
- Cast: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Idina Menzel
- IMDb: 7.4
Uncut Gems has a slightly different story than the other basketball movies on our list. Other movies are about basketball players, but Uncut Gems looks at it from the other side and talks about people who bet on basketball games. In the movie; due to loaded bets We follow the story of a man who gets into debt with dark people and has to get involved in much darker business to get out of debt.
From the movies that started it all: Hoosiers
- Genre: Drama, Sports
- Year: 1986
- Director: David Anspaugh
- Cast: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
- IMDb: 7.5
Hoosiers is one of the oldest dated movies on our list. The subject is very classic, but when we look at the production date, It may be one of the first basketball-themed films in the cinema world. When we look at it from this point of view, we see that the story of the coach who takes the head of a town basketball team in the movie Hoosiers and dealing with the team’s mischievous players is actually a sign of the beginning of a new era in cinema.
Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault
- Genre: Biography, Drama, Sports
- Year: 1996
- Director: Eriq La Salle
- Cast: Don Cheadle, James Earl Jones, Michael Beach
- IMDb: 7.6
Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault begins with a reporter asking legendary basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabar who his favorite player is. Jabar’s given name is Earl Manigault, nicknamed The Goat. After this answer, the film focuses on the life of Earl Manigault and shows how a drug-ridden teenager became a basketball legend.
At least you can watch with excitement as if you are watching a pleasant match. we have listed the best basketball movies and we briefly talked about the stories of the movies. This list could have been even longer since we’re only talking about important movies. You can share the basketball movies you want to be on the list in the comments.