The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

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With March Madness underway, basketball stories are sure to be popular. There’ve been some amazing films over the years to both entertain and inform.

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The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

Between the hype of March Madness and HBO’s Winning Time, basketball will be at the forefront of every sports fan’s mind the next couple of weeks. Sports films are always inspiring and exciting, but whenever they are about basketball, they seem to hit audiences differently. Basketball’s fast-paced nature and avid fans make for great movie material that is easy to follow and enthralling to watch.

Of course, fans could queue up classics they’ve seen countless times like Hoosiers or Space Jam, but there are so many great stories that deserve fresh viewings. Let’s take a look at some of the underrated and less hyped stories basketball fans can enjoy after their bracket gets busted.

He Got Game

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

This Spike Lee joint hit theaters in 1998 and was his third time working with acclaimed actor Denzel Washington. Like all of Spike Lee’s work, He Got Game has a lot to say about Black culture in America and the injustice his community has faced. The film centers around the relationship between an all-star high school basketball player Jesus Shuttlesworth and his convicted felon father, Jake. Denzel Washington and Ray Allen, who play Jake and Jesus respectively, have brilliant chemistry. They perfectly capture the complexities of a father-son relationship while balancing the existential factors at play in their separate lives. Any sports fan looking to stream this 1998 feature can find it on Hulu.

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The Way Back

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

This movie was dealt the awful hand of being released on March 6th of 2020 right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. After only two weeks in theaters, the film was pulled when shutdowns went into effect. Warner Bros. released the film digitally on March 20th, but it didn’t take off despite being deserving of praise. This is Gavin O’Connor’s third sports film and solidifies him as one of the great directors of the genre. For Affleck, who recently hung up his cowl, the film feels very personal as it was one of his first films back after a period mired in controversy.

White Men Can’t Jump

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

This classic sports comedy has had a resurgence in the zeitgeist with Jack Harlow’s recent casting in the remake. This is one of those movies that certainly doesn’t need a remake since its original version is so great. The 1992 film helped boost both future Blade star Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson’s careers to new heights. Bob Lanier, an NBA legend, was brought on to coach the actors for their basketball scenes, which gives the film vibrant and authentic energy. For fans that haven’t seen the story of a budding friendship and streetball hustlers, it is available to stream on Disney+.

Semi-Pro

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

Semi-Pro is the often forgotten film in Will Ferrell’s series of sports comedy movies in the early 2000s. It had a lackluster opening at the box office, but is certainly worth the watch thanks to a great cast and some stellar cameos. The story follows the Flint Tropics, an ABA basketball team that is vying to make it into the pro league. This movie is the second to feature Woody Harrelson running up and down the court, but this time he plays the fading star of the team. Anyone looking for a late-night flick after a string of March Madness games can find Semi-Pro on Prime Video.

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Glory Road

The Best Basketball Movies to Watch Between March Madness Games

This 2006 Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer movie is the epitome of a family sports drama. Glory Road is a heartwarming underdog story with a great message suitable for all ages. The story is a strong retelling of the first all African-American lineup to play in an NCAA basketball title game. Its discussion around racism is pretty surface level but perfect if someone is trying to share good values and basketball with a new young fan. The film features a strong ensemble including a very underrated performance from Josh Lucas as Texas Western coach Don Haskins. Glory Road is available to stream on Disney+.

Uncle Drew

Uncle Drew certainly deserved much more acclaim when it hit theaters in 2018. The comedy came to be after Kyrie Irving partnered with Pepsi to make several YouTube shorts. In the shorts, Irving took on the character of a gruff old man, Uncle Drew, who can still drop threes. The movie is a great “getting the band back together” story that features other NBA players and alums playing elder ballers. Obviously having the majority of a cast be filled with non-actors is a risk. Thankfully, the athletes in this film bring a heightened level of charisma that matches the professional performers in the cast like Lil Rel Howery and Human Resources’ Nick Kroll.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/basketball-movie-recommendations-march-madness/

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