Basketball on Film

Page 1

THE UNDISPUTED GUIDE TO PRO

H

IS

Y

BASKETBALL R O T


Basketball on Film

PLUCKY UNDERDOG

The Evolution of an Idea

DOCUMENTARY

Above the rim (1994)

SELLING

DRUGS

LYCANTHROPY

THE BASKETBALL DIARIES (1995)

TAKING

FO R M

E

R

I N DIANA PLAYER

TURNED DRUNK TURNED ROBBER

TEEN WOLF (1985)

AS DISTRACTION FROM

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TURNED SOCIOPATH

HOOP DREAMS (1994)

LOVE AND BASKETBALL (2000)

ROMANCE

OTHELLO REMAKE

THE PROWLER (1951)

O (2001)

HOOSIERS (1986)

INSTITUTIONAL

HOME OF THE GIANTS (2007)

PL

A

YE

COLLEGE BASKETBALL TE

D

STARRING

JANE FONDA A GHOST

STARRING SIDNEY POITIER

EMOTIONAL

EC

Campus CONFESSIONS (1938)

DIR

BETTY GRABLE

Tall Story (1960)

R POINT FIXING

BY

JA CK

N I C H O L SON

DRIVE, HE SAID (1971)

The Sixth Man (1997)

Go, Man, Go! (1954)

FANTASY

PRO BASKETBALL CROSS-DRESSING

DE

N

SAVES A BABY FROM A TIGER

N I S RODMAN

SAVES THE WORLD

JUWANNA MAN (2002)

DOUBLE TEAM (1997) SIMON SEZ (1999)

ABSURDITY TAKE OVER TEAM

SUPER FANS

152

TAKE PLAYER HOSTAGE

EDDIE (1996) CELTIC PRIDE (1996)

THE UNDISPUTED GUIDE TO PRO BASKETBALL HISTORY


MOTHERLY LOVE

INNER-CITY TEAM SAVED BY

A GOLDEN RETRIEVER

SU

B

U

TOUGH LOVE

R B AN TEAM SAVED BY

A SASQUATCH A LEPRECHAUN WRITING SINGING AND DANCING

SCOUTING

ILLITERACY RACISM

SCIENTIFICALLY INFERIOR SHOES

Finding Forrester (2000) High School Musical (2001)

Blue Chips (1994) He Got game (1998) THE BASKETBALL FIX (1951)

ONE ON ONE (1977) GLORY ROAD (2006) THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1961)

STUCK IN AN IRON SUIT

STEEL (1997)

MAKE ERNEST DUNK

SLAM DUNK ERNEST (1995)

MAKE A CHILD DUNK

LIKE MIKE (2002)

AS OBNOXIOUS NBA REF AS Gheorghe Muresan’s AGENT FEATURING PLAYERS INSPIRED BY PLAYERS LOOKING FOR ENDORSEMENTS

LIKE MIKE 2 (2006)

SPACE JAM, 1996: By the time Jordan was ready to return to basketball after a brief stint in baseball’s minors, he was not simply an athlete. He was also a corporate entity who had some explaining to do. Space Jam provided MJ with a ready-fit narrative, justifying why he should return to the sport (to save the world from aliens), reaffirming his commercial clout (it grossed $2.3 billion), and making his baseball hiatus seem as forgettable as the movie itself (Bill Murray has called Space Jam his least favorite of his own films).

SPACE JAM (1996) FORGET PARIS (1995) MY GIANT (1998) THE FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH (1979) SEMI-PRO (2008) THe COOKOUT (2004)

NETS STARS LOOKING FOR LOVE

Campus Confessions, 1938: One of the first basketball movies, and maybe the only one to originate a move, Campus Confessions costarred Stanford’s Hank Luisetti, an early proponent of the jump shot. During one scene, Luisetti dribbles the ball behind his back as a gag. After watching the film, eighteen-year-old high school senior Bob Davies was so inspired by Luisetti’s behind-theback dribble he began practicing it obsessively, and would eventually be credited with introducing it to the NBA. If you squint, that makes Luisetti the inventor of both the jumper and any and all behind-theback moves.

HARVARD MAN (2001)

KAZAAM (1996)

JORDAN VS. ALIENS

ABA

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH (2001)

STUCK IN A BOOM BOX

MAKE ANOTHER CHILD DUNK

BILLY CRYSTAL

BIG AND HAIRY (1998)

The Air Up There (1994)

TO BUY PARENTS A NEW HOUSE

MAGIC SHOES

AIR BUD (1997)

EAST AFRICA

TO BUY BROTHER A CHRISTMAS PRESENT

SHAQ

COACH CARTER (2005)

FAST BREAK (1979)

WITH PROSTITUTES

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES

Life imitates art, art justifies life, and Denzel schools Ray Allen.

THE STREETS

WITH TRACTORS

ILLEGAL RECRUITING

FACTS AND FICTIONS

SUNSET PARK (1996)

JUST WRIGHT (2010)

A TALE OF TWO THREE-PEATS

153

HE GOT GAME, 1998: The climactic scene pits ex-con father (Denzel Washington) against high school star son (Ray Allen) in a game of one-onone that will decide Dad’s fate in the justice system. The script called for a 15–0 drubbing, but then Denzel went and got a few buckets, and Ray Ray ended up having to dig in more than he had counted on. Of course, in the end Allen triumphed, but it’s a story he has never been able to shake.


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