The Best and Worst of NBA on Film

Since its inception in 1946, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has been a mainstay of American culture, producing superstars like Michael Jordan and Lebron James who have become towering figures beyond just the sports world, taking up prominent places within the American zeitgeist. Given this, it is not surprising that over the years many of the league’s biggest stars have branched out into one of the country’s other cultural juggernauts: film. NBA players appearing in movies has led to everything from classic films that have etched their way into the collective cultural history, to some of the truly worst movies ever made. In honor of Hyperreal’s screening of Tsui Hark’s Double Team with NBA legend Dennis Rodman, here is a collection of three of the highest highs and lowest lows that have resulted from over 50 years of NBA players in film.

Best

1 - Uncut Gems (2019) (NBA Player: Kevin Garnett)

The Safdie Brother’s taut, heart-attack-inducing opus is not only easily the best movie to feature an NBA player in a significant role, it is arguably one of the very best films of the past decade. Adam Sandler’s brilliant turn as jewel dealer and gambling addict Howard Ratner is enough to solidify this 135 minute ball of stress as an instant classic, to say nothing of the Safdie’s claustrophobic and frenzied script and directing. But if you need further argument for why this film deserves its seat atop an NBA players-in film list, look no further than Kevin Garnett’s inspired turn as a fictionalized, and slightly crazed, version of himself. The plot of Uncut Gems completely hinges on the actions of Garnett’s character, and he sells every second of it with an intensity and nuance that really makes this film. A critical and commercial success, Uncut Gems really gave new meaning to Kevin Garnett’s nickname “The Big Ticket” and is essential viewing for everybody, basketball fan or not.

2 - Airplane! (1980) (NBA Player: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar)

Next up on the list we, weirdly enough, have a film by another set of brothers, David and Jerry Zucker, and starring another all-time NBA big man and defensive powerhouse in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Since the very dawn of film as a medium--seriously, look up Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900)--parodies have been a popular subgenre of comedy. Despite its popularity, the parody has often proven itself more difficult for filmmakers to get their hands around than one might think. For every Scary Movie or Spaceballs, there exist ten Meet the Spartans, or Disaster Movies, or even Men In Tights, a movie I recently rewatched and discovered, to my horror, had not aged well at all. Airplane!, however, is the rare parody that not only has withstood the test of time in the eyes of audiences and critics, its acclaim has only risen. If you’ve seen it before, I’m sure you’ll remember the scene of Kareem getting lambasted for his lack of effort on defense by a child in the cockpit, and if you haven't, go check it out! Forty four years later, this comedy has still got a lot of laughs to give.

3 - Space Jam (1996) (NBA Player: Michael Jordan, and so many more)

When I set out to write this article, I wanted to keep my list centered around movies featuring NBA players that weren't specifically about basketball. But as I started putting pen to paper, it felt disingenuous to not include easily the most iconic movie to ever contain any amount of NBA players. I’m not sure I really need to write why this movie deserves a spot on this list or why you should go watch it. If you haven’t seen Space Jam before, I don't believe you, and if you’ve seen Space Jam before and somehow didn’t like it, I can't help you. Starring Michael Jordan and featuring so many NBA players in supporting and cameo roles I would eat up the rest of my word count just by listing them, Space Jam combines the electricity of basketball, the visual ingenuity of the combination of live action and animation pioneered in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and the iconic roster of the Looney Tunes. A piece of every Millennial and Gen-Z’s childhood, what more needs to be said?

Worst

1 - Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) (NBA Player: Lebron James, and so many more)

I couldn’t add Space Jam to my best list above without regrettably having to write about this absolute dumpster-fire of a legacy sequel here. Shameful admission time: Maybe I had been clouded by my childhood nostalgia for its predecessor, but I had decently high hopes for this one. I’m not a fan of Amy Schumer’s dull Trainwreck, but I thought Lebron James’ cameo in the film was one of its bright spots and that he was decently funny. Any notions I may have held about Lebron James’ acting ability were quickly and forcibly crushed by this movie. Lebron’s lackluster performance combined with mediocre animation, and a tired and worn out plot, gives us one of the more disappointing franchise additions in recent memory. Truly a movie filled with baffling choices at every turn, during a sequence where the court is surrounded by characters from all eras of Warner Bros’ properties, we are shown the nuns from Ken Russell’s incredibly controversial cult film The Devils, which is both kind of cool, and also a genuinely perplexing choice. Who is this movie for? This one should have been thrown in the dumpster the second Michael Jordan decided not to return.

2 - Kazaam (1996) (NBA Player: Shaquille O’Neal)

In the same year that Michael Jordan was releasing Space Jam Shaq was busy playing Kazaam, the 5000 year old rapping genie who grants wishes out of his magical boombox. I have to be completely honest here: Shaq, always the business man, and a man famous for not saying no to a cashable check, has a couple movies that could easily have ended up on this list in Kazaam’s place. It felt cruel to include multiple on the list so I’ve stuck with one. Also, as terrible as Kazaam is, it's just terrible enough that a group of friends and your favorite substances can turn this movie into a great time. If you’ve ever wanted to see Shaq don stereotypically oriental garb, rap, feud with a small child, and demonstrate terrible CGI, this may just be the film for you.

3 - Juwanna Mann (2002) (NBA Player: Rasheed Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo, Vlade Divac, Muggsy Bogues)

Transphobic! Watching would be a waste of time.