It seems like football and baseball get the majority of the shine when it comes to being depicted on television and in movies. From Friday Night Lights to Moneyball, those sports are often at the forefront but there have also been a handful of notable basketball films and series over the years.
Of course, at the center of those stories are typically great players. Men and women who shine on the court and carry their team, often to victory. Some fictional players have stood out above others throughout history and that's without counting someone like Michael Jordan, who simply played himself in Space Jam.
10 Lewis Scott (Celtic Pride)
The entire premise of the 1996 comedy Celtic Pride is built around how good Lewis Scott (Damon Wayans) is at basketball. He's the star player of the Utah Jazz and he gets kidnapped by two superfans of the Boston Celtics so he misses game 7 of the NBA Finals against them.
Scott was clearly good enough to get his team to that position but it's the way that he grows that makes him truly great. He made it back in time for game 7 but Utah struggled as he hogged the ball. When he realized that he needed to share more with his teammates, Utah rallied and won the championship.
9 Lola Bunny (Space Jam & Space Jam: A New Legacy)
In the original 1996 Space Jam, the legendary Michael Jordan was recruited by the Looney Tunes to lead their team against the Monstars. It quickly became clear that they desperately needed him since Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the rest of the gang weren't any good at basketball.
That's when they brought in Lola Bunny (voiced by Kath Soucie), who was the only Tune that could really produce on the court. In the big game, she scored eight points and didn't turn the ball over once (even Jordan did during the game). Lola was again a shining star in Space Jam: A New Legacy (voiced by Zendaya).
8 Jimmy Chitwood (Hoosiers)
In the eyes of many moviegoers and basketball fans, the best film within the sport is very likely 1986's Hoosiers. The story is loosely based on the Milan High School team from 1954 as it focuses on a small-town team going to the state championship.
The best player on that squad was certainly Jimmy Chitwood (Maris Valainis). Although the basketball scenes themselves weren't spectacular, Chitwood was often on fire. He was shown to rack up the points despite playing in an era where games were much lower scoring than in the modern day.
7 Clarence Withers (Semi-Pro)
The main character of 2008's Semi-Pro is Will Ferrell's Jackie Moon as a player-owner but he's definitely not the best when it comes to his skills on the court. His Flint Tropics often struggled but they began playing better thanks in large part to the performance of Clarence Withers (André Benjamin).
For starters, Withers was good enough to earn several great nicknames from Sugar Dunkerton to Downtown "Funky Stuff" Malone. He also displayed a knack for scoring and his alley-oop was so impressive that nobody even knew how to react when he first did it. Withers ended up moving from the ABA to the NBA but remained loyal to his original teammates.
6 Nathan Scott (One Tree Hill)
One of the biggest selling points of One Tree Hill, when it premiered back in 2003, was that basketball would play a major part. The long-running series originally centered on a pair of brothers who typically competed for playing time at the same position on their high school team.
Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) was certainly good but Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) seemed to be just a bit better. Maybe it was due to Lafferty actually being skilled in real life, as it made his scenes on the court feel more natural and realistic.
5 Uncle Drew (Uncle Drew)
It's not often that a comedic commercial can spark a feature-length movie but that's what happened with 2018's Uncle Drew. The film put the focus on the character from that commercial, Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving), an elderly man who schools younger players on the court.
That gave the movie a streetball feel and was boosted by the appearances of NBA players like Aaron Gordon and legends like Shaquille O'Neal and Reggie Miller. Of course, Drew is at the center, managing to do things that no person his age can likely physically pull off. Along with his talent, he also acts as a great leader who brings the team together and gives Dax (Lil Rel Howery) the confidence to hit a game-winner.
4 Monica Wright (Love & Basketball)
There are two fantastic players worthy of being ranked among the best in 2000's Love & Basketball. One is Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and the other is Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan). McCall was tremendous and relied on his athleticism to stand out on the court but injuries cut his career short
Meanwhile, Wright was just as good but also had to go through various hardships like not being taken seriously, playing overseas, and getting past some anger issues. She weathered all that and became a WNBA star, even apparently returning after giving birth at the end of the film.
3 Billy Hoyle (White Men Can't Jump)
Like Love & Basketball, the two lead characters in 1992's White Men Can't Jump both have a claim to be considered the best basketball players ever put on film. First, there's Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), one of the finest streetball players you'll ever see and he's not afraid to tell you about it.
His partner and rival is Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson), who gets a slight nod over Sidney. Billy beat Sidney twice early on when Sidney underestimated him and he somewhat led the way for them as a team. Plus, Billy had a past as a successful college basketball player, which is further proof of his talent.
2 Thomas Sheppard (Above The Rim)
An argument could be made for Kyle Lee Watson (Duane Martin), the protagonist of 1994's Above the Rim, as he was loosely based on real NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury. However, he's surpassed by Thomas "Shep" Sheppard (Leon Robinson), who acts as his mentor and father figure.
Throughout the film, it's mentioned that Shep was a standout high school player but he doesn't get to show it until the end. Shep entered a game alongside Kyle and went on a tear, hitting every shot seen and putting up major points in a short time. Then, he got the game-winning assist on a pass to Kyle to top it off.
1 Jesus Shuttlesworth (He Got Game)
Being portrayed by an actual NBA legend likely helped make Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen) so great. In 1998's He Got Game, Allen delivered the only acting role of his career and it was arguably the best performance by an NBA player on the big screen.
In the film, Shuttlesworth was the top high school player in the nation, on the fast track to a top-notch college career and becoming a high pick in the NBA Draft. He managed to beat his tough father (Denzel Washington) in a game for the right to choose his own future because of how impressive he was on the court.
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