For all you ballers (and wannabe ballers) out there, we have a treat today, a list of the 11 best basketball documentaries on Netflix Streaming in 2015.
When Dr. Naismith decided to hang two baskets on the walls of his gym so that his football players could stay in shape during the winter, he couldn’t have imagined that he invented a new sport. From such a humble beginning, the second-most popular sport on the planet was born. Today, basketball is played all over the world and is only surpassed by soccer in terms of global popularity. As such, it spawned many movies about the people who play it and the sport itself. White Men Can’t Jump, He’s Got Game, Hoosiers, and many more are considered a must for every true basketball fan.
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But besides fiction, we enjoy watching basketball documentaries as well. Unlike Hollywood blockbusters, these tell true stories and follow real people. They share some elements with their Hollywood cousins, like drama and romance, but most of all, they depict a love for the game and the sacrifices required to become a real player. Basketball (like other sports) is a meritocracy, unlike the privilege on display in the 11 best business documentaries on Netflix Instant in 2015. Lives of the two best NBA players today, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, couldn’t be more different. One is born to a 16-year-old single mother, while the other is the son of an NBA star. Yet they both reached the NBA finals in 2015 and played against each other there. Talent and dedication always trump privilege, at least in basketball. That is why the ball is life.
When you get to the top of the list, you’ll see one name missing – Hoop Dreams. The reason for its absence is that we covered it in our best sports documentaries on Netflix article.To rank best basketball documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2015, we had to devise a system. Going simply by IMDb rating just wouldn’t cut it, although we did include it in our final ranking. We also went over several lists on most popular sites in order to get an accurate feel on public opinion. We mixed it all together and came up with a genuine Insider Monkey ranking. Let’s see who made it to our list of 11 best basketball documentaries on Netflix streaming in 2015.
11. Lenny Cooke
Site rank 1, IMDb rank 1; Overall Score 2
Directed by Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
Lenny Cooke should have been one of the greats. His potential is best illustrated by the fact that his generation of high school players included LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony and Cooke was considered better than both of them. But along the way something happened and Cooke never got to play in the NBA. Cooke’s story is a sobering tale of how one mistake can ruin not just one’s career, but life as well. The film was an official selection for the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013.
10. Soul in the Hole
Site rank 5, IMDb rank 5; Overall Score 10
Directed by Danielle Gardner
Coach Kenny Jones and his team Kenny’s Kings are the title contenders in a Brooklyn summer streetball league. While it is mainly about basketball and the relationship coach Kenny has with his extremely talented players, this movie also depicts what it was like being black and growing up on the streets of Brooklyn in the 1990s. The film won several awards, Independent Spirit: Truer Than Fiction Award among them. It was also screened in many festivals, both home and abroad.
9. The Year of the Yao
Site rank 2, IMDb rank 8; Overall Score 10
Directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern
That the Chinese can’t play basketball was a well established stereotype in the NBA. Then Yao Ming arrived and everything changed. The film follows the Chinese basketball prodigy’s transition from the Chinese Basketball League to the NBA and shows us how Yao coped with it, trying to create a place for himself both on and off the court. His rivalry with Shaquille O’Neal, who was dominating the NBA paint at the time, is also portrayed.
8. The Fathers of the Sport
Site rank 8, IMDb rank 2; Overall Score 10
Directed by Xavier Mitchell
The Fathers of the Sport traces the lineage of basketball from LeBron, Kobe and Michael all the way back to asphalt playgrounds in the 60s and 70s where streetball was born. It tells us a story of how players born on these playgrounds from Harlem to LA influenced mainstream basketball, brought flair and excitement into the NBA, and created the sport we know and love today. Many of the players who helped achieve this are unknown today, but some made it on the big scene and earned worldwide recognition. Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Irving, and others tell us their story.
7. Elevate
Site rank 6, IMDb rank 4; Overall Score 10
Directed by Anne Buford
American prep schools and their basketball programs can be intimidating even to regular US kids, both academically and on the court. Imagine then how four kids from West Africa felt when they stepped into one, in a world completely alien to them. They arrived in America on a basketball scholarship, determined to improve their lives, but challenges set in front of them sometimes seem overwhelming. From learning the language to driver’s ed, everything is a struggle. The fact that they are Muslims in a predominantly white Christian school doesn’t help their odds, but they remain determined to make their NBA dreams a reality.
6. Without Bias
Site rank 5, IMDb rank 6; Overall Score 11
Directed by Kirk Fraser
University of Maryland prodigy Len Bias was hailed as the second Michael Jordan. He was picked second in the 1986 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, the reigning champions. The basketball world was stoked at the prospect of him pairing up with Larry Bird and the rest of the Celtics team. The hype surrounding him was through the roof. The rest of the Eastern Conference was in dread. Two days after the draft, Len Bias died from a cocaine overdose. Kirk Fraser’s film explains why Bias is considered one of the greatest players that never played in the NBA.
5. Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals
Site rank 1, IMDb rank 11; Overall Score 12
Directed by Ezra Edelman
A Courtship of Rivals follows an amazing story of two of the greatest players that ever played the game and how their relationship transitioned from that of bitter rivals to lifelong friends. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird made the 1980s in the NBA. Both of them revolutionized the game with their unorthodox playing styles, Magic as a 6’9’’ point guard and Bird as the world’s first “stretch four.”
4. The Heart of the Game
Site rank 3, IMDb rank 10; Overall Score 13
Directed by Ward Serrill
The Roosevelt Roughriders are a high school girls’ team, coached by a rookie coach, Bill Resler. Despite their underdog status, the team manages to qualify for the state championship tournament, but loses their first game. Two years later, they get a much-needed boost in star player Darnellia Russell. Their path to the championship is interrupted when Russell becomes pregnant. The movie documents her fight to remain eligible to play for Roosevelt Roughriders against the bureaucracy of the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association).
3. The Iran Job
Site rank 6, IMDb rank 7; Overall Score 13
Directed by Till Schauder
In 2008, tensions between the US and Iran were at their highest. In the midst of an international crisis threating to plunge the entire Middle East into chaos, a young American basketball player makes one of the most controversial decisions in recent sports history. Kevin Sheppard decides to accept an offer from Shiraz basketball club and goes to play in Iran, just in time for the Iranian Green Movement. The film depicts an interesting mix of sport, politics and social interactions in a volatile situation.
2. More Than a Game
Site rank 7, IMDb rank 11; Overall Score 18
Directed by Kristopher Belman
12 years after Michigan’s iconic team, Akron’s St. Vincent–St. Mary High School got their version of the Fab Five, led by LeBron James. From the run-down gym where they started together all the way to national recognition, five boys try to stay together, but LeBron’s constant spotlight attention is making that very difficult. The most hyped high school basketball player in history, LeBron led his team to a national championship, earning Ohio Mr. Basketball and Gatorade National Player of the Year awards in the process. The film depicts how these teenagers coped with sudden fame that descended on them, their relationship and controversy that surrounded them.
1. Doin’ It in Park
Site rank 11, IMDb rank 9; Overall Score 20
Directed by Kevin Couliau and Bobbito Garcia
There are more than 700 outdoor basketball courts in New York, with an estimated half a million players. Kevin Couliau and Bobbito Garcia visited 180 of them in order to create the film that depicts not only pickup games but a way of life. One of the most popular sports subcultures, pickup basketball has influenced the pros immensely. All of the breathtaking moves, ankle-breaking crossovers, and powerful dunks came from small courts across the country, but New York remained the center of the pickup ball. “You can play high school or college for four years. You can play pro for a decade. You can play pickup…for life.” No other film on our list illustrates better the saying that ball is life, which is why it is number one among the best basketball documentaries on Netflix Streaming in 2015.
