If you’re missing basketball and have some extra time on your hands these days, we have some inspiring basketball movies you can stream right now.
The reality of coronavirus quarantine and social distancing has given many of us extra indoor time and taken away the basketball we might have used to fill it. But there’s plenty more basketball to watch than just live games. Plenty of classic games are available to stream and if you’re in the mood for a basketball movie we’ve got you covered too.
All five movies here are documentaries. Sorry if you’re looking for Will Ferrell in an afro wig, Michael J. Fox dunking in a wolf suit or Wesley Snipes with his hat brim folded up. The quality of basketball is just so much better in a documentary. The five movies below are all available to stream right now, although some require subscriptions or free trials.
5. Killer Bees — Fubo.TV (free seven-day trial available)
This documentary was produced by Shaquille O’Neal and looks at the intersection between race, class and basketball in The Hamptons. It ostensibly follows a season for the Bridgehampton varsity team, mostly African-American players from working-class families, in a larger community that is predominantly white and uber-wealthy.
A review from The New York Times pointed out that the film is about much more than the team and its season, saying, “The movie is ultimately less about the players or even the engrossingly shot games than the idea of basketball as a tradition, one that imbues lives with meaning and bonds a community.”
A championship high school basketball team provides pride, tradition and hope for an African American community struggling to survive in the middle of one of the wealthiest communities in America — The Hamptons.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 80 percent