The Top 40 Basketball Movies - #7. White Men Can't Jump

 The Top 40 Basketball Movies - #7. White Men Can't Jump

The king of Yo Mama jokes. I think it's my favorite basketball movie. A favorite of Stanley Kubrick. The three main characters are all likable but at the same time they are really annoying characters as well. I would have loved to have watched the new remake but it's just on Hulu at the moment and I wasn't waiting that long to do this list. Our third Woody Harrelson movie on here after Semi-Pro and Champions. Woody Harrelson was a better basketball player than Wesley Snipes in real life but both went through intense basketball camp and training. They had a real dunk bet just like in the movie. Our last Cylk Cozart appearance as well (I think). Kadeem Hardison from A Different World and his double glasses are here. Director Ron Shelton, who wrote most of the movie in one night, is no stranger to sports movies having peaked immediately with Bull Durham, but also doing Cobb, Tin Cup, Play It to the Bone as well as doing some writing on Blue Chips, Bad Boys 2 (not a sports movie) and The Great White Hype. Shelton sued the studio over breach of contract and shut down sequel talk, at least for 30 years. He wanted to find actors that could do the part of ballplayers so Keanu Reeves got cut. Charlie Sheen turned the Billy part down. This movie should serve warning to anyone with gambling issues, don't double down. Sidney Deane and Billy Hoyle are two of the best street hustlers and Woody's Billy gets the first punch in but can't stay out of trouble for more than 2 minutes. His girlfriend Gloria, played by Rosie Perez tries his best with Billy but she isn't enough to overcome his hustling lifestyle. The movie belongs in the top 10. I like adding the consensus internet rankings as a part of this list to add some debate within myself to see if I'm being too objective about a particular movie. In the case of Hoop Dreams, I think people give really good scores to documentaries in general, but it's not my thing so there is some natural contrast. Why would this be the 17th best basketball movie? The characters? Not enough stakes as it doesn't involve teams, but mostly the lives of these few people. 68 Rotten tomatoes score isn't bad, nor is a 6.8 from IMDB, but it does get beat by Believe In Me (#23). Obviously I recommend it and will more than likely watch it more times in my future.

Movie	Rotten Tom	Rotten Tom Aud	IMDB	Internet Rank	My Rank
7. White Men Can't Jump	77	68	6.8	17	1
8. He Got Game	80	83	6.9	8	11
9. Uncut Gems	91	52	7.4	13	9
10. One on One	88	75	6.5	15	12
11. Above the Rim	52	82	6.6	18	10
12. Champions	59	95	6.7	12	17
13. BASEketball	41	74	6.5	28	2
14. Glory Road	55	81	7.2	14	18
15. Finding Forrester	74	79	7.3	10	22
16. Rebound: The Legend of Earl “The Goat”	50	94	7.6	6	27
17. Inside Moves	50	77	7.0	19	16
18. Hoop Dreams	98	92	8.3	2	35
19. Uncle Drew	61	48	5.7	32	6
20. Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story	50	99	6.9	11	28
21. The Winning Season	50	55	6.6	26	15
22. Fast Break	50	59	6.1	30	13
23. Believe in Me	60	74	7.0	16	29
24. High Flying Bird	91	50	6.2	20	26
25. "O"	64	58	6.1	22	25
26. Forget Paris	48	56	6.5	29	19
27. Sunset Park	13	83	5.9	31	21
28. Game Day	50	82	5.4	25	30
29. Blue Chips	37	51	6.2	33	23
30. Amateur	60	66	5.9	24	32
31. The Air Up There	21	35	5.5	38	20
32. Space Jam	43	63	6.5	27	31
33. Semi-Pro	22	38	5.8	36	24
34. Heaven Is a Playground	50	84	5.8	21	39
35. Hurricane Season	50	69	6.5	23	38
36. Teen Wolf	42	52	6.1	34	34
37. Boogie	42	57	5.2	35	36
38. Rebound	14	38	5.1	40	33
39. Slam Dunk Ernest	50	31	4.5	37	37
40. Eddie	17	36	5.2	39	40