Nothing sends audiences out of the theater more pumped up than a good sports movie, and nothing is better for movie night in with friends than a good crazy movie that delivers on the outlandish. Luckily for groups looking to leave the sleepover laughing and pumped up, there are a few rare films that hit the middle of that Venn diagram.
These movies trade-off trick passed and impressive dunks for flips, murders, and bombs, making a mockery of basketball as we all know it. While it may seem like these films have a story of chaos to tell and just happen to tell it on the hardwood, every one of these does have actual basketball games that play a major part in the plot, making them the craziest 10 basketball movies.
Night Of The Dribbler
Maybe no coincidence that the worst movie on the list has the least actual basketball. This straight to video slasher is about a high school that is thrust into chaos when students begin turning up dead at the hands of their mascot, a generic bodysuit with a large basketball for a head.
The acting, story, and even the kills are all terrible, with the movie bordering on so bad its fun territory. Unfortunately it never quite makes the leap and instead is a flat-out chore to get through. Still, it is inarguably crazy and a basketball movie, even if only in reference to the killer’s head.
Monster High
Not to be confused with the popular doll and animated show, this is referring to the 1989 horror-comedy. In this cheesy b-movie, two aliens that also might be demons, steal a device that could cause Armageddon. Luckily for the Earth, a group of high-schoolers decides to try to stop them.
How can these regular teens stop alien monsters with incredible power? Well, the movie’s inclusion on this list spoils that one. The group challenges the aliens to a game of basketball for the fate of the Earth. The aliens agree and put together a team of monsters to compete. This movie shows what a fully live-action Space Jam might look like, and also shows why that is a terrible idea.
Baseketball
The two minds behind South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, star in this raunchy comedy about two slackers who invent their own sport. In an effort to win a game of pick-up basketball, the two make up a series of rules on the spot that combines basketball, baseball, and circus performance into one “sport.”
The movie’s premise still holds up as a fun deconstruction of sports movies and most of the games are entertaining, but the humor feels a little dated. Many of the jokes are painfully unfunny, with many of the others bordering on offensive.
The Sixth Man
The comedy starring Marlon Wayans is more ridiculous than most of the actor’s filmography, which is really saying something. It follows two best friends playing NCAA basketball, but things take a turn when one dies of a heart attack. He’s not gone long, as he returns as a ghost to guide the other player both in life and on the court, making him a basketball star.
Even with such arguably heavy subject matter, the film is a raucous comedy, making light of its own plot at every moment. It is loosely a parody of movies like Angels in the Outfield but overall its an original comedic basketball film. Unfortunately just not a very good one.
Like Mike
Poetically, the quality of films on this list magically switches with this entry. When a young basketball player finds a pair of Michael Jordan’s shoes, he suddenly is able to play with the skill of Jordan in his prime. What could be a simple story of gaining confidence becomes a fantastical tale about a little boy playing in the NBA.
Being an NBA produced film, real teams and players show up throughout the film and get outplayed by Mike in every game. Watching him trounce the NBA is insane, but more importantly, it’s a blast.
Semi-Pro
A Will Ferrell led comedy about a team of average players having their final season as a professional basketball team, Semi-Pro is raunchy, violent, loud, and genuinely funny. The whole cast is committed to bringing the wild characters to life, with Woody Harrelson and Andre 3000 standing out.
While the basketball in this film is pretty straight forward, nothing else is even close. Ferrell’s character Jackie Moon has to figure out how to sell tickets and win games, which leads to things like fighting other teams during commercials, synchronized roller skating, and wrestling a bear.
Air Bud
The classic 90s kid’s movie about a circus dog that makes it rain on the court obviously spawned 14 sequels if you count the Buddies spin-off movies. Somehow, a dog playing on the basketball team of a school it isn’t currently enrolled in isn’t the only part of this film. There is also an angry clown that berates a child.
The movie, of course, validates every decision it makes with one perfect line. “There ain’t nothing in the rules that say a dog can’t play basketball.” The confidence of allowing such a wild thing to happen based on so little is something we could all learn a lesson or two from.
Fireball
This martial arts movie imagines what the sport of basketball would be like if mixed with cage-fighting. In the film, basketball games are held in massive cages, and the winner is often the last team standing or alive, with the objective of getting the ball through the hoop coming secondary.
The movie does what all good crazy movies do and delivers on its wild premise in spades. There are ultra-violent sequences involving trick passes, dunks, jump-shots, and even just dribbling. It’s a chaotic mix that shouldn’t work, but does, making for a fun movie.
Teen Wolf
The audacity of making a werewolf movie where not only does the wolf play for his high school basketball team, but the rest of the world doesn’t even find it that odd commands nothing but respect. This 80s teen comedy is a cult classic in due part to its comedy and story, but in another due to how bizarre it really is.
A teenager goes through particularly strange puberty, involving abnormal abilities and growing hair all over his body. Werewolf hair, not the normal amount of hair. The movie has a lot of plotlines running simultaneously but one that comes into play as a focal point is teen wolf leading his team to victory using his wolf skills. It seems like cheating to me, but if you check the rule book from Air Bud, I’m sure there’s nothing that says a wolf can’t play basketball.
Space Jam
Unsurprising, the best crazy basketball movie is still the classic about a minor league baseball player that has to help a rabbit win a basketball game against aliens that stole the basketball talent of Philadephia center Shawn Bradley. Everything works for the movie, even if it is mostly nostalgia at this point.
The Looney Tunes are in full force, with the humor they are known for, Michael Jordan is there doing basketball things, Bill Murray says quips, and most importantly, the music is absolutely a jam.
