Netflix continues to curate one of the better repositories of streamable basketball documentaries. I crushed through the entire catalog to get to the best basketball documentaries on Netflix today.
I’ve said it before. I’m a strange basketball fan. I never thought much about basketball or sports in general until well into my thirties. So, when I did pick up this strange fascination with every aspect of the hardwood, from history to strategy and everywhere around and between, documentaries were essential to filling in the 30 years worth of lore I had missed out on.
If you’re into basketball and you’re looking for something to watch, I’ve got you covered…
- The best basketball movies on Netflix
- Every basketball-related Episode of ESPN’s 30-for-30
- The best basketball movies of all time
- The best basketball movies on Disney Plus
But yeah, without further ado…
Bill Russell: Legend (2023)
Bill Russell is one of the most important figures in the sport. If you’re a fan of the NBA, you’ve gotta be aware of him, but you may have overlooked some of the incredible details of his legacy. I’m a sucker for basketball history, so this film is a perfect blend for me.
This man won 11 championships in a 13 year career. Before Kareem, before Wilt, before Jordan, there was Bill Russell, dominating the league and breaking the trail for these modern legends to roll through decades later.
He was the first black superstar in the NBA, and the first black coach in the league at a time when being black in the NBA was a despicably rough go. But it wasn’t just raw talent that helped him gnaw away at these barriers, it was a courageousness, a powerful strategic mind and a remarkable sense of what is right.
This is a long one, pushing up over the 3-hour mark. But it’s worth the investment for a firm understanding of what Bill did for both basketball and civil rights.
Stylistically, this is a little closer to a Ken Burns doc than The Last Dance. It’s a little slower, meandering through impassioned interviews and supporting knowledge. You’ll want a genuine interest in basketball and basketball lore to really get hooked in here. But if you love NBA history, this is easily one of the best basketball documentaries around.
The Last Dance (2020)
This was a real big thing for awhile there, an appendage of the cultural zeitgeist. This 10-episode series chronicles the rise of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
For those of us who lived through the Jordan era, it’s an interesting dive into a personality that dominated the 90’s psyche. Personally, I have my doubts in terms of MJ as the basketball GOAT, but if you frame the title to the 90’s and American popular culture, his claim is uncontested.
And it’s a fun, binge-worthy watch. You’re not getting lost in stats or historical background here. More often than not, we’re focused on actual play and steaming hot takes on one of the most legendary legacies in basketball history. It sets a pace that sets up just about anyone, true basketball fan or otherwise, to find themselves deeply involved before they realize how much time has passed.
So yes, this is a project in terms of time commitment, but the episodes fly by. I would not have considered myself a basketball fan in the 90’s, so a lot of this was relatively fresh to me. This series left me with a greater appreciation for the 90’s Bulls and every character in their story from Phil Jackson to Dennis Rodman to Steve Kerr and beyond. I genuinely enjoyed gaining a better understanding of what these personalities brought to the team and how they moved around MJ.
The Redeem Team (2022)
Kobe and the 2008 US Olympic Basketball team battle for redemption, 4 years after settling for bronze in the Athens games. The story was compelling when it was happening, even if it was overshadowed by Michael Phelps. And it is compelling in documentary form as well.
The US dominated Olympic basketball in the 90’s, when NBA pros were first allowed to compete. They went on a 24-game run from 92′ until 04′.
But in 2004, the team just didn’t work. There were issues on and off the court. Early on, they gave up a practice game to Italy and their first official loss in years to Puerto Rico.
All said and done, Argentina would take the gold and Italy the silver. It was an unexpected upset for a dominant basketball culture and a team of legends: LeBronn, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, etc.
And in 2008, we got The Redeem Team. Headed by Coach K and captained by Kobe, the team delivered an emphatic gold medal performance. This documentary takes us on that journey, showing these basketball greats at work, bringing Men’s Basketball Gold back to the US.
The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life (2020)
This series examines the philosophy of athletics coaching. Each episode details a specific well-known coach. Two of the 6 episodes in the series cover basketball coaches. It kinda makes sense. Basketball and coaching philosophy are something of an item.We have Wooten.
One of the 2 episodes covers Doc Rivers, an iconic and polarizing NBA coach. He shares some of the wisdom that led him to a championship with with the 2008 Celtics.
The other episode covers Dawn Staley, coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Staley holds 3 gold medals and 5 SEC coach of the year awards. She is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats as both a player and a coach. Staley shares some insight as a woman in the male-dominated world of professional sports.
The Untold Series
Untold is a series of sports documentaries on Netflix. This series takes some clear notes from the playbook of ESPN’s 30 for 30. That’s not to suggest that these documentaries don’t hold their own. They definitely do.
The theme that holds this series together is honest storytelling. The creators have made an effort to tell dramatic stories where the participants are willing to speak candidly and offer valid portrayals of events as they occurred. This makes for some compelling insight.
Untold: Malice at the Palace (8/10/2021)
Kicking off the entire series as the first installment in August of 2021, this is the story of the infamous brawl that erupted in the stands at a Pacers vs. Pistons game on November 19, 2004.
It was an early season game at the Detroit Piston’s arena in Auburn Hills, Michigan. the iconic arena, known as The Palace, was packed. The Pistons had overcome the Pacers for the Eastern Conference championship at the end of the previous season. Tensions were high.
Near the end of the game, Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace (aaka Metta Sandiford-Artest) ) fouled Pistons star Ben Wallace. This set off an on-court brawl which would end up spreading into the stands.
Through interviews from players, coaches, and fans, the documentary examines the root causes of the brawl, its far-reaching effects on the league and how this on-court drama would spread and damage the reputations of the league, the players involved, and the handful of fans implicated in spreading the melee.
Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul (8/30/2022)
In 2007, NBA referee Tim Donaghy was caught gambling on games he was officiating. This guy was caught, red-handed, fixing NBA games for profit. You’ve got a story here that reaches deep into the sports world, organized crime, and the FBI.
And the scandal itself puts into question the validity of modern competition. The motivation is there, and only growing with the proliferation of online sports gambling platforms. Not a great vibe for sports fans hoping for fair and balanced officiating, but it makes for a fascinating watch.
Untold: The rise and Fall of AND1 (8/23/2022)
Just what the title says. Interviews with professional basketball players, streetball legends, and former AND1 employees are woven together to tell the story of the cultural phenomenon that was AND1.
The brand seemingly came out of nowhere in the nineties, putting streetball into the spotlight. Sure enough, a business built on a counter culture to the pomp and excess of the NBA would ultimately fall victim to corporate greed and plain old stagnation.
Tony Parker: The Final Shot
This one just misses the mark. The dude is a legend in France and that’s fuel enough for interest. But Parker has played that in some weird directions with his rap album, etc.
This documentary follows Parker’s career , from his early days as a high school basketball phenom in France, to his stint in the NBA. It includes interviews from a variety of sources and offers a personal look at the life and career of an NBA great. If you’re a fan of Parker specifically, this is worth a watch. Otherwise, not so much.
Basketball or Nothing
This documentary follows the Chinle High School boys basketball team in Arizona as they fight to win the state championship. The film follows the team over the course of the season, and offers a unique look at the lives of these young men, as well as the importance of basketball in their community.
Last Chance U: Basketball (2021)
This is a basketball spinoff of the Last Chance U concept that started with a 2016 Football doc. It covers The East LA Huskies as they fight towards a state championship. I really appreciate this one as a basketball documentary series that gets into the game itself. We’re not hung up on any superstar personalities here, just some young players trying to get better.
Takeaways
Now, if you’re looking to stream the best basketball documentaries, in general, I’d probably have to point you towards HBO Max for just an impressive quantity and quality. Espn+ and Disney are close behind, mostly because of the extensive and captivating 30 for 30 series.
However, Netflix does hold its own. The Last Dance, alone, is enough to put Netflix on the basketball documentary map. It’s a fantastic depiction of what is easily one of the most fascinating teams and generations in NBA history. If you’re even just barely interested in basketball, this series is a massive bingefest.
And there are plenty of other heart warming and compelling stories about basketball here to dig into, covering everything from the infamous Pacers Pistons blowup in Malice at the Palace to the underdog run of a group of indigenous hoopers in Arizona with Basketball: All or Nothing. there’s something here for everyone.
Hope you’ve found one of these, the best basketball documentaries on Netflix, to have piqued your curiosity and I’d honestly recommend giving any of these films a shot.