Four wild sports scandals featured in ‘Untold’
Sports culture loves to celebrate legends. The trophies, the victory speeches, the highlight reels – you know, the whole show. But anyone who has paid attention knows the real drama is never ever on the field. It brews in locker rooms, locker-room-adjacent hotel rooms and management offices, and before you know it, private estates and nightclubs are involved.
But one thing that sports have taught us over the years is that glory is public, and downfall is personal. And that contrast fuels some of the most unforgettable stories athletes leave behind, just like the one in chat today: Untold.
Netflix’s Untold basically thrives on this. For all we know, this series does not rely on recycled headlines or sensational reels floating around the internet. You see, people who lived these stories hold the microphone and revisit moments the world thought it already understood.
The newest batch of films pushes that idea further than ever. We go from a former NBA superstar facing a near-fatal overdose to a chess controversy that spread like wildfire on the internet. Four completely different scandals, but one shared thread.
So let us break them down. If sports drama is something that gets you going, you need to have a closer look at the four explosive stories featured in the latest season of Untold.
Four wild sports scandals featured in Untold
Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom
Every sports fan knows that at one point, Lamar Odom was untouchable on the court. He was an NBA champion, Sixth Man of the Year, and part of a powerhouse Lakers era. You could tell that this era was built to last. On the other hand, his public life always moved fast. But nothing prepared the world for what happened at the Love Ranch in 2015. His near-fatal overdose became one of the biggest tabloid storms of the decade, and most coverage flattened him into nothing but a headline.
Untold pulls that narrative apart and goes deeper into his childhood, and explores the trauma he carried. He naturally had the pressure of fame, and this film will also talk about the complicated web of addiction that followed him through his career. It does not excuse anything; rather, it explains it. The documentary gives Odom space to talk through the moments that nearly ended his life and also the recovery that followed. More than a scandal, this chapter turns into a story about survival and how thin the line can be between control and collapse.
Untold: Chess Mates
Even people who had never watched a single match knew about the Magnus Carlsen versus Hans Niemann controversy. It started with one unfortunate match that turned the entire chess world upside down. Carlsen withdrew, and Niemann fired back. Cheating allegations spread across every platform. Fans, analysts, grandmasters, you name it: everyone had an opinion.
Untold lays out what happened behind all that noise. It traces the timeline and examines the evidence and the speculation that came after. And for those who are wondering, yes, the match will be examined. The film also focuses on the reputational blow both players faced, because careers built on precision and credibility can shift in a snap when a scandal such as this hits. Sadly, the tension around a potential future rematch still hangs in the air, and this documentary will help you realise that nothing about this story is fully settled… Yet.
Untold: Jail Blazers
The early 2000s Portland Trail Blazers had enough talent to beat almost anyone. But the team never got to be known for that, because every off-court issue turned into a headline. Arrests, clashes in the locker room, and constant media attention created a reputation the public would not let go of. Soon, the nickname “Jail Blazers” started floating around, and it followed the players everywhere. It shaped how people talked about them and how the press covered them. The way their careers were viewed even after they moved on.
Untold aims to take that reputation apart. The film looks at how race and player individuality, and most importantly, the media bias fed into the narrative and how young athletes can get swallowed by the attention they never asked for. It becomes clear that this team had real potential, yet the story around them grew bigger than their actual basketball, turning one of the league’s most interesting rosters into a cautionary tale.
Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill
Michael Barisone was a respected figure in the elite equestrian world. He was an Olympian, a coach, someone whose reputation carried weight in the sport. That is why the shooting at his training facility shocked nearly everyone who followed equestrian competition. It started as a growing tension at Hawthorne Hill that eventually turned into a shooting that left one woman seriously injured and led to Michael Barisone being charged with attempted murder.
Untold talks about how things reached that point. It shows the disagreements and the different versions of what happened. Can you imagine the mental pressure everyone was under? Well, Untold’s about to do that and will also cover the trial that followed. For a sport known for discipline and control, this case exposed how issues with mental health and personal conflict can build and then explode in places people usually see as peaceful.