(Credit: Netflix)

How do you define good basketball movies? The ones where you already know the team’s going to win but you’re still watching till the end like it’s a live match? Or the ones where predictability doesn’t even matter because the real game is happening off the court with a touch of heartbreak? Either way, when it’s done right, it hits deep.

Netflix has clearly caught on to this emotion. The platform’s in this glorious sports phase where for every sport emotion there is a film that has ambition, ego, or people working really hard. And it works. The best basketball movies aren’t those which are really about winning. Those films are about how bad it feels to lose and how desperate people get.

What keeps pulling you in is the humanity of it all. The pressure and the mess that comes with wanting something so badly you forget why you started. It’s never just about athletes, though. It is about anyone who has ever wanted a moment that proves they weren’t wasting their time.

So yeah, these six films are about the game but not just the game. They’re about the obsession and the small victories that feel too big, and the losses that don’t stop chasing you. Basically, everything that makes a basketball story feel like life.

Six Netflix basketball movies you need to watch

Hustle (Jeremiah Zagar, 2022)

If you told people ten years ago that Adam Sandler would make one of the most grounded sports dramas on Netflix, they would have laughed, but when Hustle came out in 2022, it shut everyone up real quick. Sandler played this tired scout who comes across his ridiculously talented player in Spain, and suddenly, the story becomes less about basketball and more about second chances.

The best part? Sandler looks like he is living the role. Sure, we have all grown up watching him in hilarious comedies, but this film proves that no matter what role you give him, he will nail it. He’s all messy passion and late-night exhaustion in Hustle, which feels surprisingly real. And the film has this scrappy, underdog energy that makes you root for everyone involved. You can tell it was made by people who get why the game means so much.

High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh, 2019)

This one is completely wild because the camera barely touches the court, and yet you can’t look away. Steven Soderbergh shot the whole thing on an iPhone. Yes, an actual iPhone, and yet he made it look sharper than most sports blockbusters. High Flying Bird is about an agent trying to outsmart the NBA during a lockout, and it plays out like a chess match in the game of basketball.

André Holland is brilliant here, completely calm while everyone else around him is panicking. The film is extremely clever, and it comes with a warning of blink-and-you-will-miss-it, and it makes you rethink what a basketball movie can even be.

Amateur (Ryan Koo, 2018)

Amateur is a movie that feels like watching talent grow up too fast. Michael Rainey Jr plays this kid who is so good at basketball that adults start treating him like a business opportunity instead of a person. You keep waiting for someone to protect him, and no one really does. It’s painful, but it’s honest.

The film does not have an epic soundtrack or slow-motion shots. Instead, it relies on the intensity of its quiet moments that remind you how heavy expectations can be. You end up thinking about it later, like hours later, wondering if the poor kid ever got a normal childhood.

The Redeem Team (Jon Weinbach, 2022)

Now this one is an emotional movie. It is about that moment when the US basketball team, after years of humiliation, finally decided to fix it. You have got Kobe, LeBron, Wade, and the gods of the court. And they are all trying to prove they’ve still got it. But what makes it special isn’t the winning part; it’s how personal it feels.

The footage is raw, and the interviews are honest, and you can practically feel the weight they’re carrying. It’s not just another basketball doc; it’s a piece of sports history with actual emotions. You’ll probably end up tearing up a little, and that’s fine because no one’s watching.

Untold: Malice at the Palace (Floyd Russ, 2021)

Forget the feel-good stuff for a second because this one’s straight-up intense. Everyone knows about that infamous 2004 brawl between the Pacers and Pistons, but this documentary lets the players finally tell their side. And let me tell you, it’s not what you have heard.

Let’s make one thing clear: Untold is not just about the fight. It is about what happens when the world turns a single bad night into your whole identity. Watching these men carry that stigma for years is both sad and fascinating. It’s raw and uncomfortable, and it kind of forces you to think about how easy it is to judge people when you are not the one being shoved under the spotlight.

Rez Ball (Sydney Freeland, 2024)

Rez Ball is one truly special movie. If you haven’t heard about it before, it is about a Navajo high school team trying to pick itself back up after losing its best player. The best way to describe it would be that the story sticks with you even after the film ends. Most importantly, you don’t need to love basketball to feel what they are feeling.

LeBron James produced it, but the heart of it lies in these kids who just want to win something that matters. It’s beautifully shot and the kind of movie that makes you want to stand up and clap for no reason. It has no filter, and that’s what makes it work.