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Movies like The Basketball Diaries

Key Features:
Drug addiction, Basketball, Coming-of-age, Teenage angst, Street life, Downward spiral, Memoir, Redemption, New York City, Nudity-moderate, Violence-moderate
Tone:
gritty, serious, dramatic
Target Audience:
Drama lovers, Biopic enthusiasts, Gritty realism fans, Addiction awareness advocates
Emotional Arc:
Hope → Despair

The Basketball Diaries

1995-04-21
The Basketball Diaries Poster - Find Similar Movies

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Genres
Drama, Crime
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, James Madio, Lorraine Bracco, Patrick McGaw, Ernie Hudson, Bruno Kirby, Michael Imperioli, Juliette Lewis, Manny Alfaro
Crew
Bryan Goluboff, Scott Kalvert
Rating
7.4(2114 votes)
The Basketball DiariesThe Basketball Diaries
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The Way Back
6.6

A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction, attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.



Kids
Kids(1995)
6.9

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.



Above the Rim
7

Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.



Wolves
Wolves(2016)
5.804

Anthony Keller, star of his NYC high school basketball team, is riding his way to Cornell on a sports scholarship. But he can only maintain his popular jock facade for so long, as his troubled father Lee has a gambling addiction that threatens to derail his dreams both on and off the court.



Q
Q(2014)
5.8

When growing up in a community where gang violence is a way of life and Basketball is a way to escape it.



The Adderall Diaries
5.308

Writer and Adderall enthusiast Stephen Elliott reaches a low point when his estranged father resurfaces, claiming that Stephen has fabricated much of the dark childhood that that fuels his writing. Adrift in the precarious gray area of memory, Stephen is led by three sources of inspiration: a new romance, the best friend who shares his history, and a murder trial that reminds him more than a little of his own story. Based on the memoir of the same name.



Shooting Stars
7.725

The inspiring origin story of a basketball superhero, revealing how LeBron James and his childhood friends become the #1 high school team in the country, launching James's breathtaking career as a four-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and the NBA's all-time leading scorer.



Amateur
Amateur(2018)
6.4

14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.



Hustle
Hustle(2022)
7.718

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.



Hoop Dreams
7.6

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.



Diary of a Nymphomaniac

A chronicle of the life of a middle-class French girl's sexual adventures, her then fall into prostitution, and her ultimate redemption.



He Got Game
6.7

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.



Less Than Zero
6.4

A college freshman returns to Los Angeles for Christmas at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.



mid90s
mid90s(2018)
7.5

In 1990s Los Angeles, a 13-year-old spends his summer navigating between a troubled home life and a crew of new friends he meets at a skate shop.



Rebound
Rebound(2005)
5.594

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.



The Winning Season
6.354

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team



Bad Boys
Bad Boys(1983)
7

Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.



Never Die Alone
5.4

A drug kingpin's rise and tragic fall is witnessed vicariously by a reporter who uses the criminal's diary as the basis for his new book.



In the Game
6.4

A rebellious teenager must travel the country with his sick grandpa to get to his basketball game.



Gridiron Gang
7

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.



White Boy Rick
6.4

The story of Richard Wershe Jr., a teenager who became an undercover informant for the police during the 1980s, and was ultimately arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.



Half Nelson
6.642

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.



Love & Basketball
7.3

Monica Wright and Quincy McCall grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.



Big Time Adolescence
7.186

A seemingly bright and mostly innocent 16-year-old named Mo attempts to navigate high school under the guidance of his best friend Zeke, an unmotivated-yet-charismatic college dropout. Although Zeke genuinely cares about Mo, things start to go awry as he teaches Mo nontraditional life lessons in drug dealing, partying, and dating. Meanwhile, Mo’s well-meaning dad tries to step in and take back the reins of his son’s upbringing.



A Warrior's Heart
5.386

Unable to cope with his military father's sudden death in combat, quick-tempered teen, Conor, starts getting into serious trouble. During an intense lacrosse camp, his father's old friend challenges Conor to get his life on track and become a man.



Gia
Gia(1998)
7.1

Gia Carangi meteorically rises to modeling fame in the late 1970s but becomes overconsumed by persistent loneliness and drug addiction.



The Motorcycle Diaries

Based on the journals of Che Guevara, leader of the Cuban Revolution. In his memoirs, Guevara recounts adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado had while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s.



Boogie
Boogie(2021)
5.7

Alfred “Boogie” Chin is a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation.



Tough Enough
6.788

From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.



Challengers
6.94

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.



More than a Game
7.26

This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.



The Babe
The Babe(1992)
5.6

A chronicle of Babe Ruth's phenomenal story--from his hard knock beginnings at a Baltimore orphanage, to his meteoric rise to baseball superstardom and his poignant retirement from the game. His amazing career included seven American League pennants, four World Series championships, two tempestuous marriages and a wild lifestyle that earned him numerous suspensions.



Hardball
Hardball(2001)
6.5

An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.



The Zombie Diaries
4.3

In the early part of the 21st Century, an unknown virus began spreading among the populous. Within weeks it had engulfed the entire planet, from the smallest communities to the greatest cities. Upon the death of its host, the virus would reanimate the corpse until it was no longer able to support itself. Soon the planet was infested with a new threat - the undead. So begins our journey into the dystopian world of the zombie diaries.



Boyz n the Hood
7.624

In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre to be a decent person. Tre's friends, on the other hand, have little regard for the law and drag the entire neighborhood into a street war...



The Wanderers
6.957

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’



The Rules of Attraction

The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.



The Fighter
7.4

Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.



Afterschool
5.5

A prep-school student accidentally films the drug-related deaths of two classmates, then is asked to put together a memorial video.



Nickel Boys
6.6

Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.



The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she’s sleeping with her mother’s boyfriend.



Everybody’s Everything

The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.



Dope
Dope(2015)
7.061

Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.



The Barbie Diaries
6.4

This movie stars Barbie as a teenage girl, trying to deal with crushes, rivals and friendship as she tries to achieve her dream of working as a news anchor for her school's TV station. She doesn't always make the right decisions, but she's a nice enough character and considerably less "perfect" than she is portrayed in her other films.



A Million Little Pieces

A young drug-addled writer approaching the bottom of his descent submits to two months of agonizing detox at a treatment center in Minnesota.



Adulthood
Adulthood(2008)
6.2

After serving six years for killing his schoolmate, a young man learns that someone is out for revenge.



100 Streets
6

Three extraordinary stories covering infidelity, adoption, and a drug dealer turned actor intertwine as characters meet in the streets of London.



Perfect High
5.757

Sweet suburban teen Amanda is introduced by her new friends to prescription drug-sharing, but the recreational fun soon leads her to a life-altering heroin addiction.



Get Rich or Die Tryin'

A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.



Sun and Concrete
6.986

The four friends Lukas, Julius, Gino and Sanchez are trying to survive the everyday life in Neukölln, Berlin between drugs, gangs, rap, violence and boredom. Until they are one day making a serious decision with serious consequences because of a dead certain plan.



Bleed for This
6.8

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza, who after a near fatal car crash, which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports most incredible comebacks.



Beach Rats
6.051

On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men.



Grind
Grind(2003)
5.9

Four skaters follow their idol on his summer tour in an attempt to get noticed, get sponsored, and become stars themselves.



The Wackness
6.406

Set in New York City in the sweltering summer, The Wackness tells the story of a troubled teenage drug dealer, who trades pot for therapy sessions with a drug-addled psychiatrist. Things get more complicated when he falls for one of his classmates, who just happens to be the doctor's daughter. This is a coming-of-age story about sex, drugs, music and what it takes to be a man.



Rez Ball
Rez Ball(2024)
6.507

After losing their star player, a high school basketball team rooted in Native American culture must unite to keep their state championship dreams alive.



The Town
The Town(2010)
7.2

Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.



Champions
Champions(2023)
6.72

A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.



Frenemies
Frenemies(2012)
5.8

Three pairs of friends relationships go from good to bad and back again. Several couple fall out over girls, boys and work. Can all these couples settle their differences and be friends again?



Home Run
Home Run(2013)
6.2

A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team



London
London(2005)
5.9

London is a drug laden adventure that centers on a party in a New York loft where a young man is trying to win back his ex-girlfriend.



Read It and Weep
5.783

A young girl turns into an A-List celebrity over night when her private journal is accidently published and becomes a best-seller.



Breaking the Limits

Based on true events. In 1980s Poland, Jerzy Górski is a young man who finds the determination to struggle against his drug addiction through athletic training, with the aim of competing in the US Ironman Triathlon.



Flight
Flight(2012)
6.851

Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he's managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober -- but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.



Jamesy Boy
6.404

Based on the true story of teenager James Burns who goes from a suburban street gang to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. He turns his life around in prison thanks to the unexpected friendship he forms with a convicted murderer who becomes his mentor.



Coach Carter
7.6

Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.



High School
5.6

A high school valedictorian who gets baked with the local stoner finds himself the subject of a drug test. The situation causes him to concoct an ambitious plan to get his entire graduating class to face the same fate, and fail.



Lymelife
Lymelife(2008)
6.1

A coming of age dramedy where infidelity, real estate, and Lyme disease have two families falling apart on Long Island in the early eighties. Scott, 15, is at the point in his life when he finds out that the most important people around him, his father, his mother, and his brother, are not exactly who he thought they were. They are flawed and they are human.



Heaven Knows What
6.5

A young heroin addict roams the streets of New York to panhandle and get her next fix, while her unstable boyfriend drifts in and out of her life at random.



Spun
Spun(2003)
6.572

Over the course of three days Ross, a college dropout addicted to crystal-meth, encounters a variety of oddball folks - including a stripper named Nikki and her boyfriend, the local meth producer, The Cook - but all he really wants to do is hook up with his old girlfriend, Amy.



Where the Day Takes You

King is a young man, but he's already a veteran of life on the streets of Los Angeles. The de facto leader of a group of teenage runaways, King acts as a mentor to troubled kids such as gay hustler Little J and junkie Greg. When Heather, a beautiful girl from Chicago, starts hanging out with King and his crew, it changes the dynamic of the gang. However, it seems as though nothing will alter their dangerous lifestyle.



The Princess Diaries

A socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to her, was the crown prince of Genovia. She must make a choice between continuing the life of a San Francisco teen or stepping up to the throne.



Prom Pact
Prom Pact(2023)
7.211

It's prom season, and high school senior Mandy and her best friend and fellow outsider Ben are surrounded by over-the-top "promposals." Mandy is only focused on getting into her dream school Harvard, but as she starts tutoring basketball all-star Graham, she must re-evaluate whether her dream school is worth the cost of everything she believes in.



White Men Can't Jump

Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.



Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

After moving to New Jersey, Lola bags a coveted role in a school play, which earns her the wrath of Carla, the most popular girl in school, who will do anything to ruin Lola's life.



Being Charlie
6.1

Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he's given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.



Hillbilly Elegy
6.7

An urgent phone call pulls a Yale Law student back to his Ohio hometown, where he reflects on three generations of family history and his own future.



The Program
6.371

An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong's performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.



Full-Court Miracle
5.6

Inspired by the true story of University of Virginia basketball star Lamont Carr, the film centers on a group of young Jewish basketball players who search for a coach to help them out of a slump. The main character Alex Schlotsky is inspired by the true story of Alex Barbag and Chad Korpeck.



Diary of the Dead
5.586

A group of young filmmakers encounter real zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.



Baked in Brooklyn
5.2

A recent college graduate decides to sell marijuana on the streets of Manhattan after losing his job at a consulting firm. He soon meets the girl of his dreams. With an unsupportive girlfriend, an increase of clienteles, and the growing threats of being caught or killed, he soon realizes he is in way over his head.



Bullet
Bullet(1996)
6.2

A tough, Jewish ex-con just released from prison crosses a powerful drug dealer and former prison rival in his return to a life of crime.



Superbad
Superbad(2007)
7.258

Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.



This Boy's Life
7.1

When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.



Brotherly Love
6.976

West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.



SubUrbia
SubUrbia(1997)
6.2

A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.



Life of a King
7.213

The true story of one man's mission to give inner city kids of Washington DC something he never had - a future. After being incarcerated for eighteen years, Eugene Brown established the Big Chair Chess Club to get kids off the streets and working towards lives they never believed they were capable of. This is his inspirational story.



White Girl
5.7

Summer, New York City. A college girl falls hard for a guy she just met. After a night of partying goes wrong, she goes to wild extremes to get him back.



That's Life
6

Margherita is a 14 year old living in Milano, who shares everything with her friends. They discuss clothes, music, school and that first kiss. A delightful coming-of-age film in which the here and now is all that really matters. Where every little thing is so very important and where feelings sometimes bubble over. In your teens, there’s no room for anything but friendship and love.



Storytelling
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.



Twelve
Twelve(2010)
5.684

A young drug dealer watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime.



Slam
Slam(2016)
5.775

Samuele is 16 and has a passion for skateboarding. He has big dreams: going to university, move to California, and travel, but things change when he meets Alice, who could be the girl of his life.



The Philly Kid
5.461

A former NCAA champion wrestler is paroled after 10 years in prison. Now, to save a friend's life, in a series of cage fights he must agree to do the impossible - lose.



The Rum Diary
5.9

Tired of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, itinerant journalist Paul Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local San Juan newspaper run by the downtrodden editor Lotterman. Adopting the rum-soaked lifestyle of the late ‘50s version of Hemingway’s 'The Lost Generation', Paul soon becomes entangled with a very attractive American woman and her fiancée, a businessman involved in shady property development deals.  It is within this world that Kemp ultimately discovers his true voice as a writer and integrity as a man.



A Journal for Jordan

Based on the true story of First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, a soldier deployed to Iraq begins to keep a journal of love and advice for his infant son. Back at home, senior New York Times editor Dana Canedy revisits the story of her unlikely, life-altering relationship with King and his enduring devotion to her and their child.



A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.



Loosies
Loosies(2012)
5.683

A young pickpocket in the New York subways, living a fast, free, lifestyle is confronted by a woman whom he had a one night affair with, she informs him that she is now pregnant with his child, he must now choose between continuing the lifestyle he lead or take responsibility for his actions.



The Young Offenders
7.069

Two teenage boys from inner-city Cork steal bicycles and ride off on a 160km quest to find an unrecovered bale of cocaine worth 7,000,000 euros.



Bird
Bird(1988)
6.8

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.



Trainspotting
8

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.

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