TV shows about (or, at least, somewhat about) basketball

There was a lot of hype around HBO’s “Winning Time,” the story of, well, the rise of the Lakers dynasty. John C. Reilly was playing Jerry Buss! Adam McKay produced! Honestly, modern McKay’s name being attached may have been a negative, and the pilot suffered a bit from his direction. All in all, though, “Winning Time” was a good show with excellent casting. Because it fell out of the zeitgeist, it was canceled after two seasons. Also, you know what character was really good? Jerry West.

Some may call the Clippers the store-brand version of the Lakers. Well, “Clipped” is kind of the store-brand version of “Winning Time.” The show tells the story of the tumult at the end of Donald Sterling’s time as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. “Clipped” was less able to cast actors who look like real people, but, honestly, that’s a weird thing to judge a show on. It’s the writing and directing that you can have more quibbles with.

What if you mixed basketball with issues-based network drama? “The White Shadow” did just that. Ken Howard starred as Ken Reeves, an NBA player who, after an injury ends his career, is hired by his former college teammate to coach the basketball team at Carver High, an impoverished school with a heavily-minority population. It was one of those dramas that would tackle issues of the day like, not just race but drugs and STDs. “The White Shadow” wasn’t a big hit, but over its three seasons was critically acclaimed.

What if every episode of “Saved by the Bell” was about Bayside’s basketball team? That’s basically what “Hang Time” is. It aired during NBC’s Saturday morning block for teenagers (and slightly younger kids) and focused on a high school basketball team. Notably, former NBA player Reggie Theus played head coach Bill Fuller for the first three seasons, and then for the second three the head coach was played by…former NFL player Dick Butkus. Yes, “Hang Time” ran for six seasons. Hey, it was cheap and kept kids’ attention enough, even if, like “Saved by the Bell,” it actually wasn’t that good.

Teen soap “One Tree Hill” had plenty of romance and drama, but also a lot of basketball. The show begins with Lucas Scott joining Tree Hill high school’s basketball team, where his half-brother Nathan is captain. The two have a rivalry, both as basketball players and romantically. Notably, “One Tree Hill” completely cut the basketball stuff for the second season, hoping to bring in more of a female audience. This, in turn, ended up cutting into its male audience, so the basketball returned for season three. “One Tree Hill” would end up running a whopping nine seasons.

The Harlem Globetrotters did not merely hang out with the Scooby gang! No, they had their own Hanna-Barbera cartoon as well. Real members of the Globetrotters from the 1970s were characters, though they didn’t voice themselves. Also, they had a bus driver named Granny and a dog named Dribbles. Basically every episode would see the Globetrotters coming to a town and solving a local conflict with a basketball game. Shockingly, they only managed to get 22 episodes out of that premise.

Think Mike O’Malley is just the host of “Guts?” Wrong! He also hosted “Get the Picture.” Oh, and he created the Starz show “Survivor’s Remorse.” With the help of the cache of LeBron James as a producer, “Survivor’s Remorse” ran for 36 episodes from 2014 until 2017. The show focused on Cam Calloway, played by Jessie T. Usher. After becoming a professional basketball player and moving to Atlanta, he has to navigate which of his friends and family are there for him, and who is just looking for a handout.

David E. Kelley is one of the most successful creatives in television. “Big Shot” was not without its charms, but it is not among his biggest hits, to be sure. On this Disney+ show, John Stamos (Uncle Jesse himself!) plays a hotheaded basketball coach who gets fired from the University of Wisconsin and is left to take a job coaching high school girls’ basketball. If you missed “Big Shot,” we have bad news. This is one of those original shows that Disney+ inexplicably scrubbed from the service.

A bit of animation in the mix. Comedy Central’s original programming has taken a real hit, which is not unusual among basic cable networks. “Legends of Chamberlain Heights” was a cartoon that focused on three benchwarmers on a high school basketball team. Tiffany Haddish provided a voice. Alas, while the show had fans (and did not seem to break the bank, animation wise) it was canceled after two seasons.

LeBron loves producing basketball-related TV shows. He became a billionaire for a reason. “The Crossover” is a family-friendly sports drama that focuses on two brothers, both local basketball phenoms, wondering what adulthood will bring them. Originally, “The Crossover” was going to be a Disney Channel show, but ended up on Disney+. You know, where “Big Shot” used to be.

Alright, now the basketball elements of a few of these shows are less central, but still there. “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” was a popular, reasonably-solid sitcom that ran for 101 episodes. Mark Curry starred as the titular Mr. Cooper. He’s a former NBA player who becomes a substitute teacher and a gym coach. Plus, later he would in fact start coaching basketball, which felt inevitable.

Now, most of “Stranger Things” is about, you know, the Upside Down and monsters and telekinesis. There’s also a decent amount of basketball in the mix, though. Steve, Billy, and later Lucas all play basketball for Hawkins High School. There are several basketball scenes. Multiple main characters play basketball. It works for us.

It’s right in the theme song! Will was playing pickup hoops in the streets of West Philadelphia (where he was born and raised) when he got in a scrape, which led to him being shipped off to Bel-Air. There’s also the episode where Will becomes a star on his high school basketball team.

The McCarthys are a Boston family that loves basketball. They aren’t just diehard fans, but the patriarch of the family, Arthur, is the head coach for a Catholic high school team. The conceit, as laid out in the pilot of “The McCarthys,” is that Arthur hires his son Ronnie to be his assistant, and Ronnie is openly gay and less interested in sports. It was canceled during the first season, with four episodes unaired.

LeBron isn’t the only one who can produce TV shows. Kevin Durant was one of the producers of “Swagger,” a show that was “loosely” based on his experiences. O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ice Cube’s son, starred as Ike “Icon” Edwards, though he was actually a replacement for Winston Duke, who got injured during filming. Also, Quvenzhane Wallis was on the show. Remember her? From “Beasts of the Southern Wild?” Anyway, Apple TV+ gave the show 18 episodes before canceling it.