Celebrate March Madness with this bracket of basketball comedies

With March Madness and the NCAA tournament upon us again, everybody's mind is on college basketball, but it’s not all “Hoop Dreams” when it comes to comedies.

While dramas such as “Hoosiers” and “He Got Game” are slam dunks in the sports-movie canon, most humorous roundball stories venture out of bounds – and not in a good way. “Juwanna Mann”? That deserves a Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. “Like Mike”? Like nope. “Air Bud”? Come on now.

If you're taking a break this weekend from tourney action, or a No. 1 seed's slaughter of a 16 gets too boring to watch, take a shot on one from our ranking of best basketball comedies.

5. ‘The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh’ (1979)

This absurd disco-era gem is the “Major League” of basketball movies. Philadelphia 76ers icon “Dr. J” Julius Erving gets the spotlight as Moses Guthrie, the lone star left of the truly terrible Pittsburgh Pythons when his coach and teammates walk. Ballboy Tyrone (James Bond III) meets an astrologer (Stockard Channing) and pitches the idea to the eccentric owner (Jonathan Winters) that Moses needs a team of fellow Pisces to win. No way that works in real life, but of course this ramshackle crew of misfits goes on an epic championship run, with appearances from Harlem Globetrotter stalwart Meadowlark Lemon, Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Debbie Allen in her first feature film.

4. ‘Space Jam’ (1996)

Before there were a gazillion Avengers in "Infinity War," Bugs Bunny hung with Michael Jordan for a dribbling crossover full of hoops, high jinks and hilarity. One minute Jordan is playing golf with Bill Murray and Larry Bird, and the next, the legendary Chicago Bull is recruited by Bugs, Daffy Duck and the “Looney Tunes” gang to take on alien creatures with the abilities of NBA guys like Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing. While ridiculous and corny, it also speaks to the little kid in all of us who grew up on Bugs antics and/or Jordan dunks.

3. ‘Uncle Drew’ (2018)

Based on the Pepsi commercials featuring NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving’s old man and his penchant for making buckets, the surprisingly soulful comedy centers on embattled streetball coach Dax (Lil Rel Howery), who needs to get a team together for New York City’s annual Rucker Classic to take on his childhood rival (Nick Kroll). Dax’s main recruit is the elderly but still skilled Drew, who yearns to teach “youngbloods” respect for the game. Irving is fabulous immersing himself in Drew’s ankle-breaking moves, but all the basketball stars are top-notch in gray hair and makeup, from Reggie Miller’s nearly blind shooter Lights to Shaquille O’Neal’s kung fu center Big Fella.

2. ‘Teen Wolf’ (1985)

Michael J. Fox was box-office gold with "Back to the Future" but also in this winning combo of sports-movie themes, coming-of-age issues and the ups and downs of being a werewolf. Scott Howard (Fox) has an ordinary high-school existence playing on a substandard basketball squad before he grows hair everywhere (more than a teen boy would get during puberty) and learns of his monstrous nature. Brandishing new confidence, Scott becomes the fanged star of the team and sets his sights on his longtime crush, though the good times don’t last and lessons about being yourself are learned.

1. ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ (1992)

The funniest basketball flick is also one of the greatest: Directed by Ron Shelton ("Bull Durham," "Tin Cup"), the movie tackles relationships and race with pickup hoops games and “Yo mama” jokes aplenty. A pair of trash-talking hustlers start as rivals, with geeky Billy (Woody Harrelson) getting the best of slick Sidney (Wesley Snipes), who underestimates the goofy white dude. But they soon team up to take on bigger fish and are there for each other as they navigate obstacles in their personal lives. "White Men Can't Jump" is as satisfying a take on the sports-movie formula as there’s ever ever been.

Read more about basketball movies:

• March Madness: Stream the 20 best basketball movies to celebrate

• 'We belong in this world, too': 'Champions' puts disabled actors in the spotlight

• 'Space Jam': How LeBron James' 'A New Legacy' pays homage to (and departs from) Michael Jordan's film

• 'The Way Back': Ben Affleck found playing basketball harder than playing an addict in his hoops movie

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: To honor March Madness 2023, here are the 5 funniest basketball movies