The NBA Goes Hollywood

LeBron James joined a short list of NBA players when he made his big screen acting debut in the film Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. LeBron plays a version of himself in the movie, which is directed by Judd Apatow. From Shaq in Kazaam and Kareem in Airplane!, to Wilt Chamberlain in Conan the Destroyer, here is when the NBA goes Hollywood.

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Dec 6, 2013

The NBA Goes Hollywood

LeBron James

LeBron James didn't exactly have an All-Star supporting cast in 2015 NBA Finals, but he is surrounded by some talented teammates this summer in the highly-anticipated comedy, "Trainwreck." James plays a version of himself in the movie, which is directed by Judd Apatow and stars Bill Hader and Amy Schumer.

Shaquille O'Neal

A man of many talents, the 15-time NBA All-Star parlayed his basketball fame into several movie roles. Shaq played Neon in "Blue Chips," who accepts a Lexus to play for Western University, and took the title role in "Kazaam," a family film about a 5,000-year-old genie who grants a boy three wishes. Even Shaq's notoriety could not rescue "Kazaam," which was critically panned and grossed less than $19 million at the box office. Since retiring from basketball, Shaq has acted in several Adam Sandler films, including "Blended" and "Grown Ups 2."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The NBA's all-time leading scorer played a version of himself in "Airplane!" pretending to simply be pilot Roger Murdock. When called out by a young passenger for actually being the Lakers star and accused of only playing hard in the playoffs, Abdul-Jabbar finally breaks his Murdock character, telling the boy to "tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes."

Ray Allen

Allen was one of the few athletes to achieve critical acclaim for his on-screen work. Critic Roger Ebert praised Allen for his role of Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee's "He Got Game," remarking Allen "is that rarity: an athlete who can act." The Heat guard returned to the big screen in 2001 as Marcus Blake in "Harvard Man."

Dennis Rodman

A character on and off the court, it's no surprise the Worm found himself playing actual roles in movies. Rodman regrettably paired with Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Double Team" and also starred in "Simon Sez" and "Cutaway." While suspended during the 1996-97 NBA season, Rodman used the time off to pursue his hobby for professional wrestling, fighting alongside Hulk Hogan at "Bash at the Beach."

Rick Fox

A Radio, Television and Motion Pictures major at UNC, Fox seemed eager to balance an NBA career and acting one. The three-time NBA champ played for Texas Western in "Blue Chip," paired with Whoopi Goldberg in "Eddie," played ladies man Chick Deagan in "He Got Game" and moved to TV screens to appear in 11 episodes of the HBO drama Oz. Fox's acting career continued after he retired from basketball in 2004 as he appeared in many TV shows and competed on "Dancing With The Stars" in 2010.

Wilt Chamberlain

The Big Dipper was no match for the raw power of Arnold Schwarzenegger when when he betrayed Schwarzenegger's character Conan in "Conan the Destroyer." Conan kills the seven-time scoring champion and 11-time rebounding champion in his only credited movie role.

Julius Erving

The great Dr. J was an early athlete to capitalize on endorsements and also parlayed his on-court fame to on-screen work. Erving played Moses Guthrie, the challenging star player of the abominably bad Pittsburgh Pythons, in "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh." Though Erving starred in the film, he was hardly the lone member of the credits with actual basketball talent as the rosters of Pittsburgh's opponents were filled with basketball royalty including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier and coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Anfernee Hardaway

Hardaway partnered with Shaquille O'Neal as highly touted recruits in "Blue Chips." Hardaway's character, Butch McRae, takes on a house and a job for his mother to play for Nick Nolte at Western University. The 1994 drama is filled with cameos from stars of the basketball world, including Bob Knight, Rick Pitino, Larry Bird and Dick Vitale.

Chuck Connors

Connors was a true do-it-all man, playing professional baseball and basketball before pursuing a 40-year acting career. A member of the 1946 title-winning Rochester Royals, Connor found his role playing lead-role Lucas McCain for five years in the ABC Western series "The Rifleman." The show posted great ratings until the final season in 1962-63 when it was canceled after 168 episodes.

Alex English

The Denver Nuggets star played Amazing Grace Smith, a fictional Boston Celtics player, in the 1987 film "Amazing Grace and Chuck," in which English's character takes up the cause of a 12-year-old boy who refuses to play little league baseball until nuclear weapons are disarmed. Jamie Lee Curtis (inset) played the role of Smith's agent in the movie, with a cameo by Gregory Peck as President of the United States.

Allan Houston

The NBA sharpshooter made his silver screen debut in "Blue Chips" and returned to acting sporadically throughout his basketball career. In the 1999 film "Black and White," Houston's girlfriend was played by Claudia Schiffer (left). Houston's final movie role came in 2004, a year before injuries forced him to retire from the NBA, when he played Adamo Shandela in the romantic comedy "Laws of Attraction."

John Salley

The first NBA player to win NBA titles with three different teams, John Salley showed a similar diversity in his acting, taking roles in 24 titles plus appearing as himself in many others. Among the movie appearances for the former "Best Damn Sports Show Period" host was a role playing himself in the Bernie Mac film "Mr. 3000" and a role as Fletcher in "Bad Boys II."

Reggie Theus

Joey Del Valle/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

The former player and current coach stuck to his basketball knowledge when he made his acting debut on sitcom "Hang Time," playing high school basketball coach Bill Fuller. Theus, a two-time All-Star with the Chicago Bulls, also had cameos in "Book of Love," "Forget Paris" and "Like Mike."

Gheorghe Muresan

What other role does a 7-foot-7 Romanian center play? Muresan certainly fit the height description for his character, Max Zamphirescu, in the Billy Crystal movie "My Giant," in which Crystal tries to get Muresan into movies. A box office failure, "My Giant" was Muresan's only film appearance. Perhaps there weren't any more roles requiring an actor of his stature.