NBA Players who tried their hand in Acting

There is a long history of NBA stars expanding out from their day job and pursuing different passions and business plans. 

For many, music is something which players use to focus themselves on gameday as well as being a form of expression and something some enjoy creating in their spare time. 

These pastimes often come in the offseason or when their playing careers end, not affecting their performances on the court. We can see this now with the NBA finals odds gathering huge attention and the most current odds you can find offer great deals and tempting odds to enjoy as we get closer to the Championship game.

One avenue which is open to some NBA stars is acting. Many begin doing adverts for sponsors or promo videos for their teams, and the players with the most on-camera charisma sometimes look to go further in the acting world.

Michael Jordan

He is remembered as the greatest basketball player of all time by most NBA fans, but for non-basketball fans, he’s also remembered for his performance in Space Jam.

The 1996 blockbuster is a beloved family comedy classic and has made an incredible $230 million worldwide.

Space Jam is a live-action animated crossover movie with ‘Looney Tunes’. The plot sees Michael Jordan called up by ‘Bugs Bunny’ and the Looney Tunes characters to help them win a basketball match against a team of evil aliens. 

The film was a huge hit and Jordan gained plenty of acclaim for his performance though did not pursue a career in acting afterwards. He has though stared in “The Last Dance” which is a ten-part documentary series on ESPN which revolved around the story of his career with the Chicago Bulls.

Dennis Rodman

A former teammate of Michael Jordan at the Chicago Bulls, Rodman has had a career which has seen him a controversial figure on and off the court. 

Rodman starred in two films in the late 90s at the height of his fame called Double Team and Simon Sez.

Double Team saw Rodman star alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke which made $48.1 million at the box office. Rodman plays Yaz, a weapons dealer who is called up upon to side Van Damme’s character Jack Quinn, a counterterrorist officer in his final battle with Stavros, played by Rourke.

Simon Sez, which received 2.6 stars out of 10 on IMDB.com, see’s Rodman play the lead as an Interpol agent attempting to defeat the deadly plans of a crazed arms dealer. After costing an estimated $10 million to make, Simon Sez grossed $292, 152 worldwide and is considered quite the flop.

As a larger-than-life character, Rodman has also appeared in plenty of TV series, often as himself, such as in Listen Up and The Simpsons. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Being located near Hollywood was a chance to get into the movie industry and the NBA legend was able to take full advantage.

He co-stared with martial arts superstar Brice Lee in the 1978 film Game of Death, while also appeared in the cult comedy classic Airplane in 1980 as a co-pilot.

Game of Death is an incomplete martial arts film, saw Bruce Lee’s character fake his own death to find the people who were out to kill him. Lee died of cerebral edema in 1973 and the footage shot the year prior was used and pieced together to release in 1978. Abdul-Jabbar plays a very tall adversary to Lee during a unique fight sequence.

Abdul-Jabbar has appeared as himself in some of the biggest televisions shows in history such as The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, and The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air.

John Salley

After setting the record for the first NBA player to win a Championship with three different franchises, Salley set out for a career in acting.

His first opportunity came alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the 1995 smash hit Bad Boys. Salley plays a computer hacker who helps Smith and Lawrence crack cases for the Miami Police department. Bad Boys cost around $19 million to make and grossed an incredible $141.4 million worldwide.

Salley was back in his role for Bad Boys 2 and is also well known for his role in Confessions of a Shopaholic as a member of a shopaholic support group playing a retired NBA star. 

On television he appeared on games shows like Hollywood Squares and Match Game as well as on tv shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and in the Bad Boys Tv Spinoff LA’s Finest in 2019.

Others enjoyed their stints in acting with varying levels of success, Shaquille O-Neal for one hasn’t had the success he would have hoped for while recently LeBron James stared in the Space Jam remake – Space Jam: A New legacy to mixed reviews and limited success.