The White Shadow

TV Series
1978–1981
TV-PG
1h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.A white former NBA professional retires from the pro game and gets a job as a basketball coach in a predominantly Black inner-city high school.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Primetime Emmy
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total

Episodes54

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TopTop-rated3 seasons4 years

Trivia
Ken Howard was nicknamed "The White Shadow" while he played for Manhasset High School 's basketball team. He was the only white starter on his team. Howard based his performance on his high school basketball coach, Fritz Mueller. Carver's team colors, orange and blue, were based on the the colors of Howard's school, .

Goofs
Ken Reeves' NBA career is referred to several times in the series, but the number of years and the teams he played on seem to change each time. For instance, he tells reporter Sally Adams in "The Offer" that he was in the Chicago Bulls' starting lineup for 10 seasons. In "Wanna Bet", street hustler Bobby Magum remembers Reeves playing for Chicago, Denver, and Milwaukee. Finally, in "Little Orphan Abner", he tells Abner Goldstein's grandparents he spent the last six years of his career with the Bulls.

Quotes
Jim Willis: You had it easy sonny boy. You'll never know what it's like have to sit in the back of the bus and then give up your seat to a white man or pee in your pants because you can't find a bathroom that'll take you... Now I know a racist when I see one. And I'm looking at one right now.

Connections
Edited into The White Shadow: A Series of Memories Preview (2006)

User reviews25

Review

Featured review

The Best Show Ever

The White Shadow was not just one of the best sports shows ever, but it was one of the best shows overall. When you tuned in to The White Shadow, you didn't just see some high school kids on a basketball team with an ex-pro as their coach, you saw them deal with real-life problems and situations. Addictions (Jackson). Gangs (Gomez). STDs (Coolidge, Thorpe). Death (Jackson). I will admit, it wasn't the same when the players "graduated", but the new cast wasn't as bad as some think they were. They were just never given the same opportunities. When Goldstein, Hayward, Jackson, Reese, and Gomez were replaced, the storylines then mainly revolved around the returning players, namely, Coolidge, Thorpe, Salami, and Vitaglia. Stone wasn't too bad. Neither was Mitchell. I would love to see this series on DVD some day. Also, does anyone remember Phil ever saying anything?