Sports

Film about Kenny Sailors, who revolutionized girls basketball in Alaska, to stream Friday on Facebook

If you missed seeing “Jump Shot: The Kenny Sailors Story” when it was available on demand for $7.99 during a 72-hour window in April, you can see it for free Friday on Facebook.

The documentary, co-produced by NBA star Stephan Curry, will stream at 4 p.m. ADT on the AARP’s main Facebook page. It’s part of AARP Movie Night, and it will stream for free nationwide.

The film should be of particular interest to Alaskans because Sailors spent 34 years here from 1965 to 1999 as a coach and hunting guide.

Sailors is credited for inventing basketball’s jump shot back in the 1930s, when he was a Wyoming farm boy trying to shoot baskets over his much taller brother. In the 1940s, while Sailors was playing at Madison Square Garden with the University of Wyoming, Life Magazine took a photo of him shooting in midair, ran it on the cover and sparked a basketball revolution.

In Alaska, Sailors was one of the state’s most influential coaches. He raised the level of girls basketball statewide — he is believed to have started Alaska’s first statewide tournament for girls — and he produced winning programs at Glennallen and Angoon.

[Movie showcases the man who invented the jump shot -- and who revolutionized Alaska girls basketball]

“I am sure there are still many people who he coached still around in Alaska,” said Teresa Holt, AARP’s Alaska state director.

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Sailors and his wife left Alaska in 1999 to return to Wyoming, where Sailors died in 2016 at age 95.

Though it has received fewer than 100 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received rare 100% ratings from critics and audiences.

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Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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