You can find tees and bumper stickers that state “Basketball is not a matter of life and death. It is much more important than that”. A throwaway line perhaps that goes some way to justify a person’s obsession with a sport. With the documentary Alaskan Nets, it is shown to be a literal truth for one particular community.
Off the coast of Southeast Alaska lies an island — remote, largely hidden from the outside world and home to the Tsimshian natives of Alaska’s last remaining native reserve: Metlakatla. For more than a century, two sacred traditions have defined Metlakatla: fishing and basketball. Danny Marsden and DJ King are cousins, fishermen and stars of the high school basketball team. Together they attempt to lead their team and town toward their first state championship in more than 30 years – the only thing that will bring life back to an island that has undergone unimaginable tragedy.
It is probably a full hour into the film before the basketball season actually gets underway. A sports documentary without any sports? How is that going to work the audience may ask? Surprisingly well is the answer.
It was once said there are two certainties in life, death and taxes. In Metlakatla, life is fish and basketball. Fishing is what keeps the community going. It puts food on the table and it pays the bills. It also is incredibly dangerous with many poor souls perishing during the diving season. It can be seen as a necessary evil that can drag you down to the depths of despair. Basketball, conversely, offers the town hope.
However for this team, basketball is almost as hard as fishing. Due to the remote location, an away game can involve a 2-3 day trip via multiple ferries, boats, planes, trains or automobiles. It can mean sleeping in a gym room in the opposing team’s school. It is enough to test the mental and physical fortitude of any player.
Still clinging on to the memory of a State Championship win 34 years ago, every new year and new season has the promise of being their year. By immersing the viewer in the town of Metlakatla, it is impossible not to get a sense of what basketball means to the town and the pressure that the team must be under. Having narrowly missed out the previous season, it feels like it is all or nothing for the team.
The season and state championship are a case of life imitating art. The way it plays out feels as though it is straight from the pages of a Hollywood screenplay: A winning streak, a tragedy that threatens to upend their whole season, a meaningless exhibition game that results in an injury to a star player one week before the championship. The Chiefs are writing their own story but one that could end in heartbreak as easily as happiness.
The end result is the most stressful basketball game since Adam Sandler bet $165,000 on a six way parlay on the Celtics in Uncut Gems.
It would be unfair to say if it results in Hoop Dreams or Hoop Nightmares. Instead know that you will feel like an honorary resident of Metlakatla. With the team through every pass, free throw, three pointer and alley oop. The most heartwarming and emotional underdog story since The Mighty Ducks.
Alaskan Nets is released on digital and VOD from April 8
Rating: 
Director: Howard J. Ford
Stars: Brittany Ashworth, Ben Lamb, Nathan Welsh
Runtime: 86 minutes
Country: USA
