While they’ve made strides in recent documentaries, Netflix has developed a reputation for making sports documentaries and docuseries that prioritize access over analysis. As such, they tend to become hagiographies rather than authentic retellings of what happened.
That’s how Dan Le Batard felt after watching Netflix’s latest Untold film about the Portland Trail Blazers during an era when they were known as the Jail Blazers.
“That Jail Blazers documentary isn’t very good,” said Le Batard on his show. “And the reason it’s not very good is because they just let the players tell their story and there’s just not enough in there.
“It’s just not examined. You make your own determination, but it was clear that it was made by the players. It was just obvious that it was made by the players. There’s just a lot missing from the story.
“…I left that documentary feeling unsatisfied. As an example, they didn’t really even tackle the racial component of what was happening in Portland. They skipped right past it.
“…The reason everybody wanted to make the Jail Blazers documentary for the last 10 years is to tell the truth, not just to tell the story that you have access to the players, so they’ll sit down with you. Like, you want the whole truth, not just their truth.”
Le Batard summarizes the issue with so many of Netflix’s sports doc offerings under the Untold label. While the films can boast direct access to the people at the center of the story, that often comes with an abdication or desire to get into what happened and why.
Of the Connor Stalions episode, we found it to be “a shocking piece of PR rehab.”
Swamp Kings, about Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators, glossed over a bevy of serious issues that plagued the program.
The documentary on Manti Te’o’s infamous fake girlfriend had no desire to understand the underlying conditions that led to his being catfished so thoroughly.
As for the Jail Blazers doc, our Michael Grant agreed with Le Batard, calling it “a documentary about two things, both of which should have been explored in greater depth,” and that it “only scratches the surface.”
At this point, it doesn’t seem as though Netflix is too interested in changing that formula, which is a shame, but also in line with how so many sports documentaries end up nowadays.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.