Few things are more central to American culture than sports and movies. When those two threads intersect, it can be doubly interesting. While many of the most famous sports cameos are from comedy films, sometimes we get to see an athlete take a more dramatic turn. In either case, it says something about those stars — their personas and their star power — when they can hold their own with professional actors.
Let's dive into 25 excellent examples from across the spectrums of genre and era:
Disclaimer: Some clips and cameos may contain NSFW content not suitable for younger readers.
25. Peyton Manning | Is This Thing On? (2025)
Is This Thing On? is the third directorial endeavor from Bradley Cooper, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern as a couple on the rocks who decide to split. As both explore their passions outside of marriage and parenthood, Dern reconnects with her old friend Laird, played by Peyton Manning. He's a volleyball coach who reconnects with Dern over dinner. She wants to get back into the sport. She learns he is now divorced, and he talks not so subtly about the challenges of being single in your mid-40s. Plus, how sports and the pursuit of greatness can be a saving grace. Their impromptu date ends at a comedy club, where Arnett happens to be on stage discussing... his marriage, or former marriage.
24. Aaron Gordon | Uncle Drew (2018)
There are several NBA and WNBA stars in Uncle Drew, including Shaq, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie and, of course, Kyrie Irving as the titular old-man baller. All lean into the bit with aplomb, but let's spotlight Aaron Gordon, back in his Slam Dunk champion prime, who plays Casper Jones. When Jones abandons the Harlem Money, a basketball team coached by everyman Dax (Lil Rey Howery), ahead of the Rucker Classic, Dax recruits Uncle Drew to help field a competitive team made up of geriatric has-beens. Gordon is the fresh-faced star and thus the on-court villain, for which he has more than enough personality and screen magnetism.
23. Karl-Anthony Towns | The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)
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Has a movie cameo ever led directly to a championship? While we can't prove the Knicks won because of Karl-Anthony Towns' brief but memorable appearance in The Devil Wears Prada 2, a perfectly enjoyable sequel to the '06 classic, it sure felt serendipitous. That 10-second clip went triple platinum on social media during the Knicks' title run, with New York going (almost) unbeaten after the film's May 1 release.
22. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
In one of his most famous roles, Will Farrell plays Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: an All-American driver who quickly climbs to ranks to stardom, only to lose it all when an accident saps him of his courage. It's a raucous comedy about redemption from director Adam McKay. Early on, as Ricky Bobby is mobbed by rabid fans eager to get his signature, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushes through the crowd to ask for an autograph. He declares himself a "big fan" and simply asks Ricky not to tell the other drivers. What better way to set up Ricky Bobby's superstar status before it all gets ripped away?
21. LeBron James | Trainwreck (2015)
Need romantic advice? Or an elevator pitch on moving to Cleveland? Well, LeBron James in Trainwreck is your guy. Friend and client to Bill Hader's Dr. Aaron Conners, James plays himself with impressive comedic timing, waxing poetic about hard work and self-improvement as the path to a championship — or true love — in this Judd Apatow romcom.
20. Kemba Walker and Tracy McGrady | Marty Supreme (2025)
Timothee Chalamet won the box office and almost the Oscar for his incredible turn in Marty Supreme, a Christmas release from director Josh Safdie. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene midway through the film, during which Chalamet's Marty Mauser travels the world performing apathetic pingpong tricks as the halftime show for the Harlem Globetrotters, two former NBA players — Kemba Walker and Tracy McGrady — are seen in full Globetrotters garb, laughing as Chalamet "loses" a match to a circus seal. It's a low point in Mauser's career, and a pretty rich thematic invocation of ex-star athletes no longer at the peak of their powers.
19. Travis Kelce | Happy Gilmore 2 (2025)
Travis Kelce's star profile has been on the rise in recent years, largely due to his on-field exploits with the Chiefs and his high-profile romance with Taylor Swift. But he also made his screen debut last year in Happy Gilmore 2, starring as the asshole boss for the waitstaff at a high-profile golf club, of which Sandler's Gilmore is a member. He bullies and fires Bad Bunny's Oscar and laughs at Xander Schauffele's ill-timed "that's what she said" jokes. In the end, Oscar gets revenge on Kelce's character in a memorable dream sequence, during which Kelce is tied to a lamppost, lathered in honey and set upon by a large carnivore.
18. Lee Trevino | Happy Gilmore (1996)
Before the cameo-laced Happy Gilmore 2, Adam Sandler gave us the all-time golf comedy original 20 years ago. That film also featured several memorable cameos — including one from golf legend Lee Trevino, who pops in for a single, perfectly-delivered line to remind Shooter McGavin, the film's hotshot villain, that Grizzly Adams did, in fact, have a beard.
17. Lawrence Taylor | The Waterboy (1998)
Let's round out this run of Sandler flicks with The Waterboy, a film that has aged imperfectly, but still delivers plenty of belly laughs. In it, Sandler plays waterboy Bobby Boucher, who becomes an improbable college football star — a literally unstoppable force in the open field — despite an overprotective mother and his suspect knowledge of the actual game. In one scene, Boucher is invited to Lawrence Taylor's camp for children and asked to explain his success on the field. Then, Taylor offers up some sage advice: Don't smoke crack.
16. Dan Marino | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
The inciting incident for 1994's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is the kidnapping of Snowflake, the Miami Dolphins' bottlenose dolphin mascot. As the plot unravels, Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino is also kidnapped. When tied up in the villain's layer, Marino watches as they throw footballs at Snowflake, before Ace Ventura — played by scene-chewing extraordinaire Jim Carrey — swoops in for the attempted rescue.
15. Lance Armstrong | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
When the greedy White Goodman (played with outsized menace by Ben Stiller) threatens to take over a small-time gym owned by Vince Vaughn's Peter LaFleur, the fate of the gym hinges upon the success of LaFleur's entrance into an impromptu dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas. The team, formed of coworkers and friends, endures a great many trials and tribulations. At one point, Peter decides to quit — until legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong shows up, unannounced, to explain that he once thought his career was over, until he overcame cancer to get back on the bike and win the Tour de France five times in a row. This scene certainly takes on a different meaning more than two decades later, given what we now know about how Armstrong's achieved such great success.
14. Hines Ward | The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Christopher Nolan is the King of Hollywood these days, but before the British director took over the box office with Oppenheimer and The Odyssey in a three-year span, he put the definitive Batman — Christian Bale's gravelly-voiced, morally dubious hero — on screen with The Dark Knight triology. In the final film, 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, he also conjured one of this century's most memorable villains, Bane. While the film's plotting and dialogue are often the subject of intense scrutiny, Tom Hardy embodies Bane with an eerie, showman-like callousness, despite being hidden behind a mask. At one point, he blows up an entire football stadium, with Pittsburgh Steelers running back Hines Ward returning a kickoff for a touchdown as the field implodes behind him and his teammates are subsumed into the earth.
13. Mike Tyson | The Hangover (2009)
Directed by Todd Phillips, The Hangover still stands almost two decades later as a landmark comedy of the late 2000s. In it, stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha go on a drunken, drug-fueled misadventure through Las Vegas. At one point, they steal a tiger from boxing legend Mike Tyson. When Tyson shows up at their hotel room to retrieve his lost pet, he air-drums the chorus to "In The Air Tonight" — then punches out Galifianakis, before the gang later returns the tiger to Tyson's mansion and looks for clues to Bartha's Doug, who has mysteriously gone missing.
12. Brett Favre | Something About Mary (1998)
In There's Something About Mary, Ben Stiller plays Ted, one of several men obsessively in love with Cameron Diaz's Mary. Through various plot machinations of escalating hilarity and absurdity, Mary ends up in her house with four competing admirers/stalkers when Brett Favre, her ex-boyfiend, walks through the door. He's in town to play the Dolphins, and the chemistry is undeniable. His arrival is a gesture of goodwill from Ted, who has seen the error in his ways. But the film has one more trick up its sleeve for the grand finale.
11. Marshawn Lynch | Bottoms (2023)
Bottoms was underseen and overlooked upon its release in 2023, but the spirited queer comedy has already achieved a sort of cult classic status. In it, Marshawn Lynch plays the teacher, Mr. G, who agrees to sponsor a female fight club started by Rachel Sennott's PJ and Ayo Edebiri's Josie, who fear retalliation from the school's football jocks. Lynch has never been short on personality and it's on full display in the film. He's a natural-born comedian, showing off his improv skills as he goes blow-for-blow with some of the brightest comedic actors of this generation.
10. Reggie Jackson | The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
The Naked Gun stands the test of time as one of the greatest comedies ever rendered, directed by David Zucker and starring Leslie Nielsen (who both have another film on this list). In the final major set piece, which takes place at Angel Stadium, baseball legend Reggie Jackson is hypnotized by a specialized beeper and tasked with assassinating the Queen of England, who's in attendance. It's up to Nielsen and the police squad to stop him, of course. As Jackson slowly approaches from right field, he's tackled by an ump and both teams converge in an all-out brawl, while the commentators in the booth go nuts. It's peak baseball humor.
9. Butterbean | Jackass: The Movie (2002)
Nothing quite captures the American spirit quite like the Jackass films, in which daredevil Johnny Knoxville and his buddies endure increasingly painful stunts for the viewer's at-home or in-theater pleasure. In the first installment of the now-iconic series, one of those stunts is getting pummeled by pro boxer Eric 'Butterbean' Esch in a shopping mall, which leaves Knoxville badly concussed and in need of stitches on his head.
8. Robert Bobroczkyi | Alien: Romulus (2024)
Robert Bobroczkyi is a Romanian basketball player who played collegiately at Rochester Christian University. His basketball career is quickly becoming secondary to his future in movies, however, as Bobroczkyi's lanky 7-foot-7 frame gives him a singular screen presence. He made his film debut in 2024's Alien: Romulus, in full monster-movie makeup as the half-human, half-xenomorph offspring of main character Rain's fallen comrade. He also played Pirate Clark in the 2026 indie hit Backrooms, another horror flick. So he has clearly carved out a niche for himself.
7. Anthony Edwards | Hustle (2022)
2022's Hustle was a more dramatic turn for comedy legend Adam Sandler as a basketball scout who recruits unheralded Spaniard Bo Cruz (played by former NBA player Juancho Hernangómez) to America. As Cruz goes through the trials of the NBA Combine, he develops an on-court rivalry with trash-talking American star Kermit Wilts (what a name), a character no doubt inspired by the man portraying him, Anthony Edwards. Few modern NBA stars can match Edwards' charisma and self-confidence, both of which fully translate to the screen. Edwards might have a future in the movies once his NBA career wraps up.
6. Boban Marjanovic | John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
The John Wick films are the standard for modern American action flicks, with Keanu Reaves' titular character essentially tasked with taking (and handing out) violence on an impossible scale for two-hour periods across four installments (with more spin-offs and potential reboots coming down the pipeline). In the third film, with a $40 million price on his head, Wick encounters a rather large assassin played by 7-foot-4 NBA center Boban Marjanović. The ensuring brawl takes place in a library, involving a dagger, a couple books, and Boban's incredibly long limbs.
5. Michael Strahan | Magic Mike XXL (2015)
There are no easily accessible clips online for Michael Strahan's scene in Magic Mike XXL, the sequel to Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed 2012 drama about a down-on-his-luck male stripper. But it's worth seeking out the film — an incredibly wholesome and cathartic treatise on pleasure, romance and male friendship. When Mike and his buddies stop by a strip club in Savannah, GA, where Mike seeks out the help of a former friend and lover named Rome, Strahan plays one of the club's dancers. It's a bold and brave performance from the former Super Bowl champ, who fully commands his brief moment in the spotlight.
4. Derek Jeter | The Other Guys (2010)
In group therapy for cops who fired their weapon in the line of duty, Mark Wahlberg's Terry Holtz is asked to recall the incident that landed him there. "Bronx, October, Game 7 of the World Series." Holtz was on tunnel duty when a shadowy figure approaches a restricted area. Wahlberg tells him to stop and pulls his firearm. He shoots — and hits Derek Jeter, which costs New York a World Series and lands the former field officer behind a desk. It's an incredible bit. The best line in the film, however, comes when one of Holtz's fellow officers in the therapy circle declares that he "should've shot A-Rod."
3. Babe Ruth | Speedy (1928)
Let's throw it all the way back to 1928, at the tail end of cinema's silent era, when Speedy hit theaters. The titular character is hired as a cab driver, but struggles to get a customer in the car until Babe Ruth asks for a ride to Yankee Stadium. Speedy, an avid baseball fan, is naturally quite thrilled. Babe even gives him a ticket to the game, despite Speedy's erratic driving. Lou Gehrig also makes a brief appearance. The film was nominated for Best Director of a Comedy at the first annual Academy Awards, but lost to Two Arabian Knights.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | Airplane! (1980)
Airplane! might be the most revered comedy of the 1980s, directed by Jerry and David Zucker, with Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty and Leslie Nielsen as stars. When the entire crew, including co-pilot Roger Murdock (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in disguise), is poisoned, traumatized ex-air force pilot Ted Striker must step up and land the plane. Before the grand finale, however, Kareem and the pilots greet a young child in the cockpit, who recognizes Kareem and relays his father's complaints about Kareem's poor defensive effort. Let's just say Kareem did not take kindly to the insult.
1. Kevin Garnett | Uncut Gems (2019)
Adam Sandler stars in Uncut Gems, from the Safdie Brothers, as jewel dealer and gambling addict Howie. In order to pay off his mounting debts, Howie imports a rare and beautiful black opal from Ethiopia, which he plans to sell for a massive sum. Before he can, however, Kevin Garnett waltzes into his shop and becomes transfixed, borrowing the stone — and not returning it on time. Garnett's role is probably too big and too important to be considered a true cameo, but he's legitimately incredible in the film. He deserves a mention and the top spot on this list.
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