The Coach Carter true story is what helped the sports movie classic reach its iconic status. Starring the iconic Samuel L. Jackson as real-life high school basketball coach Ken Carter, the film tells the story of how he changed the lives of the student-athletes on the basketball team at an inner-city high school in Northern California. Almost two decades after its 2005 release, the story of Ken Carter is still ranked as one of the best basketball movies ever made and the story of the Coach Carter real-life inspiration, Ken Carter, is just as inspiring.