La comedia se centra en Jackie Moon (Ferrell), el dueño, entrenador y jugador de Flint Michigan Tropics, un equipo de basket perteneciente a la American Basketball Association, que lleva a su equipo a las finales de la NBA.

Three men, three dreams. It's 1976 in Flint, Michigan. Jackie Moon's American Basketball Association team languishes in last place, with few fans in the seats. Jackie dreams of a merger with the NBA. A tough-minded point guard named Monix is at the end of his career; he's played on the champion Celtics but accepts a trade to Flint to be close to Lynn, the love of his life. Clarence "Coffee" Brown dreams of stardom: he's the Tropics' best player, but he's a hotdog who doesn't value teamwork. When the trio learns that a merger is in the works that won't include the Tropics, they pull the team together to try to achieve the impossible. Can dreams come true in Flint?