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NBA star Kevin Durant has scored a series pickup from Apple for a drama about youth basketball that will air on the tech giant’s forthcoming streaming service.
The Golden State Warriors forward and two-time NBA Finals MVP will executive produce Swagger, a show inspired by his own life as a top hoops prospect in Washington, D.C. The project comes from Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, Imagine Television and CBS TV Studios.
Apple has been developing Swagger for the better part of a year.
Reggie Rock Bythewood (Shots Fired, Notorious) will serve as showrunner and also direct. The show will explore the world of Amateur Athletic Union basketball in the nation’s capital, following players, families and coaches who walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, opportunism and corruption. Winston Duke (Us) will star as Ike, a one-time star player who’s now a youth basketball coach.
Durant was a top AAU player in his high school days in Washington, and the circuit is a magnet for high-level basketball players and college and pro scouts, along with shoe companies and apparel makers.
Durant, Bythewood and Kleiman will executive produce with Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.
The project is the latest series pickup for Apple, which has more than 15 scripted series on deck for its streaming service. It has not yet announced a launch date for the service.
Sept. 30, 2019, 11:05 a.m. Updated with Winston Duke casting.
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