ESPN to Premiere 20-Hour Documentary 'Basketball: A Love Story'
ESPN announced a 20-hour, 10-part documentary called "Basketball: A Love Story" that will feature 165 interviews with stars from across the game.
Director Dan Klores made the film from more than 60 interconnected short stories that will "explore the complex nature of love as it relates to the game and opens the window to insights and perspectives about race, politics, media, art, business, style and entertainment," according to ESPN's press release.
Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dr. J, Yao Ming, Lisa Leslie, Charles Barkley, Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Diana Taurasi, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant will be among the stars featured in the documentary.
In addition to the legends from the court, the series will feature different celebrity narrators including Chadwick Boseman, Julianne Moore, Chris Cuomo, Robin Quivers and more.
"These are ‘short stories’ to which I think millions around the world can relate," Klores said. "The game, for me and others, has been an escape, a chance to pretend, feel safe, learn, love, lose and even despair. It has an obsessive quality to it, whether one is a player as great as Jordan or LeBron, a fan, a park player, a team member – and to me, 'obsession' is a form of love, so in a real sense each of these stories touches upon that feeling."
A book titled, titled "Basketball: A Love Story" by Jackie MacMullan and Rafe Bartholomew, that is based on interviews for the documentary, will be published in conjunction with the film.
All 62 short stories will be available on the ESPN App on Sept. 18.
The full film will air on ESPN over five Tuesdays: Oct. 9, from 7-11 p.m., Oct. 16, from 7-11 p.m., Oct/ 23, from 7-11 p.m., Oct. 30, from 8 p.m-12 a.m., and Nov. 13, from 8 p.m-12 a.m. (all times ET.) It will also be shown in two parts on ESPN 2 on Sept. 25 (9 p.m. – Episodes 1–5) and Sept. 27 (9 p.m. – Episodes 6–10).
