Plot Synopsis

From Peabody Award-winning director Dan Klores, BASKETBALL: A LOVE STORY is a 20-hour, 10-part documentary series, featuring 62 interconnected stories throughout history pulled from more than 500 hours of interviews with 165 people. The cast encompasses basketball's most prominent figures, from Bob Cousy, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dr. J, Yao Ming, Stephen Curry and Diana Taurasi, to Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant. Klores' short stories 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. Interview subjects of note include Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Riley, John Thompson, Allen Iverson, Earl Monroe, Anthony Davis, Dirk Nowitzki, Lisa Leslie, Charles Barkley, Steve Kerr, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, David Thompson, John Havlicek, Cheryl Miller, Arvydas Sabonis, Chris Mullin, John Calipari, Moses Malone, Tommy Heinsohn, Rick Pitino, Jack Ramsey, Connie Hawkins, Nolan Richardson, Jim Boeheim, Tony Parker, Nancy Lieberman, Lynette Woodard, Tiny Archibald, Phil Jackson, Calvin Murphy, Rick Barry, David Robinson, George Gervin, Larry Brown, Dave Bing, Jeff Van Gundy, Rebecca Lobo, Bill Walton, Geno Auriemma, Doug Moe, Hubie Brown, Sarunas Marciulionis, Roy Williams, Billy Donovan, Dale Brown, John Lucas, Slick Leonard, Doug Collins, Tom Sanders, Elvin Hayes, Quinn Buckner, Bob Pettit, Isiah Thomas, Kenny Smith, Mark Jackson, Kristaps Porzingis, Becky Hammon, Bill Simmons, Joe B. Hall, Denny Crum, Tom Thibodeau, Stephen A. Smith, Jackie McMullan, Pete Vecsey, Bob Ryan, Rick Welts, Val Ackerman, Russ Granik, David Stern, Adam Silver and many more. Each episode features a different narrators Chadwick Boseman, Julianne Moore, Chris Cuomo, Ashley Judd, Michael Che, Ansel Elgort, Ahmad Rashad, Robin Quivers, Daveed Diggs, and Fisher Stevens.

Because of its format, BASKETBALL: A LOVE STORY was released across multiple platforms over a period of time:

Tuesday, September 18: All 62 short stories were individually available on the ESPN App.

Tuesday, September 25 & September 27 from 9pm-6am ET/6pm-3am PT each night: ESPN2 broadcast a special preview of the full film in two installments on September 25 (Episodes 1 through 5) and September 27 (Episodes 6 through 10).

Tuesday, October 9 - October 30: The full film airs in a serialized format in primetime on ESPN over five Tuesdays, four hours each night.