Skip to main content

NBA star Kevin Durant working on a scripted series based on his life for Apple

Like LeBron James and other pro basketball players before him, Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant has dunked himself into the waters of movies and TV. The actor recently teamed up with Apple and Imagine Television’s Brian Grazer for a scripted drama series loosely based on his life, Deadline reports.

Recommended Videos

The idea for the series, Swagger, came about after Durant met Grazer, who executive produced the sports-focused drama series Friday Night Lights. Grazer told Deadline that he’d been wanting to return to that world when he happened to meet Durant. The two were both attending The Camp, an annual summer gathering hosted by Google that welcomes heavy hitters from a variety of fields. (Past attendees have included Prince Harry, Rihanna, and George Lucas, according to Forbes.) Grazer and Durant made plans to get together in Los Angeles, and when they did, they discussed what the basketball star’s childhood was like after scouts and brands started calling when he was just 12 years old.

The idea for Swagger — a series centering on young basketball players and their families — was born out of that conversation.

“He created a beautiful world that the Friday Night Lights essence could inhabit,” Grazer said, according to Deadline. “It has the same things. The fragility of how you were as a kid, and how these kids — 12 to 13 years old — are presented with money, real money. … It’s a fascinating universe of possibilities.”

Friday Night Lights was football-centric, so Swagger will differ in that respect, but there will be numerous common themes. The series will reportedly show the kids’ families navigating the “youth-sports economy,” as Deadline puts it. We saw that in Friday Night Lights during its run from 2006 to 2011, and although the series never was a ratings giant, it did maintain a loyal fan following and critical acclaim.

Durant and Grazer seem like a good fit for a partnership with Apple. The company is investing heavily in original programming, and has been doing so with the help of big names. Reese Witherspoon, Octavia Spencer, Steven Spielberg, and Dr. Dre are just some of the technology and entertainment giant’s uber-successful collaborators.

Swagger does not currently have a season order, but we hope to see it on our screens before long.

Stephanie Topacio Long
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
The Old Guard 2 cast chooses iconic movie moments to witness for the first time
A group of soldiers stand in the dirt in The Old Guard 2.

Internet culture in the Digital Age moves at the snap of a finger. Thanks to the social media algorithm, what's popular today might not be talked about tomorrow. Five years feels like a lifetime. That's how long it's been since The Old Guard premiered on Netflix. It's fitting that a follow-up to a movie about a team of immortals would take its time before hitting the service. Mortals, rejoice. The wait is over. The Old Guard 2 is now available to stream on Netflix.

Charlize Theron returns for the action-packed sequel as Andy, the leader of a team of immortal mercenaries who serve as protectors of the world. The team consists of immortals Nile (KiKi Layne), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), along with a mortal, James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Speaking of finite creatures, Andy now copes with her mortality, which affects every decision, knowing she can finally die. Andy and her team will be tested with the arrival of Discord (Uma Thurman), the very first immortal with a sinister plan that threatens the universe. To defeat Discord, Andy seeks the help of an old friend, Tuah (Henry Golding), who may hold the secrets of immortality.

Read more
Want to watch Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey teaser trailer? Here’s what you need to know
Matt Damon stares with a helmet on.

The most anticipated movie of 2026 is not up for debate. Apologies to fans of Avengers: Doomsday, Dune: Messiah, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but those movies pale in comparison to Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

For his follow-up to Oppenheimer, Nolan is adapting Homer's Greek epic poem about the legend of Odysseus. The Odyssey is in production and well over a year away from hitting theaters. The first teaser trailer has been released. However, there is a catch.

Read more
Jurassic World Rebirth review: A fun but all-too familiar blockbuster
Jurassic World Rebirth: a sequel that brings some life back to an exhausted franchise
A man and woman hide in a field and stare curiously in "Jurassic World Rebirth."

Director Gareth Edwards (The Creator) has brought audiences back to the land of dinosaurs with his film, Jurassic World Rebirth. This standalone sequel to Jurassic World Dominion follows a team of hired operatives as they journey to an island inhabited by mutant dinosaurs, which were left behind by Jurassic World researchers, and try to gather enough dino-DNA to generate a cure for heart disease.

The Jurassic Park franchise is struggling to keep things fresh and engaging. Clearly, the filmmakers knew this fact during the production of Jurassic World Rebirth. This sequel falls short of expectations with its familiar story elements, some thin characters, and a clunky script. Nevertheless, Jurassic World Rebirth still provides some entertainment, featuring some terrific new players, exhilarating action scenes, terrifying suspense, and outstanding visuals. This movie is far from the best in the Jurassic Park saga, but it's a decent blockbuster nonetheless.

Read more