Hi, everyone.
I'm Kevin Durant.
Here's a first look at our new show, Swagger.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
No way I'm not going to make it, right coach?
[MUSIC - MSCMKRS FT GO JJ, "I'M A CHAMPION"]
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC - MSCMKRS FT GO JJ, "I'M A CHAMPION"]
The genesis of this project was simply
me wanting to depict what went on as a kid in a youth
basketball circuit.
Swagger is kind of a cross between Friday Night
Lights and youth basketball.
It was introduced to me by Kevin Durant.
When I sat with KD, I realized I could
create a show that actually had a lot more to do
than basketball.
It really became a show about life.
It's not just talented people who make it.
It's talented people who make the right decisions.
Swagger is a lesson in growing
Up.
A million kids around the country
use basketball as a coping mechanism.
It was almost like therapy for us as kids or a place
for us to get away from what was going on at home.
My son will take your team from good to oh, my God.
There will never be a shot in the entire series
where somebody will shoot the ball,
and it will cut to the basketball going
through the hoop.
Reggie was like, no, you're going to make these baskets.
We're not cutting.
The authenticity is something that we talked about early on.
That was one of the first conversations we had is
that we wanted real basketball players.
We don't want to just train actors to play basketball.
We want to train basketball players
because that'll give us the most authentic feel for the show.
Just being able to play the same sport I love all over TV
just to be known for my craft is really happy for me.
Let's go, scrub.
[MUSIC - GIZZLE, "GET LOUD FOR ME"]
It's fresh.
We never have seen the competitive, hardcore nature
of basketball at 13, 14 years old.
Whenever you mess up, you have the spotlight on you.
You have the world watching at such a young age,
and the world can be cruel.
You're not just building ballplayers.
You're building young men.
Whether it's high school, college, or the NBA,
it's a machine behind us that comes with that.
Let's keep winning.
Swagger on the surface means bravado and confidence.
But in the context of our show, it really
means having a cause bigger than yourself.
You can't fake swagger.
It's like an energy inside of you.
To me, Swagger means just to be the best
that you can be every single day,
no matter what obstacles are in front of you.
[SIREN WAILING]
[TIRES SCREECH]
So help me, God!
If you don't take those cuffs off my son,
I'll have your badge!
While we were shooting, the world changed.
Something wrong, Officers?
Are you here for that protest?
Black people having to deal with police brutality and just
the injustice of that.
It's sad to think about how many people
are going to be connected to the hard times
that we show at Swagger.
But when you watch anything that you feel connection with,
that's when that piece of art has the ability to inspire.
[HIP HOP MUSIC PLAYING]
Ultimately, it's not a show about basketball.
It's a show about growing up in America and basketball
as a backdrop.
We are on this journey to find ourselves,
to find the cause bigger than ourselves.
And so, in many ways, that's the sort of spiritual North Star,
if you will, for swagger.
Walk on our court with swagger.
You walk off with swagger.