Netflix continues to become a major player in the sports world, and they’ve been able to get unprecedented access with docuseries like Receiver. Last year, the streaming giant debuted Starting 5, which followed the lives of LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Domantas Sabonis, Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.
The first season was a huge hit, and Netflix is following up with another great cast of players, featuring Jaylen Brown, James Harden, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton and Kevin Durant. Ahead of Season 2 of Starting 5, Heavy Sports spoke with director Trishtan Williams to get more insight into the series.
Q: You’re working on Starting 5 for the second season. What can you tell me about the project so far?
“Well, what I can tell you, because we know it airs October 16th only on Netflix, but I can tell you that the fans are in for a treat. A lot of the questions that we have when it comes to Kevin Durant, James Harden, curiosity about Jaylen (Brown), those questions will be answered. And then when it comes to Shai and Halliburton, as a viewer, you already know the outcome, but the beautiful part of those moments, I just love that our players gave us so much access, even in the bad moments in those roller coasters, that they’ll actually get to see what was happening in those little windows.”
Q: This season, it’s interesting because you work with a couple of older veterans like James and Durant. And then you have some younger players like SGA and Tyrese Halliburton. What’s kind of the difference between working with the younger, eager players and kind of the grizzled veterans?
“Energy. People like Halliburton have a lot of energy. And people like, I’ll use Kevin, he’s more even keel and somber. He’s not moving around too much. And it’s hard to say that about a veteran because James Harden still moves around plenty. But that’s the difference. But the greater difference is also the season, like in their minds.
Kevin Durant and James Harden are very seasoned in the game, and their accolades and who they are. So you can see there’s more of a calmness and not that level of pressure. Whereas when you’re younger, you’re still like climbing this ladder. You have something to prove. And so you feel that level of pressure or anxiety at times.”
Q: This year, you got to cover a lot of players on teams that were really good. But there are a lot of interesting things that can come from covering a player that’s maybe on a struggling team. What do you think is more interesting to cover?
“Well, in story it’s always more interesting to cover the ebb and flow, right? When it’s dramatic or you’re uncertain. So I think that’s where Halliburton’s story becomes so great. But it becomes so great because you have this person where in the beginning of the season, they weren’t doing so well. And you’re watching them struggle mentally, verbally saying what is happening.
And then when your peers vote you overrated, I think it planted a seed, and it made them mad. And so then he went on this vengeance of like, I’m gonna prove everybody wrong and we saw where it got him.
“But also, you don’t want to punish the person, somebody like SGA, who is consistent. So my favorite line when he says like, ‘I’m just consistent, right?’ He works so hard to be consistent, and even with all the naysayers, it’s like, ‘What you guys want me to mess up so you can appreciate the hard work that I’m doing or leading this young team to the victory?’ And that’s a great story too, because I think that’s a story where your young kids, where they look at consistency and say, if you want to make it somewhere, just keep doing the work, keep doing the work, keep doing the work. And so when you’re balancing those two things and these players have so much respect for each other and you see them talk about each other in the most respectful way, it’s a good outcome.”
Q: And then how is Netflix? I mean, they’re obviously getting a lot more involved in kind of the sports world. How have they been, just like from the outside looking in, it seems like they like to give their filmmakers a lot of creative freedom. How have they been as a partner?
“Netflix is amazing as a partner. The level of autonomy and creativity that you get to tell these stories in this manner. Prime example setting this up where it’s not just trusting, OK, she’s out there filming with our camera. That’s a lot of autonomy, right? That’s a lot of freedom that I think the world is moving into, but Netflix is doing a great job of leading that space and finding great storytellers and directors who could do it and be like a one-man show sometimes.”
Season 2 of Netflix’s Starting 5 premieres on October 16.
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