Fremantle’s Passenger lands Obama & Steph Curry for basketball docuseries

L-R: J Cole & Robinson Opong (Source: Passenger/Fremantle)

Former US president Barack Obama and NBA duo Steph Curry and Joakim Noah have been attached to feature in Passenger’s forthcoming docuseries exploring the launch of The Basketball Africa League (BAL).

Origin: The Story Of The Basketball Africa League charts the creation and launch of the NBA’s new Basketball Africa League (The BAL) and will feature the trio alongside hip-hop superstar J. Cole and Nigeria-born Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri.

Cameroonian NBA star Pascal Siakam and NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, will also feature extensively in the show, which is being executive produced, written and co-directed by Richard Brown (True Detective) along with South African director Tebogo Malope (Queen Sono).

Fisher Stevens (Beckham) serves as executive producer alongside Ujiri, with Passenger parent Fremantle handing international distribution.

The four-part series explores the importance of sports to the African continent’s future, with Obama discussing his involvement in the development of the continent post-presidency, as well as the inherent challenges to creating a league across a continent comprising 54 countries.

The show is part of Fremantle’s non-scripted slate that will be presented at The London TV Screenings 2024 on Friday.