Kevin Durant and longtime agentRich Kleiman collaborated to produce a newdocumentary forShowtime that airs Friday at 9 p.m.- "BASKETBALL COUNTY: In The Water" shines a light on Durant's home of Prince George's County, which sits just outside of Washington D.C. in Maryland.
- Since 2000, the region has produced roughly 25 NBA players, a dozen WNBA stars, and countless college basketball players despite being home to approximately 800,000 people in total.
- Throughout the documentary, Durant,
Victor Oladipo , Michael Beasley,Quinn Cook , Rebekkah Brunson, Marissa Coleman and more from PG County weigh in on their home's unique relationship to the game. - "We're a family," Cook told Insider. "We all root for each other. We all want to see each other be great and we all support each other. That's what makes our county so unique and special."
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Without live games to watch, fans are turning to documentaries to get their
Kevin Durant and his longtime agent, Rich Kleiman, are helping to answer the call.
In collaboration with Kleiman's Thirty Five Ventures, the duo produced "BASKETBALL COUNTY: In The Water," a new film for Showtime that airs Friday at 9 p.m.
The documentary shines a light on Durant's home of Prince George's County and its incredibly unique relationship to the game of basketball. Though there are approximately 800,000 people who live in PG County, which sits just outside of Washington D.C. in Maryland, the region has produced roughly 25 NBA players, a dozen WNBA stars, and countless college basketball players.
"I sent [the documentary pitch] to Kevin and he instantly wrote back that we really should do this film on his county," Kleiman told Insider. "It was done with so much compassion and care."
"This is a project that is near and dear to my heart," Durant added in a statement. "Having grown up in Prince George's County and with my family residing there today, it's my life's mission to not only give back through my foundation but continue to tell the amazing stories of those that have come from there. I'm really excited to be partnering with Showtime and for fans to hear from some of the world's best players about what PG County means to them."
Throughout the documentary, some of the biggest names and brightest stars to spawn from the area weigh in on what factors bring basketball players from Prince George's County so much success. NBA players including Durant, Victor Oladipo, Michael Beasley, Quinn Cook, as well as WNBA stars Rebekkah Brunson, Marissa Coleman, and more sat down for interviews to discuss the role PG county played in their personal journeys into professional basketball.
Support from the community, including the players from PG County who had made the league ahead of him, were crucial to many of the players' eventual breakthroughs, including Cook's. After winning a national championship at Duke in 2015, the 6-foot-1 point guard went undrafted and spent multiple years cycling between working his way onto NBA rosters and dropping down to G League.
"There's definitely this feeling from Kevin [Durant] of just wanting to make sure Quinn is good," Kleiman said. "There's a quote in the film when Quinn didn't get drafted and Kevin's very practical response back to him is like 'You're good enough to play in this league. Just keep working and you'll find your way.' He feels a responsibility to Quinn in that way and just a desire to be around these guys and have these memories to call on."
Cook eventually found a foothold alongside Durant with the Golden State Warriors in late 2017. When superstar sharpshooter Stephen Curry was sidelined with a series of injuries, the former DeMatha Catholic and Oak Hill Academy standout stepped up to fill the void and eventually earned a two-year deal and a championship ring with the team. He's since moved on to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.
"It takes a village, really," Cook told Insider. "We're a family. We all root for each other. We all want to see each other be great and we all support each other. That's what makes our county so unique and special."
In addition to highlighting many of the players who currently find themselves playing under the bright lights in arenas across the country, the documentary also delves into the history of the region. Edwin B. Henderson — known as "The Father of Black Basketball" — first introduced James Naismith's game to African Americans in Prince George's county in the early 20th century, laying the groundwork for a long legacy of basketball glory there.
That background, combined with the county's many parks and public courts, has "led to this overwhelming number of players coming out of there," according to Kleiman.
"You can't help but notice it as you drive through — how much basketball is being played," he said. "How many courts and parks and how much history some of these courts and parks have throughout the county."
"If you grow up in PG [County] and you want to play basketball, you have a head start on the competition," Cook added. "You have so much access to a lot of greatness."
Durant, Kleiman, Cook, and Oladipo are all executive producers on the project, which was directed by Maryland natives and first-time directors John Beckham and Jimmy Jenkins. And though they all hope the film resonates with a broad-based audience, Kleiman said he's more concerned about using the platform to honor Prince George's County and the people who live there.
"I hope people in PG County like it, I hope the players from there love it, I hope the coaches from there love it, and the parents that supported their kids through their dreams of basketball love it," Kleiman said. "If other people enjoy it and love the story and want to tell other people to watch it, that'll be amazing. But as long as we did the county well and produced a good film as like a gift to them, that's really all that's important for me right now."
"BASKETBALL COUNTY: In The Water" premieres Friday at 9 p.m. on Showtime.
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