HBO Sports has done a fine job with unscripted programming before, particularly the 24/7 series that’s followed boxers during the weeks leading up to key matches and hockey players before playing in the NHL Winter Classic. This time, the network will cover an athlete during his offseason and take a look at the NBA.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant will be the focus of The Offseason: Kevin Durant, which follows the current NBA MVP from the moment his team’s season ended on May 31 until he reported for the Thunder’s 2014-15 training camp. The show debuts Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 10 p.m. on HBO (and will be available on HBO GO).

There were plenty of storylines following Durant during the summer, so The Offseason shouldn’t lack for compelling content. Naturally, the disappointment of the Thunder losing to the eventual NBA champion Spurs and recuperating from the grind of playing 100 games are an underlying premise of Durant’s break. The need to recharge and refine his game likely influenced his decision not to play for Team USA for the FIBA World Cup of Basketball.

Durant also cited an interest in tending to his off-the-court business and brand considerations, and moved to Los Angeles for the summer to do so. That attention certainly paid off big-time, as Durant signed an enormous endorsement deal with Nike approaching $300 million, beating out a mega-offer from Under Armour. Perhaps one episode of The Offseason will feature 30 minutes of Durant rolling among mounds of cash.

“Working with HBO on this project was an exciting opportunity, and I want to thank the film crews, producers, directors and everyone involved,” Durant said in the HBO press release for the show. “The project allowed me to show my fans the work that is put in on and away from the court when the cameras are off us. With THE OFFSEASON now in the wraps, I look forward to taking all the work that people will see happens in the summer months to the court in the regular season with my teammates and the Thunder.”

Most of HBO Sports’ unscripted programming has covered the lead-up and preparation for big events. So following an athlete winding down, tending to other matters and living life away from his sport could be an interesting direction for this new show. Of course, there figures to be a good amount of training and offseason work included. Watching Durant catch up on his Netflix queue and gorge on all the snacks he stayed away from during the NBA season probably wouldn’t be compelling TV.

This could also be seen as a further attempt for a professional athlete to reach out to his or her fans and show what that life is like, much as Derek Jeter hopes to accomplish with his new website.

No word on how many episodes The Offseason will include in its series run, but HBO may be keeping that open, depending on how much material it has to work with. A season of Hard Knocks lasts five episodes, while The Road to the Winter Classic typically runs four. A 24/7 series for a boxing match has featured as many as six shows, yet for the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri fight, there will only be one episode. So it’s probably safe to guess that we’ll be seeing Durant on HBO through four to six shows.

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

Comments are closed.