Exclusive: Makur Maker On Apple’s Doc Series ‘The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball’
Currently playing on Apple TV+ is the five-part documentary series “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball,” chronicling the inspiring, coming-of-age story of basketball phenom Makur Maker.
Seth Gordon (“Undefeated,” "The King of Kong,” “For All Mankind") directs and executive produces “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball,” which follows Maker, the NBA hopeful who grabbed global headlines with his groundbreaking decision to forgo the NBA and play for Howard University, making him the highest-ranked high school player in the modern recruiting era to commit to an HBCU. The docuseries is an intimate look at Makur's life as a student athlete with a dream of making it to the NBA, while unexpected physical challenges and a global pandemic threatens his college career.
Off the courts, “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball” explores how his journey from fleeing war-torn South Sudan as a child and his tight-knit support system led him to go to a historically black university, and in turn, allowed him to make an impactful statement in the wake of America’s cultural response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
In addition to Gordon, executive producers are Nikki Calabrese, Andrew Fried, Dane Lillegard, Sarina Roma, Jordan Wynn, Luis Lopez, Julia Gunn and Sony Pictures Television. “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball” is produced for Apple by Exhibit A and Boardwalk Pictures.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Maker about his journey from taping this series to where he is now.