As an avid sports fan, anything marketed as a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of athletes catches my eye. So Naturally, as I traveled home for fall break, I was excited to check out the new NBA documentary “Starting Five” on Netflix.
The 10-episode docuseries was released on Oct. 9 and follows the lives of five of the NBA’s most prominent stars: LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum and Domantas Sabonas. The docuseries features insider clips into their lives off the court and with their families, game footage, pre and post-game behind-the-scenes as well as sit-down interviews with all five players.
The unfiltered behind-the-scenes clips provided an interesting insight into the lives of these athletes, humanizing them in the eyes of viewers and displaying their personalities off the court. From clips of Butler competing in games of Dominoes with his father to James dressing as Beetlejuice to Tatum playing with his son Deuce, the docuseries allowed viewers to see their favorite stars as real people — and appreciate them for their personalities as well as their successes. Each player’s personality shone through in their segments, and the docuseries intentionally chose these five contrasting personalities, introducing a lot of dynamism regarding their characterizations. Clips shifting from showing Sabonis’ humble and quiet persona, to Edwards’ ultra-competitive confidence ensures that there is a star for every viewer to resonate with.
However, rather than witnessing a cohesive story unfold, watching this series felt more like viewing a compilation of loosely linked clips. Incorporating all five players gives the audience an expectation of slight disjointedness, but this docuseries took the disarray too far. The clips jumped from one to the next with no clear transitions, making it hard for the viewer to understand any storyline.
Although each player carries their own persona, stories and struggles, the docuseries aims to highlight what they all have in common: a love for basketball, and for their families. The docuseries ability to show the five players as fathers, husbands, sons and basketball players is what it does best and what kept me entertained throughout my watching. While there is no clear storyline, there is a clear intent of portraying the players authentically, and the docuseries does a good job of fulfilling that intent.
Overall, the docuseries has quality and entertaining content and gives an interesting portrayal of the players’ lives and roles off the court. However, the lack of a storyline makes it hard to stay interested in watching past the first few episodes. Content gets repetitive and there is no end goal, just a compilation of clips mustered together. For an avid fan of one of these five stars, the docuseries would be the perfect next watch to add to your list. But for most viewers, I’d recommend an episode or two of this docuseries to keep you entertained while waiting for your plane to board, and not much more than that.
