Netflix jumps at basketball doc

Basketball or Nothing debuts on Netflix on August 2

Global streamer Netflix has picked up a documentary series about a Native American student basketball team.

Basketball or Nothing (6×30′) is a coproduction from indie The WorkShop Content Studios and Main Event Productions, owned by professional golfer Rickie Fowler, and follows the lives of the Chinle High School boys’ basketball team, the Chinle High Wildcats.

Chinle High is on the Navajo Nation reservation – the largest tribal area in the US, occupying parts of north-eastern Arizona, south-eastern Utah and north-western New Mexico.

With their sights set on the Arizona Division III Championship, the Wildcats’ games attract more than 6,000 people to a town with a population of only 4,500.

Tom Farrell, CEO of The WorkShop Content Studios, said: “Basketball or Nothing tells a story that, while unfamiliar to the majority of Americans, is a story that deserves to be told and felt. As an athlete and part Native American, Rickie helped us ensure that the series remained real and true to the team and its loyal fans on the reservation.”

The docuseries will premiere on Netflix on August 2. Exec producing are Fowler, Farrell, Matt Howley, Todd Donnelly, Joseph Witthohn, Native American professional golfer Notah Begay III and Sam MacNaughton.