Starting 5 takes basketball fans into uncharted territory, showcasing the relentless effort professional athletes put forth to compete for a championship while also prioritizing their families and mental well-being. Showrunner Peter Scalettar says that revealing the core motivations for LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, Domontas Sabonis, and Jayson Tatum gives fans a never-before-seen perspective on the biggest players in basketball.
“Every part of it is illuminating,” Scalettar tells Tudum. “Whether it’s being in the locker room or a living room, it all feels new and fresh. The NBA has not provided this type of access before.”
Scalettar handled that access with care, ensuring his team didn’t hinder the athletes’ efforts. “We don’t want to get in the way of their main objective, so the first hurdle is finding spots where we can fit in and not be a distraction,” he says. “Being with a player on a game day and going, ‘I’m going to try not to make eye contact.’ As someone who’s superstitious myself, I never wanted to do anything that could be perceived as a distraction.”
The other big challenge for Scalettar, as a superfan, was having to choose between the most compelling moments. “To me, it’s all interesting,” he says, “whether it’s hanging out, [or] making coffee in the house with the kids running around, or getting ready for Halloween, or heading to a commercial shoot for your new sneaker drop.”
Let’s dive into some of the fascinating behind-the-scenes looks at the Starting 5 cast’s lives, starting with that spooky-season prep.
LeBron James loves Halloween.
Get a peek at James as he begins a Beetlejuice makeover in preparation for Halloween. “It’s my favorite holiday by far,” James declares with a head of green hair, in the early stages of a remarkably elaborate costume. The costume drew buzz when James shared it on social media alongside his wife, Savannah, who played into the Beetlejuice theme with her Miss Argentina look.
Jimmy Butler shows off his barista skills.
Since he’s been so busy conquering basketball, who knows how capable Butler would’ve been as a barista. Still, he’s made his way into the business with BIGFACE coffee and plans to have a brick-and-mortar location in Miami. Here, you’ll see just how much he loves cappuccinos as he prepares several for himself throughout the day, complete with foam art.
Domantas Sabonis gives his family a winter wonderland.
Because plans for a ski trip must remain on ice for as long as Sabonis is in the NBA, he opts to have snow delivered to his home, sledding down icy hills in a makeshift winter wonderland with his wife and kids. “If you don’t know me personally, you might think I am kind of crazy, or whatever fans think I am on the court when I’m in the zone,” he tells Tudum. “Outside of basketball, I am the complete opposite. I’m a husband and father first, and I just want to take care of my family.”
As for what drew him to participate in Starting 5? Repping the city he plays for. “We can put Sacramento on the map,” Sabonis says. “We don’t get many national TV games, so by doing Starting 5, people can see all over the world what we’ve been building — all the effort the city and the organization has put into building this franchise.”
Anthony Edwards on being a parent.
Though he’s considered a young, rising superstar in the NBA, Edwards has matured into a new parent who embraces fatherhood. Here, Edwards discusses the ways it “takes a village” to raise a child and expresses a willingness to let others help when needed. And he’s mastered separating his professional and personal lives. “I go here [to the court] and I’m one person, and I come home and I’m another person,” Edwards says.
Jayson Tatum defies a doubter and speaks on his Kobe Bryant fandom.
Reminiscing while watching Bryant’s games and highlights on YouTube, Tatum recalls telling a teacher that he wanted to be in the NBA one day. She told him to “be more realistic,” and his mother, Brandy Cole-Barnes, made sure he remembered the moment — for the day he’d prove that naysayer wrong.
For Tatum, a major appeal of being in Starting 5 was that it allowed him to pull back the curtain on who he really was. “I wanted to give fans an inside look at my life, something I had never really done before,” he says. “I knew it would be big.”
Tatum adds that folks might not realize what it takes to be an NBA player. “The mental aspect is just as demanding as the physical aspect,” he says. “It’s never getting too high or too low, while holding myself to the highest standard. That is my job, but the perspective is knowing that my most important role is being a dad. I think the series does a great job showing the balance we have to maintain in our lives.”
The wait is over — Starting 5 is streaming now on Netflix.
