Disney+ Releases Trailer for Basketball Series 'The Crossover'

A new basketball series is heading to Disney+. On Thursday, the streaming service revealed the first trailer for The Crossover, which is based on the 2014 book of the same name written by Kwame Alexander. It was also announced that all episodes of the series will begin streaming on April 5. 

"The Crossover is a heartwarming, poignant story about a family of basketball players," the official synopsis states. "The series introduces teen brothers Josh (Jalyn Hall) and Jordan (Amir O'Neil) Bell, widely considered basketball phenoms.  Through his lyrical poetry, an adult version of Josh, aka Filthy (Daveed Diggs), narrates the story of he and his brother's coming-of-age, on and off the court, as their former professional basketball player father adjusts to life after basketball and their mother finally pursues lifelong dreams of her own."

The series also stars Derek Luke who plays the boys' father and coach Chuck Bell, Sabrina Revelle as the family matriarch Crystal Bell, Deja Monique Cruz as the Bell brothers' best friend Maya Trevor Raine Bush as the Bell brothers' teammate and best friend Vondie; and Skyla I'Lece as Alexis, a childhood friend who recently returned to town and is catching the eye of the Bell brothers. Phylicia Rashad also guest stars as Barbara, the boys' grandmother and Chuck's mom. 

The Crossover is produced by 20th Television for Disney Branded Television, while Alexander, Damani Johnson and Kimberly A. Harrison serve as executive producers and co-showrunners. Diggs is an executive producer along with The SpringHill Company's LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson and Lezlie Wills. Other executive producers are George Tillman Jr., Bob Teitel, Robert Prinz and Jay Marcus of State Street Pictures as well as Todd Harthan and Erin O'Malley. 

In an interview with Sports Illustrated for Kids in 2014, Alexander explained how he came up with the idea to write The Crossover. "I guess the first thing is I wanted to talk about the relationship between fathers and sons," he said. "So that's sort of where it started. And I really wanted to talk about it in a fun and funny sort of way because when I grew up with my dad, he was really a big part of my life. He taught me how to play basketball, he taught me how to play tennis, and so I wanted to show the relationship between a dad and a son."