‘The Crossover’ Executive Producers Talk Goal With Disney+ Series, Tease Season 2 Plans (Exclusive)

The Crossover is a new basketball series on Disney+, and all eight episodes are streaming on the network now. Several media outlets have given the series favorable reviews as it has a strong balance between basketball and family. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively with executive producers and co-showrunners Kwame Alexander, Damani Johnson and Kimberly A. Harrison who revealed the goal of the show. 

“There’s comedy, there’s drama, there’s love, there’s laughter, and life lessons,” Johnson exclusively told PopCulture. “And all of that without ever being heavy-handed. I think our ultimate goal with The Crossover was to make something entertaining, and I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it.”

The Crossover is based on the 2014 book of the same name. It introduces teen brothers Josh (Jalyn Hall) and Jordan (Amir O’Neil) Bell who are basketball superstars. The adult Josh (Daveed Diggs) narrates the story of their journey of getting to the NBA, while their father adjusts to life after basketball and their mother goes after her own dreams. 

“I have two boys,” Harrison said. I haven’t seen shows in a while where I can sit down and actually watch a show with them, and have the discussions. And I think what The Crossover does really well is it shows that you can actually communicate with your kids, and the kids can communicate to you. And for me, it was all about representation, and to be able to have a show that I’m a part of that not only can see reflection of my kids and my family, but also for us to be able to see something together.”

There is no word on if The Crossover has been renewed for Season 2. However, Alexander, who wrote the 2014 book, has plans for the future of the series if he gets the green light. “There’s a prequel to The Crossover called Rebound,” Alexander said. “That book was published in 2018, so certainly there are a lot of stories, there are a lot of different exits that we plan to take on this highway, on this journey, to these boys becoming young men, so I think there’s a plethora of ideas and hopes and dreams, and we definitely hope, Damani and Kim and I, to get the opportunity to explore them.”