“Swagger” has been canceled at Apple TV+ after two seasons.
The series about a high school basketball star (played by Isaiah Hill) and his journey through the world of youth hoops is loosely inspired by the life of NBA star Kevin Durant, who’s an executive producer. The cancellation comes a few months after season two’s final episode streamed in August.
Series creator, showrunner and director Reggie Rock Bythewood shared the news of Swagger’s end on Instagram. “What an amazing adventure. In our two seasons, we have launched careers, disrupted genre, brought forth humanity through our characters, told stories we care deeply about, revolutionized the way to shoot basketball and had fun. That’s a blessing,” he wrote.
After thanking fellow executive producers Durant, Brian Grazer and Rich Kleiman and producers Imagine Television and CBS Studios, Bythewood added, “Apple, while you are not ordering a season three, I made the show I wanted to make. Thank you for that. Cast, writers and crew, you have my gratitude. Walk on the set with Swagger. Walk off the set with Swagger. For our FAMbase, you lifted us in ways we could never have imagined. To the industry, don’t take your foot off the gas. Keep telling our stories.”
Along with innovative filming of on-court action — Bythewood told The Hollywood Reporter in August that a camera operator on Rollerblades helped capture the flow of games — Swagger also highlights the people around Hill’s Jace Carson as he strives to make it to the next level.
“Community is such a huge part of our narrative,” Bythewood told THR. “None of us really get to where we need to get alone. I talk a lot about Swagger being about a cause bigger than yourself, but also, to be able to execute that cause, particularly as a young person coming up, it really helps to have some level of community —mom, dad, coach, neighbor, somebody there helping you, guiding you. I’m really big on that. Growing up, at times I felt it was lacking, other times it was like, oh wait, I’ve got these people here.”
Swagger’s cast also includes O’Shea Jackson Jr., Shinelle Azoroh, Quvenzhané Wallis, Caleel Harris, Tristan Mack Wilds, Tessa Ferrer, James Bingham, Solomon Irama, Ozie Nzeribe, Jason Rivera, Christina Jackson, Sean Baker, Orlando Jones and Shannon Brown.
