‘Big Men’ Limited Series About Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain & NBA’s Role In Civil Rights Movement In Works By Sox Entertainment
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EXCLUSIVE: Scott Koondel’s Sox Entertainment has partnered with Jon Shapiro’s Ideal Entertainment to co-produce Big Men, a limited series docudrama about the NBA and its stars’ important roles in the civil rights movement.
Created by screenwriter Marc Cotter and Joe Bilella, Big Men captures the struggles and strides of the civil rights movement through the lens of two NBA icons, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Their on-court rivalry played a pivotal role in lifting a fledgeling league into a national phenomenon only to be matched by their teamwork off the court in their fight against racial adversity to bridge a segregated America. The series’ narrative will also include the women who influenced them and highlight other Big Men who joined their ranks — including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali — to change basketball and advance social justice.
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The series is envisioned as telling the story over 16 episodes in two seasons. Former Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Norm Nixon will serve as a consulting producer.
“ l’m beyond excited about our limited series Big Men,” Koondel said. “The relationship of the late Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain was unlike any other rivalry in sports because of the time they lived in and when the NBA was not the NBA we know today. This story has never been told before and it will be done through the proper lens”
Sox Entertainment and Ideal Entertainment are co-producing. Sox Entertainment also is packaging and distributing the series, which will be shopped to prospective buyers in January.
Former top CBS executive Koondel launched his company with Judith Sheindlin’s Judy Justice at Amazon Freevee and also is distributing a second court show with Sheindlin at the streamer, Tribunal.
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