What started as a hoop fantasy life on paper turns into a comedic 3 point play for sports fans worldwide.
Sports and hip hop fans worldwide, get ready to laugh your KD’s off. Comedy Central is preparing to debut a basketball-related comedy show entitled “Legends Of Chamberlain Heights”. Created by Brad Ableson, Quinn Hawking, Josiah Johnson and Michael Starrbury, this animated project introduces viewers to the wild, wacky and in-depth look of avid ballers who dreams to become the superstar of their teams while currently riding the bench. Viewers will get the chance to follow hoopers Grover, Milk and Jamal on their quest to become ” the man” on the Michael Clarke Duncan High basketball team. Whether you was the role player on your AAU team or the #1 option on your high school team, Legends Of Chamberlain Heights is the show that the former “ball is life” hoopers will appreciate while gaining the attention of die hard sport fan due to their clever commentary. With a dope music direction being heading by the legendary Erykah Badu, The Source was able to catch up with the stars of the show in Quinn Hawking and Josiah Johnson to discuss the process of how this project is being evolved to a comedy slam dunk.
TS: How has the experience of creating Legends Of Chamberlain Heights been for the both of yall so far?
Josiah J:The experience has been great man. It’s been a long process, many in years in the making. We put a lot of hard work, a lot of energy, a lot of time, to try and put the best product out and to make sure that this thing is really hot. Comedy Central gave us a great platform and great opportunity to do something special and legendary.
Quinn H: It goes to show you how you can take an idea and turn it into an piece of actual living matter. The concept is now a show which now lives on video tape and it all started from an idea in our heads. I find it cool that you can just create something and you can watch it become something. It’s a exciting time since we are 2-3 wks away from airing on Comedy Central.
TS: What inspired yall to create a project that brings sports and comedy like this for the masses to witness and hopefully become fans of this visual?
Quinn H: I think it’s all started from The Source Magazine.
Josiah J: Probably our biggest inspiration was Lebron James. We are both big fans of his game and actually it’s because of him that we are here right now. We started this project back in 2009 during the playoffs through the big Nike marketing campaign involved Kobe and Lebron in puppet characters. So we basically just finished college at that point and we were getting our feet wet in the entertainment industry and we did a parody video of one of those puppets. Obviously Lebron was our guy so we made Lebron tribute video and it got ton of great responses and we were reached out by a bunch of people .So that laid the foundation and framework of getting this show going. Lebron was definitely a major inspiration along with Trey Parker and Matt Stone from South Park. Our show will air after theirs so any opportunity to be on the same network as those guys is incredible.
Quinn H: Not only Lebron but just loving basketball in general, we pretty much grew up on living in basketball gyms essentially. I think that’s where our unique voice from the show comes from. It comes from guys that are hoopers, so a lot of the experience we write about on the show is very personal and it comes from experience from our basketball careers from times we were the star players in hs or where ever team you came from to the benchwarmers in college. It’s introduces the viewers to the experience of the realm of the basketball world. That alone helps evolved into Lebron fans and we ended up making content that was pro Lebron stuff then it ended up turning into a tv show.
TS: Since there are avid hoopers who played organized ball such as HS and AAU competition, what kind of appreciation are you looking for from fans who were true hoopers such as ourselves?
Quinn H: I think it’s just a lot of commentary. We’ll make jokes about certain professional basketball players that a lot of basketball fans will latch onto. But in general, it’s just the commentary and the actual perspective of who these characters in Grover, Milk and Jamal. They are hoopers at heart that know even tho they don’t get a lot of playing time. I think it really calculates from when you playing pick up ball or appreciating the fun times in the gym and just when u finished playing and you sitting around watching games, talking and joking around with each other. There’s a certain vibe you have when you are in the gym and when you are with your friends. I think that this show definitely speaks to that group while appeal to a wide range of other audience. But I think we will have a cool niche following in just the bball community.
Josiah J: Kicking back to what Quinn is saying, the thing that will make it appealing to so many people with an athletic background is that its going to be relatable that at some point in their basketball career or sports career, you probably gonna find yourself at the end of the bench. You just hanging out, having fun with your friends and teammates and you can feel that commodity. So now these guys are 3 benchwarmers that has dreams of being the next Lebron or the next Jordan. So we all have those aspirations to be a legend some day. It’s mainly about being a superstar.
Already being purchased for a second season, this laugh-out-loud sports visual is bound to have you in tears from beginning to end. Here’s a small preview of what to expect. Make sure you check out the first episode on September. 14 on Comedy Central.
