VARIETY's Daniel Holloway noted ESPN has "ordered an untitled documentary series that will follow select members" of the NBA’s '17-18 rookie class as they "begin their professional-basketball journeys." The eight episodes will follow players from their "preparation for draft night through Summer League competition, training camp, and the regular season." The series is "produced for ESPN by Winik Media and 441 productions, and will be exclusive" to the upcoming ESPN+ streaming service. The series is the first for ESPN+ to get an "official greenlight publicly" from the net, though "several more are in the works" (VARIETY.com, 3/13).
HANGING IT UP CHUCK? In N.Y., Bob Raissman noted Charles Barkley is "contemplating retirement" from broadcasting. Barkley said, "I just turned 55. I want to retire young enough so I can enjoy life. I don’t think you can work until you are 65 or 70 and be complaining that you’re not enjoying life." He added, "My body is not great. ... I want to retire young enough so I can do my golfing and fishing every day" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/11).
DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS: Duke basketball, similar to how it drove TV viewership, was a dominant theme on Twitter for the '17-18 college hoops season, according to data from the social media platform. Duke-Michigan State on Nov. 14 was the top-tweeted game this season, followed by North Carolina-Duke from March 9 and Duke-UNC from Feb. 8, respectively. Oklahoma G Trae Young was the most-mentioned NCAA hoops player this season, followed by Duke G Grayson Allen and Missouri F Michael Porter Jr. Duke overall was the most-tweeted-about team, followed by UNC and Kansas. Among teams left out of the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday, USC saw the most Twitter activity, followed by Oklahoma State and Notre Dame (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
