Netflix Announced They Are Canceling ‘Starting 5’

The NBA’s behind-the-scenes series with star players is no more. Streaming entertainment giant Netflix announced they are canceling ‘Starting 5.’ This news comes on the heels of Season 2 releasing just last month.

Nonetheless, this development is not too surprising. There were signs. For instance, a new cast wasn’t announced before the season started. This radio silence on the part of Netflix as well as the league made the situation loud and clear to sports fans. Starting 5 had already run its course.

This NBA-focused documentary tracked five players over the course of the season. And last season even took things up a notch by culminating into an unanticipated ending with two of its stars reaching the seven-game NBA Finals. Yet, not even this victorious outcome and moment seemed to deliver what was needed in Netflix eyes.

So what happened? What went wrong? Well, while there was an audience for the show; with some quite enjoying watching the series. The problem is the audience was just not large enough. According to Sports Business Journal,

“Netflix’s first batch of internal data for “Starting 5” Season 2 won’t be available until early 2026, but as noted by the Entertainment Strategy Guy, various third-party numbers weren’t looking good for the series. Internal Season 1 numbers from Netflix during the second half of 2024 were well behind the NFL docuseries “Quarterback,” and that trend was likely continued in the back of half of this year with both series’ second seasons.

Netflix did not have any comment.”

Interestingly, it’s not like Starting 5 didn’t have a good “roster.” Sometimes shows fail because they don’t have enough big names or individuals of interest that people want to follow. Or shows at times can’t even get athletes to sign on period. None of that was the case in this situation.

Netflix Announced They Are Canceling ‘Starting 5’

Starting 5 profiled NBA players such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, James Harden, Anthony Edwards; Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler as well as last season’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But sports and entertainment are results based industries; so if the numbers are not right or there; changes happen.

We think this sports documentary show had potential. However, it fell flat in some respects. Nevertheless, we would have loved to see a Season 3 mix of Curry, Wemby, Brunson, Flagg and Doncic. Oh well, maybe one day.

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