The World of Five-Star basketball podcast drops first teaser for series

UNINTERRUPTED and RTG Features announce they are currently in post-production on the six-part narrative podcast THE WORLD OF FIVE-STAR and have dropped the first audio teaser for the series. The podcast, hosted by acclaimed hoops analyst and personality Tate Frazier, tells the story of the legendary basketball camp, its outspoken founder, and its role incubating the most transcendent talents in the sport. The series is a co-production between Sports Emmy-winning brand UNINTERRUPTED and RTG Features, in association with Figures Network. The announcement also coincides with Five-Star Basketball co-founder Howard Garfinkel being enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 11, 2021.

Five-Star Basketball Camp has an exalted place in the pantheon of hoops history. While the term “Five-Star” is synonymous with excellence, the patented ranking system itself was just one of the legendary outcomes born at the famed camp.

Featured voices in the podcast include: Ron Artest, Jay Bilas, Muggsy Bogues, Hubie Brown, Larry Brown, John Calipari, Maverick Carter, Jerry Colangelo, Mike Fratello, Ben Gordon, Jason Hehir, Grant Hill, Will Klein, Mike Krzyzewski, Dave Odom, Fran McCaffery, Dana O’Neil, Buzz Peterson, Ed Pinckney, Rick Pitino, Bill Raftery, George Raveling, God Shammgod, Dick Vitale, and Roy Williams.

September also marks Five-Star’s 55th anniversary. The camp has produced over 500 NBA and 10,000 NCAA Division I players, with famous alumni that include: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Patrick Ewing, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Chris Mullin, Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and John Wall.

Over 325 Five-Star counselors went on to coach at the NBA or NCAA Division I level, including: John Calipari, Rick Pitino, Billy Donovan, Tommy Amaker, Frank Vogel, Hubie Brown, Johnny Dawkins, Mike Malone, Brad Stevens, Mike Fratello, Bob McKillop, Lawrence Frank, Dick Vitale, Dave Odom, and Pete Gillen.

In addition to the podcast, UNINTERRUPTED and SLAM have collaborated on an exclusive Five-Star capsule collection including a replica camp t-shirt as well as three additional apparel items. The collection will drop in conjunction with the podcast premiere exclusively on store.uninterrupted.com and slamgoods.com.

“Five-Star ushered in the culture of high-stakes summer basketball,” said Peter Robert Casey, CEO at JDS Sports, the parent company of SLAM, RTG Features and Five-Star Basketball. “For over five decades, it was a rite of passage for all of the game’s best players and coaches, whose competitive intensity created a no-frills, boot camp-like atmosphere that became a launching pad for so many basketball luminaries. There is no better partner to help tell this story than the team at UNINTERRUPTED, who share a first-hand perspective of the Five-Star experience.”

About UNINTERRUPTED

UNINTERRUPTED is a Sports Emmy-award winning athlete empowerment media, experiences and consumer product brand that is part of The SpringHill Company, the media conglomerate spearheaded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter with the mission to empower greatness in every individual. UNINTERRUPTED original content properties, including The Shop: UNINTERRUPTED, Kneading Dough and More Than An Athlete, are impacting culture and inspiring important conversations within and beyond sport and entertainment.

About RTG Features

RTG, which stands for “Respect the Game,” is a film and TV production and financing studio. With basketball storytelling as its priority, RTG focuses on original development, along with adapting articles from SLAM’s 230-plus magazine issues into both scripted and unscripted multimedia projects ranging from feature films and television to documentaries and podcasts. RTG Features is part of JDS Sports’ investment portfolio which spans venture capital and private equity, and includes: SLAM, Buzzer, Dibbs, The GIST, VidMob, INFLCR, Transmit, ReadyUp, Framework Ventures, IDEO CoLab Ventures, 1091 Pictures, 19nine, Five-Star Basketball, and more.

About Figures Network

Figures is a creative studio and production company founded in 2019 by Tate Frazier and Mike Goldstein. Figures prides itself on the creation of sharp, innovative, story-driven productions that are rooted in visual, sonic and artistic integrity. With more than two decades of audio experience working on award-winning podcasts and Grammy-nominated albums, the Figures team caters its storytelling to forward-thinking audiences that crave masterful narratives across sports, music, gaming, and pop culture, with shows like Titus & Tate, Pushin’ Thru with BJ Armstrong and Meeting on the Mound.

About JDS Sports

JDS Sports is a sports and entertainment holding company that invests at the intersection of content and commerce. JDS investments span venture capital and private equity, and include: SLAM, RTG Features, Buzzer, Dibbs, The GIST, VidMob, INFLCR, Transmit, ReadyUp, Framework Ventures, IDEO CoLab Ventures, 1091 Pictures, 19nine, Five-Star Basketball, and more.