Netflix Lands Kennedy Ryan's Hoops Drama in Development
Netflix has beaten rival suitors to Hoops, a drama now in development based on Kennedy Ryan's sports romance novels.
In development means the series is being written and packaged, with no order to film yet. The deal was first reported by Deadline on 23 September.
The books give the show a ready-made world organised around basketball and relationships. Hoops runs to three novels: Long Shot, Block Shot and Hook Shot. Each story pairs professional basketball with a romance. Netflix secured the rights in what was described as a highly competitive situation, meaning several buyers wanted the same property at once.
Writer Adrian Dukes will adapt the books and serve as executive producer, the senior credit that steers both story and production. Dukes was a co-executive producer on All American, the football drama, and a producer on Motorheads for Prime Video. That mix gives him credits across network-style sports drama and streaming youth drama.
The producing bench behind him is deep. Will Packer and Sabrina Wind will executive produce for Will Packer Media. Chris Paul, CJ Paul and Jacqueline Taylor will executive produce for Paul's Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment. Ryan herself and producer Tracey Baker-Simmons will also executive produce, according to Deadline.
Ryan is now guiding two of her fictional worlds to screen at once. She works under a first-look producing deal at Universal Television through her Scribe Chick Media banner, an agreement that gives the studio first refusal on her new projects. She is also executive producing and co-writing the adaptation of Before I Let Go, the opening book in her Skyland series.
That second project has a series order at Peacock, meaning it goes straight to a full season without a trial pilot. Hoops is at an earlier step. It has to earn that kind of commitment.
For fans, this means patience is still required. Development is the earliest public stage. No cast has been announced. No filming dates and no release slot have been set, and those only follow if Netflix decides to move forward.
