Netflix has landed Hoops, based on Kennedy Ryan’s bestselling book series, for drama series development, beating out competition for the rights. The project comes from Ryan, Adrian Dukes (All American), Will Packer Media, Chris Paul’s Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment, and Tracey Baker-Simmons.
Series details and storyline are being kept under wraps, but the adaptation draws from the three-book sports romance series, consisting of Long Shot, Block Shot, and Hook Shot, blends the high-stakes world of professional basketball with raw explorations of personal healing and second-chance love. Long Shot follows Iris DuPree and rising NBA star August West in a story that tackles domestic abuse and a woman’s journey toward survival and freedom. Block Shot continues the sports-world romance with a compelling second-chance dynamic, while Hook Shot centers on a professional basketball player and a woman who weren’t expecting to fall in love.
Dukes will write and executive produce the series. Will Packer and Sabrina Wind executive produce for Will Packer Media, alongside Chris Paul, CJ Paul, and Jacqueline Taylor for Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment, with Ryan and Baker-Simmons also executive producing.
Dukes previously served as co-executive producer on All American and as a producer on Prime Video’s Motorheads, with additional credits including BET’s The Quad, Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, and The Ricky Smiley Show.
The Hoops deal lands amid a busy stretch for Ryan. She holds a first-look producing deal at Universal Television under her Scribe Chick Media banner, and is executive producing and co-writing the pilot adaptation of Before I Let Go, the first book in her Skyland series, which received an official series order at Peacock earlier this month. That project follows separated co-parents Yasmen and Josiah Wade and is co-created by Ryan and Malcolm D. Lee, with From Scratch co-creators Attica Locke and Tembi Locke serving as showrunners and writers. John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Debra Martin Chase are among its executive producers.
Ryan’s most recent novel, Score, the second book in her Hollywood Renaissance series, published in May and became an instant New York Times bestseller.