User reviews

"Basketball County: In the Water" (2020 release; 52 min.) is a documentary about the basketball traditions in Prince George's County, MD, located just outside of Washington, DC. As the movie opens, we get a quick montage of some of the many NBA and WNBA players that hail from PG County. "There's something about the water we drink", comment several of them. We then go back in history to understand how PG County became what it is, not just from a basketball perspective, but also from a community perspective, as middle-class black families fled DC in the late 60s (in particular after the riots ensuing from MLK's murder) and instead took refuge in the suburban surroundings of Prince George's County. At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this documentary is executive-produced by Kevin Durant, and feels like it is a loving tribute from KD to the community that he clearly cherishes and care about deeply. So yes, there is a heavy dose of KD interviews and footage. But you step back, and it is astonishing how one county can produce that much basketball talent. KD, Michael Beasley, Jeff Green, Quinn Cook, Dermarr Johnson, and on and on. And yes, Lenny Bias. Bias is featured within the significant segment devoted to DeMatha HS, the legendary catholic school with a basketball program the likes of which is probably unparalleled in this country. Coach Wootten gets his due, of course. If there is one criticism that I have of the documentary, it s that it frankly crams too much in just 50 min., and that this cries out for a less hurried approach. Make it a full-length feature!

I lived in neighboring Montgomery County, MD earlier in my career and the reputation of DeMatha in the area was monumental. "Basketball County: In the Water" premiered on Showtime earlier this week, and is not available on SHO On Demand and other streaming services. If you like basketball, or are familiar with the area, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

A fairly cursory look at at a really deep and well rooted phenomenon. Quite a few of these basketball legends deserved a telling of their own tales of at least this length (Beasley, Len Bias, Curtis Malone, etc.) There is so much more that could of been told here warts and all. Should of been a series.

Nice history and submittal of argument toward NY LA Chicago etc on who has best hoops in US. The toughness and competitiveness that happens naturally is a beautiful thing to watch as kids grow into young men while developing their games from boys club to AAU and HS. Only suggestive criticism is would have at least mentioned 1983 NC STATE squad that was 3/5s PG - Lowe and Wittenberg (DeMatha) Thurl Bailey (Bladensburg) Saw that KD is developing a series called Swagger for Apple TV - don't know if on PG / DMV or region.

Agreed with other post - there is So Much more development that could happen with multiple story lines.

Appreciate KD showing a little light on PG Pride///

It's wonderful to see a well produced documentary of D.C. & Southern Maryland. Shout out to OneDematha for there Brotherhood embraced institution.

The documentary will give you a behind the scenes look into the areas struggles, it's wonderful culture and the competItive nature which molds these boys into B-ball gladiators.

I was expecting a Mambo Sauce reference at least since there were som many local cultural references but none the less it's a must see.

Thank you for taking the time in putting it together.