(Reuters) – Basketball star LeBron James will serve as an executive producer on a forthcoming television comedy series about two men who rise from poverty to fame and fortune, U.S. cable network Starz said on Tuesday.
“Survivor’s Remorse,” a scripted half-hour comedy series still under development, is the Miami Heat player’s first venture in TV production. James previously produced an animated internet series about himself called “The LeBrons” in 2011 and the 2008 documentary film “More Than a Game.”
Fellow executive producers of “Survivor’s Remorse” include Tom Werner, who produced the long-running TV situation comedies “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne,” and “Glee” actor Mike O’Malley.
The series centers on two cousins who escape an impoverished upbringing in Philadelphia for a life in the spotlight.
Starz, which also airs the series “The White Queen,” said the new comedy will deal with the challenges of success, money and the guilt of rising out of poverty while friends and former neighbors remain poor.
James, 28, a two-time NBA champion who has been selected as the league’s top player four times, grew up poor in Akron, Ohio.
James, widely considered the best basketball player in the world, is the second-highest-earning American athlete, with annual salary and endorsements worth $56.5 million, according to Sports Illustrated.
Other executive producers include his manager and childhood friend Maverick Carter and business partner Paul Wachter.
Starz did not say when the series would begin airing.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Will Dunham)