HBO Sports, Imagine Documentaries and Fuqua Films team up for THE DAY SPORTS STOOD STILL, a feature-length documentary that tells the story of the unprecedented sports shutdown in March of 2020 and the remarkable turn of events that followed. Emmy(R)-winning director Antoine Fuqua (HBO’s “What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali”) will chronicle the abrupt stoppage, athletes’ prominent role in the cultural reckoning on racial injustices that escalated during the pandemic and the complex return to competition in the summer and fall. From producers Brian Grazer and Justin Wilkes, along with Fuqua, the film debuts WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 (9:00-10:30PM ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
At the center of the film is the first-person account of NBA All-Star and president of the NBA Players Association, Chris Paul. An executive producer on the project, Paul, the point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder at the time, will relive his journey from being in the middle of the first game to be stopped on March 11, 2020 against the Utah Jazz, to suddenly living in quarantine, to his crucial role in helping re-open the NBA safely to playing in “the bubble.”
Brought to life through a collection of raw interviews with athletes that detail how profoundly the sports world’s pause in the pandemic affected their lives and careers, the documentary features: the NBA’s Donovan Mitchell, Danilo Gallinari, Karl-Anthony Towns, team owner Mark Cuban, commissioner Adam Silver, and players association executive director Michele Roberts; MLB’s Mookie Betts; the NHL’s Ryan Reaves; NFL’s Laurent Duvernay-Tardif; Natasha Cloud of the WNBA; LPGA’s Michelle Wie West; Dutch soccer player Marten de Roon; and Olympians Daryl Homer and Laurie Hernandez.
THE DAY SPORTS STOOD STILL is an HBO Sports presentation of a film by Imagine Documentaries and Fuqua Films in association with Waffle Iron Entertainment and Ohh Dip!!! Productions; Directed and produced by Antoine Fuqua. For Imagine Documentaries: producers Brian Grazer and Justin Wilkes; executive producers Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, and Marc Gilbar. For Ohh Dip!!! Productions, executive producer Chris Paul.
