“Swagger” follows youth basketball players, their families, and coaches who balance goals and ambition with opportunism and corruption, inspired by NBA great Kevin Durant. The show depicts American childhood off the court.

Season 2 launched last week, and we interviewed creator, director, and executive producer Reggie Rock Bythewood and cast members Isaiah Hill, Quvenzhané Wallis, Shinelle Azoroh, Tristan Mack Wilds, and Orlando Jones.

Conversation with Isaiah Hill and Quvenzhane Waillis 

Cox: Isaiah Hill and Quvenzhane Waillis; I’m loving season 2 of Swagger. Your characters, Jace and Crystal, have this duality in their storylines. Like two opposite sides of the same coin. What growth do you see in your characters this season? 

Hill: I think they both just realized their responsibility to their community even more this season. And as you see throughout the story, they know what’s truly at stake. They’re role models, and they want to have a cause that’s bigger than themselves. In the first season you saw Crystal was in a dark place, and my character Jace was all headstrong about himself and where he was trying to go. This season, you’ll see Jace become more of a floor general and a better teammate. He becomes a better brother, son, and friend. That’s something we want the audience to really feel and respect with the growth of Jace and Crystal. 

Wallis: Honestly, as he said, Crystal was going through ups and downs, and unfortunately, in season one, she experienced a lot of downs. So, I’m happy to see that in season two, she’s on the rise. She’s growing up and maturing this season. She’s found a little bit more of herself and gained some confidence. I think she’s just a powerhouse. And I love to see her in her element this season, where she’s just happy. You can tell she is glowing and isn’t sad anymore. 

Cox: This season, there is a great sense of vulnerability we see with them individually and together, especially with Jace. We see that during the episode on his 18th birthday, where he told Crystal he just wanted her to be at his game. 

Hill: It’s the vulnerability, Mike. It’s a factor in the story we want people to take away: calling for help doesn’t make you weak. You have to know what foundation you have. And I think Jason and Crystal can teach a master class for people this year. 

Cox: There are still parts where Crystal seems guarded, even during that scene. 

Hill: Right! 

Wallis: What do you expect? Don’t do Crystal like that because she went through so much. You have to give her time to blossom on her own. When she’s ready to open up and let her guard down, she will. 

Conversation with Reggie Rock Bythewood 

Cox: Reggie I love the concept of the show and the layered message behind it. I want to know why season two is heading in this direction with everyone. 

Bythewood: This season, the kids are in a prep school. So, we aren’t focused on grassroots basketball like in season one. It’s really focused on them, their careers, their future, and college. One thing we did for this season was research the level of influence parents who make big donations could have in some of these institutions. There are these boards of directors at these schools that are just donating money so they can have influence. 

We wanted to challenge that and do it authentically. It felt like something that needed to be addressed. 

Cox: You see this season, the extra layers of humanity that highlight identity and social economic status, and how it all plays a part in these people’s lives. 

Bythewood: When you win a national championship at a prep school, it puts you on the map. Then you are in the news and press, which helps raise money for the schools by bringing in more donors. That’s something we wanted to highlight after discovering things during our research. One of the coaches we interviewed told us about a time when he was an assistant coach and bumped heads with the head coach. He had to remind him of the 22 and 2 rules. You do 2 hours of practice, but what about the other 22 hours? What do you know and care about the additional 22 hours of the kid’s life? 

And we wanted to challenge the idea that they only cared about the kids while they were on the court. Just like the humanity you mentioned, that’s what it’s really about with this show and the secret sauce of Swagger. 

Cox: Not to give everything away, but there is this foreshadowing when it comes to Jace’s 18th birthday and what life will be like for him as a basketball player outside of high school and stepping into his manhood. 

Bythewood: I mean, so much of his focus is on navigating manhood. As a storyteller, you want to give your characters conflict. I really wanted to set up a major conflict for Jace and his teammates to overcome. Like what level of community, it will take for them to overcome this. None of us get to where we need to go by ourselves. And that’s a big part of why I wanted to tell Jace’s story. 

Cox: Shinelle, Orlando, and Tristan, your roles this season showcase different external aspects from the grown-up perspective in these kids’ lives. 

Cox: Shinelle as Jace’s mom Jenna, this season, you are heavily focused on ensuring he enjoys being a kid. There’s this part where you tell him you are working two jobs so he can focus and not get caught up in everything. 

Azoroh: This season, she knows he’s about to go off and be on his own. And pretty soon, she’ll be alone in her household. So, in these last moments, she has with him, she wants to make sure he is right in the head, or at least that when he’s away from her, he will make the right decisions to stay on the path she started for him. As a mom, I know how dangerous it is if you push too hard. It can be too much, and they can go the opposite way. 

Cox: Now, Orlando, your character Emory reminds others that, from their perspective, you have to give a little in this world, but you can still stay true to who you are. 

Jones: Look, there are rules to this. I know you don’t want there to be one, but there are still rules to it. I think the path that we often talk about is one that we don’t lay out for our kids. We tell them that we want them to be venture capitalists and things like that. That often means hobnobbing with people who do those things. So that one can understand who and why things work. It’s part of the journey. It’s like this joke. It says you can’t be a West Coast rapper if you are from and live in Atlanta. If that’s what you want to do, you must move and live on the West Coast. 

Emory is trying to remind these kids that if you want eliteness and greatness, this is part of the path. These are the people you are going to find yourself interacting with. So, let’s figure out how to do that properly. 

Cox: Tristan, your character Alonzo this season is showing us that he has a seat at the table and can make power moves. 

Wilds: That’s very much so! I think Alonzo, especially this season, is coming into his own. He has more carte blanche when moving things around in a certain way. Alonzo is that character who may move in a lot of ways that people don’t like, but no matter what, he is going to get the job done. 

Whatever the job is or whatever is needed at the time, Alonzo will find a way to find the person he has to schmooze with or the money he has to spend.