Starting 5 Season 2: Meet the NBA Stars Taking Over Netflix
Netflix’s Starting 5 returns for Season 2, swapping last year’s stars for five new NBA standouts from the 2024–25 season—fresh teams, higher stakes, and unfiltered personal battles on and off the court.
Netflix brought back its NBA doc Starting 5, and Season 2 swaps in a brand-new lineup with a different vibe: fewer victory laps, more life-in-motion. It follows five guys shaping the 2024-25 season, and yes, it digs past the box score. If you want personality, pressure, and the business side of being That Guy in today’s league, this is built for you.
What this season is actually about
Season 2 moves beyond last year’s cast and zeroes in on a fresh set of stories. It is less about highlight reels and more about identity: how young stars carry franchises, how veterans chase legacy without losing themselves, and how the off-court grind (branding, scrutiny, family, money, all of it) bleeds into the on-court product. The show tracks their full 2024-25 journey, weaving together team dynamics, playoff pushes, and the reality of being a modern superstar.
The five players, five angles
Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the new-school leaders — engine-of-the-team guys who make their franchises go and are now expected to win big, not just look promising. Jaylen Brown walks in with a fresh ring, which is great until you realize the next job is proving it was the start of a run, not a one-off. Kevin Durant brings the veteran perspective: one of the best scorers ever still chasing the version of a championship that shuts everyone up. And James Harden opens the door on life beyond the beard-and-buckets persona, which is long overdue and probably the most surprising thread here.
Release, format, and who is behind it
- Streaming now: Season 2 dropped Thursday, October 16, 2025 on Netflix
- Episodes: 8 total, roughly 45 minutes each, all released at once
- Players featured: Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), James Harden (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Season setting: the 2024-25 NBA season, with an emphasis on team chemistry, playoff stakes, personal branding, and off-court lives
- Directors: Trishtan Williams, Susan Ansman, Peter J. Scalettar, Rob Ford
- Executive producers: LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Barack and Michelle Obama, Peyton Manning, Rob Ford, Peter J. Scalettar
- Production companies: UNINTERRUPTED, Omaha Productions, Higher Ground Productions
- Platform: Netflix (Sports docuseries)
- Availability: Starting 5 Seasons 1 and 2 are both streaming
Bottom line
If you like basketball culture as much as basketball games, this scratches the itch. It is candid without feeling staged, and there is enough behind-the-scenes industry detail to make it feel like actual access. And since the whole season is up, it is an easy weekend binge.