Hangin' With the Hornets: Enjoy Basketball Goes Behind the Scenes at NBA Charlotte Franchise

Targeting a younger audience, creator-led network's Access Granted series highlights daily lives of the team's rookie class

In a saturated sports-media industry, many companies dedicate time and resources to telling behind-the-scenes stories of high-profile athletes. It's always easy to tell the stories of well-known stars, but chronicling the daily lives of up-and-coming players in any league isn't so easy. Creator-led Enjoy Basketball is traveling that uncharted path in a partnership with the NBA's Charlotte Hornets intended to spotlight the team's rookie class in an honest and relaxed way.

This is a first-of-its-kind look into what it's like to be an NBA rookie in this new media space, says Devin Dismang, VP, content, Enjoy Basketball. Our goal is to collaborate with some of these younger players that you may not know a lot about and showcase their lives on and off the court.

Elevating New Stars: Untold Stories of League's Next Wave of Athletes

Enjoy Basketball went into this collaboration with three main objectives in mind. The first was to break the mold on how the stories are told. Many documentary series, such as Quarterback or WWE Unreal on Netflix, have large financial budgets and conduct interviews in a traditional style with standard questions. Enjoy Basketball uses its brand identity and style to advantage by serving up more off-the-cuff interviews. Geared toward a younger audience, the interviews leverage current trends and topics that these viewers will understand.

No one outside of major production companies has been given unbridled access to game days, says Dismang. We're not only talking basketball but also showcasing things that the new generation of hoops fans care about.

The Hornets' Kon Knueppel is interviewed by Pierre Andresen at Spectrum Center in Charlotte.He and his team aim to push the game of basketball forward. Many of the league's current stars - Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry - are considered the old guard, no longer the young guns.

Other players from around the globe - Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Slovenia's Luka Don i , Serbia's Nikola Joki - are stepping into the limelight, but, domestically, there's a void that needs to be filled for when the U.S.-born superstars hang up their sneakers. Working with the Hornets - specifically with the club's dynamic rookie class of Kon Knueppel, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Sion James, and Liam McNeeley - Enjoy Basketball aims to introduce these young guns to a larger audience.

These homegrown players, and more so the stories that have become localized to their team's city, haven't been told, Dismang explains. Someone's going to care about what a certain player's eating before the game, why they might listen to Oliva Dean over NBA YoungBoy during shootaround, what they do during treatment to get ready for a game, and other aspects of their everyday life.

Andresen at the Charlotte Hornets' practice court inside Spectrum CenterThe company is determined to show everyone that it's more than just a skits or podcast company. Enjoy Basketball dives into fun conversations on its numerous shows, such as Numbers on the Board with Kenny Beecham, Mike Heard, Pierre Andresen, and Darrick Miller; Small Ball With Kenny Beecham; T'd Up with Andresen; WAGTalk with iso.maddy; and the official Enjoy Basketball YouTube page. But the content series titled Access Granted exemplifies the talent's ability to tell engaging stories and provide in-depth conversations.

We're much bigger than just a YouTube company, adds Dismang. We want to show that we can go outside that realm and build series with leagues, teams, companies, and brands that can move the needle.

The Personable Approach: Laid-Back Format Showcases Personality

Settling in for multiple days in Charlotte, the crew, which included Andresen and Content Producer Christian Odjakjian, wanted the players to feel comfortable during their time together. Throughout the season, the players are subjected to standard press conferences with local and national media, which don't allow fans to see much of their personality and charm: most questions are about what just happened during a game or their thought process during a certain play.

Although Enjoy Basketball wants to share this thought process, it's not the primary focus. Eschewing the typical car-wash style of interviewing, Enjoy Basketball style places the human being in the forefront.

Traditional media outlets are now trying to lean into this while our team has been authentically building this for years, says Dismang. There's a kinship right off the bat, and that opens the door to discuss everything else.

Andresen (left) works out with Hornets' Director, Player Development/Assistant Coach Zach Peterson (center).In addition, many players are familiar with Enjoy Basketball and the way it goes about its business. In a digital-centric world, these young stars are also used to interacting with social-media personalities and soaking up all this content. For example, during the company's time in Charlotte, players LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges were excited to work with Enjoy Basketball.

These are players in their 20s doing film study like players before them but also watching videos on social media, adds Dismang. This is very much the generation who grew up on [social media].

Starting in Charlotte: Series Looks Toward All NBA Teams

The Charlotte Hornets were more than willing to work with Enjoy Basketball to garner maximum exposure for the young core of the roster. Supported by CCO Mike Cristaldi; VP, Basketball Communications, Brian Travis; Senior Manager, Basketball Communications and Player Engagement, McKayla Hernandez; President, Business Operations, Shelly Cayette-Weston; Directo

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/02/25/hangin-with-the-hornets-enjoy-b...
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