Netflix Drops 'Starting 5' Season 2 Release Date Featuring Kevin Durant, SGA and More

Late October means basketball, but NBA fans won't have to wait until the regular-season opener on Oct. 21 to see the action on the hardwood.

That is because Netflix announced Thursday it is releasing its second season of its Starting 5 docuseries just five days before the start of the 2025-26 campaign on Oct. 16. It will give fans the opportunity to relive last season's thrills through on-court and behind-the-scenes footage of five of the league's biggest stars.

Netflix announced last October that the second season will feature Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, Jaylen Brown and James Harden:

The first season starred LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum and Domantas Sabonis as they went through the 2023-24 season.

It was an ideal group for the docuseries, as Tatum won his first career championship, Edwards advanced to the Western Conference Finals and began to ascend as one of the faces of the league, and James provided a glimpse at an all-time great near what could be the end of his career.

It turns out Netflix timed things well with its second season of players as well.

All Gilgeous-Alexander did was lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA championship as the league MVP, NBA Finals MVP and scoring champion in one of the best individual seasons in NBA history.

That journey will surely be on full display, but the other side of the NBA Finals will be as well with Haliburton.

In fact, Haliburton's Indiana Pacers were the most memorable team of the 2025 playoffs until the Thunder lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy. They eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks during a postseason run that included dramatic comebacks and unbelievable buzzer-beaters, many of which came from Haliburton himself.

One of those buzzer-beaters came in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Gilgeous-Alexander as the Pacers won the first of seven games in the back-and-forth series. Unfortunately for Indiana, Haliburton injured his Achilles early in that decisive contest, which undercut its championship dreams.

SGA and Haliburton will be focal points for the 2025 NBA Finals, but fans will also get to see Brown as he and the Boston Celtics attempted to defend their crown last season. Brown was also stepping into an even bigger spotlight in the season after he won NBA Finals MVP, although the Celtics lost to the Knicks in a second-round series that also saw Tatum injure his Achilles.

Harden's Los Angeles Clippers also made the playoffs, although they lost in the first round.

Still, viewers will get to see someone who is a future Hall of Famer still playing a key role on a postseason team in his age-35 season. Harden made the All-Star Game for the first time since 2022 and seemed to be rejuvenated at times during the campaign.

And Durant's presence means fans will get to see behind-the-scenes footage as the Phoenix Suns turn in arguably the most disappointing season in the league. Despite featuring Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, they missed the playoffs entirely and had trade rumors circulating for extended stretches.

Durant, who was eventually moved to the Houston Rockets after the season, has never been shy about expressing his true feelings and will surely be appointment viewing when the new season of Starting 5 is released.