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The Real-Life Family Connection That Led to Surprise NBA Cameos on Peacock's Mr. Throwback
With Steph Curry at its core, Mr. Throwback establishes its own NBA comedy universe.
Peacock's new comedy series Mr. Throwback has at its center one of the most visible and famous athletes in the world, NBA All-Star Stephen "Steph" Curry. And because Curry's playing a version of himself on the show, basketball was always bound to be at the core of the whole story. It also meant the show had to create a believable comedy universe for the NBA.
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In the world of the show, Curry is exactly the guy you remember, the star point guard for the Golden State Warriors who's a beast on the court. As a documentary crew follows him around to document his exploits, Curry is approached by an old friend, Danny Grossman (Adam Pally), who needs a favor. The two played basketball together in junior high, where Danny was the better player, but now Danny's a has-been and Steph's a star who wants to help his old friend out. Through Danny's eyes, we get to see Steph's entire crazy world unfold throughout the series.
Mr. Throwback's Fictional Basketball World
Because Curry is playing himself, the creators of Mr. Throwback –– writers David Caspe, Daniel Libman, Matthew Libman, and Pally himself –– had to find a way to believably immerse viewers in the world of an NBA star, and they had to do it without just showing footage from actual NBA games over and over again. That meant creating stories off the court that were still roped into the NBA universe, while avoiding stepping into full-on league storylines.
"I think we wanted to feel the basketball more than see it," Matthew Libman told NBC Insider. "You see [Curry] coming off the court in the tunnel, you see him in the locker room, you see him in the recovery room around the stadium. You see people watching his games, but you can tune in when the [NBA] season is on and watch Steph play basketball. So the stuff to us that seemed like a richer area to dig into was the behind the scenes, what happens when he's not on the court, who are the people around him when he is not on the court, who is his team? And becoming part of his team seemed rife for generating more story. So that's what we tried to lean into while still being very aware who he is and what he does for his main job."
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That's where Mr. Throwback gets many of its major comedy beats, from Curry's crazy schedule to the lengths to which he'll go to stay in peak physical condition. But of course, one man doesn't make the NBA. That meant cameos, and Mr. Throwback's got some big ones.
Mr. Throwback's NBA Cameos
Throughout Mr. Throwback's six-episode first season, viewers will see everyone from actual talk show hosts to internet celebrities to other star athletes making cameos in the show. Because it's a basketball-centric story, that meant some other NBA legends needed to play a part. One of them is Curry's real-life coach, Steve Kerr, who won five NBA championships as a player, and has another four (so far) as a coach. He's also currently coaching Curry for Team USA's Paris Olympics run. You might think Kerr's role in the show (like Curry, playing himself) came because of his association with the star, but he actually came onboard because of another member of the Mr. Throwback crew.
"All three of us [Daniel and Matthew Libman and David Caspe] were massive Bulls fans," Libman said. "Steve Kerr obviously played a huge part in the Bulls championship run, the second [threepeat], and David Caspe and I were in the building when Steve Kerr hit the biggest shot of his life to clinch the '97 Bulls finals. We were actually at the game, we were in high school. But our script coordinator on our show was Matthew Kerr, Steve Kerr's son, who came highly recommended and is a hilariously talented writer himself. So he was on our show and he made the call and helped us get his dad to do the show."
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But Kerr's not the only big name making a cameo. While there are some other big names in the later episodes that we won't spoil here, the series also features a premiere appearance by Inside the NBA co-hosts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal. It might look like a clip pulled from an Inside the NBA episode, but according to Caspe, it's actually Barkley and O'Neal reading dialogue that the Mr. Throwback team wrote.
"That stuff that Shaquille O'Neal and Barkley and all them are joking about in the pilot is stuff we wrote," Caspe said. "It was a dream come true. We're huge Barkley fans. We were shocked that he was willing to joke about losing $80 million gambling, but he was open to it."
Mr. Throwback is now streaming on Peacock. The first episode will make its broadcast debut on NBC Thursday, September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.
