LeBron James' Partnership With The History Channel Includes Documentaries On Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe

LeBron James' SpringHill Entertainment and The History Channel will partner on three upcoming sports documentaries Variety revealed.

Details about two of the documentaries, Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics and Jim Thorpe have also been released. It was also announced that A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights to Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics and Jim Thorpe.

“The SpringHill Company was created to tell important stories and, through this partnership with The HISTORY Channel, we’re able to do that on a whole new level,” said James. “With these documentaries, we want to share those meaningful moments and figures in history that matter with a whole new generation and continue to empower and inspire through storytelling.”

The two-hour-long documentary, Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics, will tell the story of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany when Black track and field athlete Jesse Owens made history by winning four gold medals while Hitler's white supremacy agenda and presence was looming heavily in Germany. The project will be directed by Andre Gaines and narrated by Don Cheadle and will feature archival footage, animation, and interviews with journalists, historians and Owens daughters as well as athletes including Carl Lewis, Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton, Christian Coleman, among others.

In a statement about the project, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for the History Channel Eli Lehrer said, “LeBron and the SpringHill Company have been steadfast creative partners with the History Channel and we are excited to team up with them again to expand our storytelling footprint. Together, we are committed to shining a light on diverse narratives that broaden our view of the world, enrich our knowledge of society, and cultivate a new generation of history lovers. Jesse Owens is the perfect sports legend to highlight next in our partnership.”

The Jim Thorpe documentary will be the second project, which will focus on Thorpe, the baseball, football and basketball player who became the first Native American Olympic gold medalist. The documentary is directed by Chris Eyre.

Details are yet to come on the third project.