EXCLUSIVE: RTG Features (Alaskan Nets) and MSM (The Last Dance) have tapped David Charles Rodrigues (Neymar: The Perfect Chao) to direct a new feature doc about the high-scoring NBA trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin—collectively known as Run TMC—and how they set the stage for the present-day dynasty of the world-champion Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Led by Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson, Run TMC showcased “Nellie Ball” and ushered in the modern NBA. While the two brief seasons that Hardaway, Richmond and Mullin played together from 1989-1991 didn’t yield any championships, they birthed life-long friendships. Billed as “the most fun fun sports doc of all time”, the as-yet-untitled feature will be a three-man weave combining basketball, hip-hop, the Bay Area and late-’80s/early-’90s nostalgia.
Mason Gordon will produce for MSM, with RTG Features acting as the studio. 2022 Emmy nominees Coodie & Chike (Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy) developed the film in partnership with RTG and will serve as executive producers. The doc is currently in pre-production, with shooting scheduled for later this year, when Hardaway is inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame—joining Mullin and Richmond, who were inducted in 2011 and 2014, respectively.
“The Splash Brothers wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Run TMC,” said Rodrigues, referring to the current Warriors duo of Curry and Thompson. “They may have never won a title, but they changed the game forever. Every great sports dynasty has an origin story, and there are none that are as fun, transformative and action-packed as the Warriors.”
The film and TV production and financing outfit RTG, which stands for “Respect the Game,” is the sister studio to global basketball media leader, Slam. The company’s slate of basketball-themed projects includes the recent documentary Alaskan Nets, exec produced by Chris Pratt, which won the Audience Choice Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and was released by Good Deed Entertainment in April. Other projects include the limited series Pau Gasol: It’s About the Journey, which premiered on Prime Video in November; the narrative podcast series The World of Five-Star, chronicling the untold story of the legendary basketball camp; and the Ja Morant docuseries Promiseland, currently streaming on Crackle. RTG’s first feature doc, A Kid from Coney Island, following the career of Stephon Marbury, was directed by Coodie & Chike and is currently streaming on Netflix.
MSM recently produced The Captain, a seven-part docuseries on New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter that concludes this Thursday, August 11 on ESPN and ESPN+, and a three-part docuseries on three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, which will launch exclusively on Discovery+ this year. The company was also notably behind the Emmy-winning docuseries The Last Dance, which charted the rise of the 1990s Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan.
Rodrigues is repped by UTA.