Basketball is no longer just America’s game. From Canada to Europe and Asia to Africa, the sport has become a global dream, one that families are willing to chase at any cost. But what is the real price of pursuing the ever elusive dream of professional basketball?

In this episode, Amanda Parris travels across borders to explore the sacrifices, struggles, and ambitions that fuel basketball’s global rise. She begins in Oshawa, Ontario, at a youth tournament, then journeys into the world of Canadian prep schools where teenagers dedicate themselves fully to the game, often living far from home under the care of coaches who double as guardians.

In Dallas, Amanda meets a Canadian family who relocated to pursue opportunity in one of America’s sporting hotbeds, offering a glimpse into the profound sacrifices families make for a shot at the future. She also steps into the world of recruiters and managers, where the stakes of elite youth basketball are rising alongside new policies that allow teenage athletes to profit from their own talent.

Finally, Amanda travels to Accra, Ghana, where the game is blossoming in new and exciting ways. Here, the focus isn’t on exporting talent but on building a basketball ecosystem rooted in African communities.

Through these intimate stories, Amanda reveals both the promise and the peril of the hoop dream, inviting us to consider: is the dream worth the cost?

Part of For the Culture, Series 2.