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LeBron James

Basketball star LeBron James is expanding his slate of TV projects after signing a deal to develop a podcast as a limited series.

The Los Angeles Lakers player has made a big move into the entertainment industry in recent years as an actor and producer for projects like Ballers and gameshow The Wall, and now he's teaming up with bosses at HBO to turn the latest season of hit podcast Serial into a small screen show.

Serial's third season is set in the Cleveland justice system in LeBron's home state of Ohio and focuses on a series of cases heard in Cuyahoga County's Court of Common Pleas.

The new TV project will focus on a young cop accused of beating a man, and will examine the failings of the legal system from the perspective of police officers, lawyers, and those accused of crimes.

It's not the first time officials at HBO have tried to rejig the popular audio series for television - Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin was previously attached to reimagine the podcast - but now that LeBron and staff members at his The Springhill Company have come on board, the project looks like a slam dunk.

The Last Tree's Shola Amoo will write and direct, while former HBO executive Kary Antholis will join James as a producer.

Casting details have not yet been released.