One Tree Hill's James Lafferty Reveals the Surprising Reason Why Nathan's NBA Dreams Were Cut Short on the Show

Mar. 15, 2025

James Lafferty as Nathan Scott on ‘One Tree Hill’ in 2003.Photo:Everett

Everett

James Laffertyis shedding new light on his fan-favorite character Nathan Scott onOne Tree Hill.

Answering fan questions during a Q&A panel, Lafferty revealed there was a simple behind-the-scenes reason for the storyline.

“The NBA itself didn’t really want to play ball,” he explained. “At the time, they were very, very protective of their brand. This is just what I heard from the producers. They just were not willing to let us work the brand into the storylines.”

“It was going to be super, super complicated because not only are you dealing with the NBA, but you’re dealing with individual franchises and they just wouldn’t do it,” he continued.

James Lafferty at One Tree Hill basketball game in 2024.Catherine Ross for Friends with Benefits Charity Events

Catherine Ross for Friends with Benefits Charity Events

Though they were able to include the Charlotte Bobcats (now Charlotte Hornets) on the series, the NBA wasn’t willing to have one of their teams heavily featured on the show.

“We didn’t really want to have a bunch of fake NBA teams and some fake league that nobody would actually buy was real,” Lafferty added.

When it came to other basketball scenes on the show, Lafferty and many of his costars fondly remembered filming the iconic state championship episode from season 4.

‘One Tree Hill’ cast in 2003.WARNER BROS. TELEVISION/ALAMY

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION/ALAMY

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“It just was the Raven storyline. It was getting to that state championship,” he said. “That was the most intense basketball that we had in the show. We were practicing the most for it. When we weren’t on set shooting basketball, we were practicing basketball.”

“Just being there on that court, being inNC State, that’s hallowed ground there,” he added of filming at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. “We all wanted to get it right. I feel like that was the only time we left Wilmington as a team, and we were on our best behavior.”

During the Q&A panel, Lafferty also addressedwhere he thinks his character Nathan would betoday amid news ofthe show’s potential reboot.

source: people.com