Season Premiere of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL to Debut 1/22

Related: REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, HBO

Entering its 19th season, REAL SPORTS WITH Bryant Gumbel, TV's most honored sports journalism program, presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 190th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, JAN. 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Other HBO playdates: Jan. 22 (2:55 a.m.), 24 (5:30 p.m., 11:55 p.m.), 27 (8:00 a.m.) and 30 (noon, 8:00 p.m.), and Feb. 2 (10:00 a.m.), 5 (11:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m.), 7 (1:55 a.m.) and 16 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Jan. 23 (5:00 p.m., 2:00 a.m.), 26 (3:00 p.m.), 28 (2:35 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) and 31 (9:00 a.m.), and Feb. 4 (11:30 p.m.) and 10 (8:00 a.m.)
HBO On Demand availability: Jan. 28-Feb. 18. The show will also be available on HBO GO.

Segments include:

*Sidelined. Royce White, the 16th overall pick in last summer's NBA draft, has yet to play for the Houston Rockets. The 6' 8" power forward's absence isn't due to lackluster performance or injury, but an anxiety disorder that, among other things, makes air travel extremely difficult for him, something no NBA franchise has had to face before with such a high-profile individual. Determined to ensure that the club, league and players association accommodate his needs, the Minnesota native refused to report to the team last fall until a "mental health protocol" was prepared and signed by all parties. The situation reached a tipping point Jan. 6 when White was suspended for failing to perform his contract. In this REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated collaboration, correspondent Bernard Goldberg travels to Houston to meet the engaging and thoughtful 21-year-old for his first TV interview since the controversy erupted. White details the depth of his anxiety disorder, how he copes with it and what he feels needs to be done to ensure he is provided a safe work environment.

Producer: Nick Dolin.

*2 Live Crew to First and Ten. In the late 1980s, Luther Campbell, aka Uncle Luke, became a household name as frontman of the controversial rap group 2 Live Crew. In 2013, the Uncle Luke persona still exists, but he is an uncle of a different sort. Since the group broke up years ago, Campbell has embraced his role as a mentor to disadvantaged youth of Miami with hopes of guiding them to college and beyond. As Coach Luke, the 52-year-old helps raise boys from depressed neighborhoods as a high school football coach in Liberty City, his native Miami neighborhood. Campbell's connection to the youth of Miami dates back to the height of his popularity, when he was a high-profile superfan for the University of Miami football team. REAL SPORTS correspondent Jon Frankel visits South Florida to chronicle the rap legend's extraordinary transformation as he shares stories of celebrity, Community activism and goodwill.
Producer: Jordan Kronick.

*Talibanned. Maria Toor Pakay was born in 1990 in the lawless mountain region of northern Pakistan as a radical Islamic philosophy was taking root and women were restricted by Taliban leaders from doing many things, including playing sports. Encouraged by her father to pursue her interests, she posed as a boy and was soon one of the best young athletes in the country. Eventually revealing herself to be a woman, she became the national champion in her country's beloved sport of squash. After Taliban leaders threatened to kill her if she did not end her athletic career, Pakay received a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a world champion in the Western world. She is now one of the sport's rising stars and, more important, a symbol of resistance against oppression. Correspondent Mary Carillo travels to Pakistan for this captivating REAL SPORTS report.

Producers: Joe Lavine.

REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 Sports Emmy Awards overall. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award for excellence in broadcast journalism, having first been recognized in 2005. In Jan. 2012, REAL SPORTS received its second duPont Award, for a series of investigative reports on concussions, highlighted by the Aug. 2010 story revealing the scientific link between sports concussions and the onset of ALS. In April 2012, the show received the Emmy in the category of Outstanding Sports Journalism for Bernard Goldberg's 2011 report on the college bowl game money trail.

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The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH Bryant Gumbel is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.