Aaah man, what a crazy rollercoaster these last five years have been. I still remember showing up as a content creator with the Cats in 2020 — just a shy kid who didn’t really know what he was doing yet, finding his way through the organization and figuring out how everything worked.
Emotions, high-level basketball, greatness — I met genuine, amazing people and stepped into a legacy with a lot of history. The first big successes came in 2017, before my time, and then again in 2021 with the bronze medal at EuroBasket. I remember the insane 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the middle of the COVID crisis and the epic games in Paris last year. But in 2023, the unthinkable became reality with that gold medal at EuroBasket. Benoit and I were there to witness every second of it.
Then came the big question: “What’s next for this squad?” as we prepared for EuroBasket 2025. At first, we thought about repeating what we did in 2023 — focusing on content, following the same formula that had worked so well. But looking back now, I don’t think we were really prepared to produce a full YouTube-style, long-form series again. In retrospect, I can see that I needed to grow a lot more on the storytelling side. I regretted not being a stronger storyteller back then, because they deserved that level of work. But as the team leveled up, so did I.
The storylines wrote themselves. A legendary new coach joined in February, bringing an American vibe to the team. Three WNBA players and an assistant coach missed the initial prep but flew in at the last minute. Our star point guard had knee surgery just months before EuroBasket. Reasonable doubt mixed with raw determination as we headed into the tournament. Then I rejoined the team a week later, multitasking as both photographer and videographer.
As the tournament unfolded, we could feel something shifting. I remember talking to Mark Bogaert in the hotel lobby the night before the quarter-finals. We were like, “What if instead of another YouTube series, we made something bigger? What about a full television documentary?” And boom — suddenly that idea became a plan. With the working title Defending the Crown, we pitched the project to our broadcasters while already producing three episodes during the tournament. The direction of the entire content strategy changed overnight.
We discussed the plan with FIBA, VRT, and RTBF, and eventually reached agreements. And after the Belgian Cats pulled off that miracle win over Spain in the Finals — securing their historic second consecutive European gold — we decided not to release any of the footage from the final phase of the tournament online. We had to let the fans wait it out and test their patience.
My inbox exploded: “Is there another part coming?” “What’s next?” “When do we get more?” At the time, we didn’t know how to answer. But now I can say it was absolutely worth the wait, because last week — on November 10th — the documentary Defending The Crown premiered as the main feature at Kinepolis Brussels. I never imagined it would happen, but it did.
What started as a vague idea for a YouTube series turned into a full premiere on the big screen. 1,700 fans showed up, shared the love, and watched every minute of the work. And yes, it’s “my work,” but you all know I couldn’t have done this alone. I had a small but incredible team behind me — people I can always depend on. You know who you are. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And thank you to every single person who showed up, supported it, and gave it a watch. It’s heading to television soon.
