Disney’s “The Crossover” series is adapted from Kwame Alexander’s novel-in-verse about teenage brothers, basketball phenoms, told years later as a coming of age story.

Top-billed Derek Luke (“The Purge,” “13 Reasons Why”) has a key role as the boys’ dad Chuck Bell, a former pro player.  Did this prompt a flood of memories of his own high school basketball days?

“You know I’ve never been posed a question like that — I like that question because my mom did not allow me to play organized sports,” Luke, 48, revealed. “She was a single mom with three boys and my brother was playing football one day and one of my relatives who was older hit him and both of his hips were broken. So my mom had to take off of work for some time. Being a single mom that was a bump.  So recreation, yes. But organized sports?  Definitely not.”

Luke, born and raised in Jersey City, knew from adolescence he would be an actor. “I was in the front room watching television and I came out and said, ‘Mom, I want to act.’ She said, ‘I don’t know anything about that. But if you want to when you graduate, I support you.’ Basically she was like, ‘I got three boys and I can’t take off of work for you to pursue that career without considering your brothers.’”

It took nearly a decade before Luke got his big break in 2002, starring opposite Denzel Washington who was making his directing debut with “Antwone Fisher.” A dramatic — and true – story, it was also Luke’s film debut and insured he would now have a career.

As for why he felt pulled to be in “Crossover,” “It reminds me of a quote I heard about Abraham Lincoln who said the best thing you can do for a child is love his mom.

“In the African-American community — or any community — I want to display on the screen a man, a husband, that was present. My dad was present only for the earlier part of my years.”

With “Crossover,” he concluded, “I wanted to go on a journey to see what would it feel like to have a man in the home. I always said that about my career: What if I had my dad earlier on to support me? To push me?

“For me, this was an opportunity to be in a space to guide his son’s career and also support his wife’s career. So I just thought, culturally, that it was a perfect time to go in this direction.”

“The Crossover” streams Wednesday on Disney and next day on Disney+