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Ballers

At first glance (and first mention, for that matter), new HBO series Ballers seems a tad out of touch. The trailer — essentially a sexed-up Sports Center sizzle reel — likens the sports comedy to Entourage with “The Rock” on a football field. After watching the first four episodes, however, this isn’t necessarily the case, and labeling it as a sports comedy may be a a bit of a mismatched generalization.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15lfITfxMDI]

Ballers, premiering this Sunday night at 10 PM on HBO (and its streaming platforms HBO Go and HBO Now), has both similar and literal elements to its comparable predecessor in Entourage (including producers Stephen Levinson and Mark Wahlberg); but one may be inclined to ask HBO, which has put out the likes of Game of Thrones and True Detective in recent years: why? Now might seem like an ill-fated time to glorify the one percent’s living large, made evident by how poorly the Entourage movie was recently received at the box office. Not to mention how many television audiences have moved on from fluff to deeply nuanced dramas in addition to smart, satirical comedies that beg to be dissected, argued, and talked to death. Thus, Ballers may not have the potential be a “groundbreaking” series at this point in the current Golden Age of the tube, yet, after reviewing the first four episodes, it becomes almost immediately apparent that the show carries a very different tone than what the glossy trailer or fratty name suggests.

Centered around retired NFL star Spencer Strassmore (played a little too perfectly by Dwayne Johnson), Ballers follows life after the good life — a form of career purgatory if you will — as the former football legend attempts to reinvent himself as a financial manager to both up-and-coming and staggering NFL talent in Miami. And despite the chronic pain, functioning pill addiction, and ongoing concussive symptoms, Strassmore is far luckier than his fellow retirees. His friend and former player, Charles Greane (Omar Miller), for example, made the mistake of calling it quits a tad too early in his career and is stuck selling trucks at a local Chevy dealer. Still desperate to stay relevant, Charles is willing to relive the glory days in any way possibly — so much so that he considers cheating on his supportive wife, Julie (Jazmyn Simon).

In an effort to rebrand himself with the best in the business, Strassmore has teamed up with financial prodigy Joe (Rob Corddry), whose hot-headed, loose cannon antics are reminiscent of one Ari Gold. But the “deals and dollars” come with a plethora of strings attached for Strassmore and Joe, particularly when it comes to making nice with his clients’ stubborn, often greedy inner circles who cause solid deals to turn sour.

It’s not all work and no play, however: after all, it is called Ballers, and there’s plenty of, well, balling. Johnson is, of course, a magnet for some of the most beautiful women HBO can hire (including Arielle Kebbel, who plays a sportscaster and girlfriend type to our protagonist). Not to mention the yacht party featured in Episode Three that consists of a coke and model infested orgy. On summer Sunday nights, who could ask for anything more mindless and fun?

Four episodes in and Ballers is, thus far, making all of the right plays; mainly due in part to how perfectly Johnson owns the role. The supporting cast could swing the series either way, but as of now, we’re on board for an ideal summer series to follow the grimness of True Detective on Sunday nights. It’s looking like Entourage 2.0, but with a far more complex set of characters who have plenty to say about the conflicting current state of sports stardom.

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