Although short-lived and receiving mixed reviews from critics, HBO's Ballers was a fun, unique look at the sports industry. It's diverse and interesting cast of characters kept audiences entertained, and showed an interesting perspective into the world of top-level football players and the lives they live.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Rob Corddry, and John David Washington, Ballers had a solid run and fans were sad to see it go. To give it a goodbye, here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts that fans should know about Ballers.
10 Produced By Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, & Pete Berg
Along with starring in the show, Dwayne Johnson took on a producer role.
He shared the producer roles with Pain & Gain co-star Mark Wahlberg and frequent Wahlberg collaborator Pete Berg, known for directing Hancock, Lone Survivor, Patriot's Day, and Spenser Confidential. This was a production dream team.
9 Created By Stephen Levinson
Alongside Dwayne, Mark, and Pete, the show was originally conceived by Entourage producer, Stephen Levinson. While the similarities between the two shows are hotly debated, with Stephen Levinson & Mark Wahlberg producing both for HBO and the two shows following similar structures & themes, Ballers is a show of its own.
Prior to making Ballers, Levinson produced other TV shows, like How To Make It In America, Wahlburgers, & Boardwalk Empire, along with working on the big screen projects such as Prisoners, and several other Mark Wahlberg projects, such as Contraband, Broken City, Lone Survivor, and The Gambler.
8 Dwayne Johnson Was A Football Player
Not completely surprising, Dwayne Johnson has a deep-running love for the game of football. He tried his hand at going pro, playing for the University of Miami and going undrafted in the 1995 NFL Draft. He winded up playing half a season for the Calgary Stampeders before he switched to pursue professional wrestling.
The love for the game is obvious in Johnson's treatment of former pro-footballer-turned-financial advisor Spencer Strasmore, the characters around him, and for the production of the show as a whole. While not afraid to tackle professional football's dark side, the show does truly come off as a love letter to the game and to the people who make it.
7 ... And So Was John David Washington
Series breakout star John David Washington (star of Christopher Nolan thriller, Tenet) played Ricky Jerret, a competitive wide receiver under Spencer's wing, with Spencer coming to Ricky's side whenever needed. John David Washington is the son of screen legend Denzel Washington, and much like Dwayne Johnson, John David had struggled to make a career in the NFL before making a switch in careers to follow in his father's footsteps.
However, it seems that the younger Washington has found his footing, slipping easily into the role and impressing audiences enough to get him put in movies made by Spike Lee and Christopher Nolan. Fans are definitely excited to see everything John David Washington is capable of.
6 ... Along With One Of Its Writers
To add even more authenticity to the show, the writers' room included former NFL running back, Rashard Mendenhall. Even during his football career, Mendenhall always wanted to be a writer and was given the opportunity to add an experienced voice to the show.
He certainly does a great job of this, as one of Ballers' highlights was the realistic (and often hilarious) insights into the personalities and goings-on of young, millionaire athletes, and the business of the sport they play.
5 Lots Of Athlete Cameos
A show of this genre and caliber demanded a plethora of cameos from real-life sports stars to add a layer of immersion into the world. What better way to make the audience feel like they're watching a show about the world of professional athletes than to have the likes of Steph Curry, Terrell Suggs, Victor Cruz, Ndamukong Suh, and even Jay Glazer take on roles and interact with the characters?
Although many of the athletes have small, one-line appearances, the show definitely takes advantage of access to these characters in several fantastic ways. The show even featured a professional eSports team, with series regular Vernon Littlefield leading a team of League of Legends players in competition against real-life pro gamers, Team Liquid.
4 ... That The NFL Tried To Block
But getting these pro-footballer cameos likely wasn't easy. Early in the show's production, the NFL (truly earning their nickname the "No Fun League"), tried to put a halt to the show's access to former and current NFL players.
Likely stemming from fears of the show exposing some of the NFL's shadier business practices and potentially problematic behind-the-curtain behavior of its players and executives, the producers of the show ignored the NFL's attempts to stop the cameos and managed to get everyone they needed.
3 ... Along With The Use of Real Team Logos
The NFL also tried to block the use of official NFL logos in the show. While the NFL may not have been happy with the show, they had no right to block HBO from using the NFL's real team logos and names in the show, as they fall under fair use.
As long as the show never outright disparaged the teams and used the names and logos as they were originally intended by the NFL and the teams, or used the logos in a way that was completely unrealistic, HBO was completely free to use any team names or logos for Ballers.
2 Tossed Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Years before Ballers began production, HBO was approached with a project by a pair of writers who had conceived of an idea they claimed was similar, and that Ballers borrowed characters, plotlines, and specific scenes from.
The writers, Everett Silas and Sherri Littleton, took the claim to court, where it was promptly thrown out. Whether they believed Ballers was a ripoff or not, the court certainly didn't believe it was.
1 Inspired By True Events
By using its authentic cast and writers, Ballers does take a sometimes brutally honest look at the world of professional football. The show began by looking at the lives of the young pro players and their struggles with newfound money, friends, and family asking for handouts, and their own complex social lives, and slowly looked more and more into the business side of things.
The last season dealt with the NFL potentially offering Spencer the Kansas City Chiefs, racism within the league, and the league's treatment of players with CTE. The show takes an honest stab at some of the difficult issues facing the players, the league, and fans, and that's one of the reasons the show will be missed so much.
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