'Ballers' Episode 3, Season 2 Review

Image from Indiewire

By Darian Scalamoni

            Admittedly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Season 1 of Ballers, I thought it was trying to be too much like Entourage and not succeeding, however, I have been a huge fan of this season and the direction it’s going in. It’s becoming its own show with an identity that can only ring true because of its title. The characters on the show are truly living a “baller” type of lifestyle and that’s led by their money manager and former defensive superstar Spencer Strasmore.

            This week’s episode dealt with the after effects of Spencer’s biggest client, Vernon Littlefield getting hurt during a paintball game, mostly due to the instigative nature of his best friend, Reggie. Reggie wanted to start getting paid by Vernon, to which the athlete provided a number lower than Reggie’s expectations so he shot him with a paintball gun. That led to Vernon falling over and hurting his Achilles so badly, that it requires surgery. Obviously, this didn’t go over well with the Cowboys GM either, especially since Vernon ignored his calls for 24 hours. Unfortunately for Spencer, this is just one of his problems as Andre has begun to try and sway Spence’s clients away from him.

            This becomes a huge problem for Spencer because of his history with the selfish, super-agent who doesn’t care much for his athlete’s interests or how they actually manage their money. Andre screwed over Dwayne Johnson’s character in the past, and now he’s out to ruin his life again. Because of this Spence and Joe have to begin to essentially “re-recruit” their own guys through persuasion and agreeing to things that might not be in their best interest, money-wise.

            Ricky Jerret is dealing with free agency and he takes his first meeting with the New Orleans Saints in this episode, but he constantly is asking “where is the love?” Something reminiscent of an exact Black Eyed Peas lyric, Jerret feels undervalued when he heads to New Orleans for his meeting and there are only two lower-level executives there. Nowadays, in meetings regarding some of the best athletes, there is a cavalcade of high-level players and personnel brought along. It becomes more of a production, rather than an actual meeting to discuss numbers. Ricky has always been flashy, he wants Head Coach Sean Payton and his potential QB Drew Brees there to help sell the city of New Orleans and the Saints team as the team of his future. Luckily for Ricky, at the end of the episode, he gets that love he wants with a whole choir, cheerleading team, giant floats of himself and also, Sean Payton himself there to try and welcome him with open arms, which he gratefully and excitedly accepts.

            The industry is constantly getting harder for the stars of this show as week to week they’re dealing with huge problems with implications that could lead to Spencer and Joe losing their company of sports stars and handling their books. While the future looks bleak for them right now, Ricky’s future looks bright. I’m excited to see how Spencer retaliates to the offending offers given by Andre Allen. 

8.8/10