Score: 4/5 
Every one would agree that placing any TV show on the shoulders of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be a safe bet. Especially after he has proven that he is a list material after starting in several successful blockbusters that have thrived at the Box Office like the “The Fast and the Furious” franchise and most recently “San Andreas.”
HBO decided to roll the dice with Johnson on one of their newest action comedies. “Ballers” opens to Lil Wayne’s “Right Above It” to follow the hype of the publicity behind the show. The credits roll as it shows cuts of football drills and plays, mixed with Miami aerial shots and Dwayne Johnson playing Spencer Strassmore.
Strassmore is a former NFL player who retired earlier than expected. Now he works with Joe and his corporate financial management company.
As many know, the life of fame and fortune is usually run by glamour, spending massive amounts of money and constantly bad decisions. Johnson’s character objective is to accommodate current NFL players that spend most of their days resting in Miami, and help them get proper financial management.
“Ballers” gives insight of what the NFL lifestyle may be both during and after a player’s career and emphasizes on the post glory day pains alongside the struggle that rich players may face while managing their assets.
The show runs on 30 minute episodes give or take, and it carries itself as former HBO show “Entourage.” After just two episodes have aired, the show hasn’t completely taken off yet. It is too soon to be able to give it a fair rank. However, it has a lot of potential.
Even though Johnson is not surrounded with the talent that fellow TV show “True Detective” is, the pilot was directed by the Peter Berg, who you might remember as the director of Friday Night Lights. As of now it seems that HBO made the right bet, but as any long-term card game, we won’t know the ending results until the game is completely over.
HBO rarely disappoints, and my gut tells me that “Ballers” won’t be the exception.