Running Point Review: Did Kate Hudson’s new series live up to expectations?

HBO produced a series called Winning Time a few years ago, which focused on the Los Angeles Lakers team of the 1980s. However, the series became controversial, as it largely portrayed the legendary figures of the time in a negative light. Former star player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar criticized it as “dishonest” and “boring”. The team’s then-general manager Jerry West threatened legal action. Even current Lakers owner Ginny Buss was initially against it, although she eventually took part in the official podcast for the series.

In response, Jeanie Buss has come up with a new Netflix series called Running Point. Although it is a fictional story, the influence of the Lakers and the Buss family is clearly present. It stars Kate Hudson’s character Isla Gordon, who takes over the management of a professional basketball team owned by her family. Even the series poster is inspired by the cover of Jeanie Buss’ memoir Laker Girl.

This series, like Winning Time, deals with various Lakers-related issues, but it can be called a kind of counter-response. Previously, there were documentaries called They Call Me Magic and Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, which were mainly seen as an attempt to fix the Lakers’ image. While these contents are clearly part of the brand promotion, Running Point is presented in a different way, which is shown as an entertainment series.

The story of the series mainly focuses on the struggle of Isla Gordon. As a female executive in the professional sports industry, she has to face various challenges. When her brother Cam Gordon (Justin Theroux), who was previously the team’s president, resigned due to drug addiction, Isla took his place. Then she finds that her other two brothers, Sandy (Drew Tarver) and Ness (Scott MacArthur), want to remove her. In addition, she has to deal with various complications of managing the team, such as player problems, losing sponsors, and signing new broadcast contracts. She also has a difficult personal life, as her fiancé is a doctor but she is attracted to the team’s head coach.

The series could have been a fun comedy, especially with an actress like Kate Hudson. She was great in popular romantic comedies of the 2000s, and her performance in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery was also praised. But Running Point doesn’t use her natural vivaciousness properly. Instead, she is relegated to weak dialogue and monotonous conversations. Her character feels artificial from the first scene. Even her dialogues try to be modern, which is not realistic. For example, when she tries to convince a sponsor, she says, “I don’t want companies that sell detergents and office equipment, I want companies that work with Bitcoin or modern technology.” Such dialogue will not seem believable to the audience.

Despite being a basketball-based series, the sports aspect is quite thin. The characters are cast in a certain mold, as if they were copied from the Ted Lasso series. Veteran player Marcus (Toby Sandeman) is here in name only, with no depth. On the other hand, new talent Dyson (Uche Agada) is presented as just a struggling young man. Some characters are made to be ridiculously exaggerated, such as Travis Bugg (Chet Hanks), who is a white player, but his behavior is strange and at one point he is tried to be a sympathetic character.

The series is created by Mindy Kaling, known for The Mindy Project and other popular comedies. Her natural sense of humor is visible here, but it is not effective enough. The story uses unnecessary pop-culture references in many places, which feels quite artificial. Moreover, the conflict shown in it against the rich can feel one-sided. Ayla’s half-brother Jackie Moreno (Fabrizio Guido) is an ordinary employee, who finds out that he is a member of the Gordon family. But this subject is not explored in depth in the series. Instead, he is portrayed as a simple man who hangs out with his family, seeking their approval. The reality of rich versus poor is largely ignored.

When Winning Time aired, there was controversy over its accuracy. Jerry West accused it of being “fake news,” but HBO said it was based on historical research and reliable sources. It was a dramatic presentation that combined imagination and art. Running Point, on the other hand, is the complete opposite, designed to protect the Lakers’ image. It is presented to viewers as a simple comedy series, but in reality it is part of a brand campaign.