It's been nearly a year since HBO aired the finale for the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson-led series, Ballers. The Rock portrays Spencer Strasmore, a retired NFL player turned financial manager looking to dominate the business side of sports. Through five seasons, Strasmore's ambitions lead him to some pretty extreme and incredible places, but that wasn't with his fair share of failures along the way.
five seasons and 47 episodes, all that feature Strasmore, there's no shortage of moments that highlight the delicate balance of the character's moral com and the tight rope he walks trying to push himself to the pinnacle of the sports world.
Worst: Early Financial Moves
In the early stages of Spencer's career after the game, as a low-level financial manager for Anderson Financial Management, he makes some obviously questionable financial decisions. He has plenty of moments of naivety while he tries to learn the ropes of being a sports businessman.
The highlight of those moments, and by far one of the most ill-advised financial moves he makes, comes when he loans out $300,000 to an up-and-coming NFL prospect named Vernon Littlefield. From the moment he handed him the check, it became one of his worst business decisions as Vernon was too immature and lacked the control to handle that kind of money. At the time, it proved that he wasn't nearly as financially-savvy as he thought.
Best: Becoming Kansas City Chiefs Owner
By the time the show wraps up, Spencer has climbed the ladder of the sports business world all the way to becoming an NFL owner. Early on in season 5, Spencer purchases the Kansas City Chiefs, making him the first black majority team owner in NFL history. There's a myriad of reasons as to why this was great not just for Spencer, but for the world of football in this fictional rendition of modern-day professional sports.
Obviously, for Spencer, it means that his hard work has paid off and he's reached the mountain top. After years of working out massive deals on both the individual and institutional level, Spencer had finally earned some recognition and reward for everything he'd accomplished.
Worst: Neglecting His Own Health
The reason fighting for the health and protection of professional athletes is so important to Spencer is because of his own struggles with his own health. For the first couple of seasons of Ballers, Spencer's health, mainly a faulty hip, persists as a major theme. However, for quite some time, viewers saw Spencer consistently neglect the severity of his health problems and instead turn to pain killers to subside them.
It may have been a prolonged series of moments instead of one definable moment, but Spencer's neglect for his own physical health led to a hard-to-watch decline of his mental health as well.
Best: Separating From Joe
For essentially the entirety of the series, the friendship, and banter of Spencer and his business partner, Joe Krutel (portrayed by Rob Corddry) was one of the most entertaining elements and the moments that they worked together were the show's best. However, there was always this feeling that the two stood in the way of one another in the various projects they pursued, and their eventual separation is what brought a touching close to their relationship.
Once Spencer had focused his efforts specifically on the NFL and the promotion of protecting player's health, he moved on from Sports X, a multimedia sports company that he and Joe had taken a stake in under Anderson Sports Management (ASM). Spencer allowing Joe to take on the Sports X project without his input was easily one of his best decisions in the series.
Worst: Fighting Terrell Suggs
There are some pretty clear low points for Spencer throughout the show. Whether it be his consistent use of pain killers, simple bad business moves, or some decisions you'll hear about later, Spencer reached some serious lows in his pursuit of success.
One of the most definable lows of Spencer's journey has to be his fight with NFL star Terrell Suggs. In the series, the two hold some longtime contempt for one another over incidents that had as opponents. The two start with a battle of words on a radio show hosted by famed sportscaster Jay Glazer that eventually leads to a testosterone-fueled wrestling match. It was certainly on the fault of them both, but it was a much more glaring moment for Spencer and one that proved he was coming slightly unhinged.
Best: Re-establishing His Friendships
Unsurprisingly, Spencer burned his fair share of bridges throughout his many business ventures. Some of the bridges were with his own friends such as Joe or even with Ricky Jerret (portrayed by John David Washington). For the most part, he gets so caught up in trying to succeed in whatever it is he's doing that he ignores how it may affect those around him.
By the end of the series, however, Spencer's managed to mend those bridges and re-establish some of the friendships it seemed he had ruined alone the way. He eventually works things out with Joe and by the very end of the series finale, it becomes evident that he's soothed things over with Ricky as well, jumping on his radio show to provide a closing monologue.
Worst: Blackmailing Andre
In the midst of a heated battle over a stolen client with his former business partner Andre Allen, Spencer sinks to a serious low in order to get Allen to back off. After having Joe obtain some unforgiving photos of Andre, Spencer very unsuccessfully tries to blackmail him.
From the time he presents the pictures to Andre, it becomes a moment of instant regret for Spencer. The plan to scare Andre into laying off Spencer and ASM fails terribly, as he doesn't even flinch at the notion of them having scandalous photos of him. It was another example of Spencer's inflated ego running the show, thinking he's a much better businessman than he actually is.
Best: Attacking the NCAA
Spencer's battle with the NCAA is a pretty complicated one. After some pretty unethical behavior between Spencer attempting to do business with the NCAA while also mentoring a college prospect, he shifts his focus entirely to bringing down the NCAA for its use and exploitation of young athletes.
Speaking from the heart and from personal experience, he threatens to blow up the NCAA from the inside to its board of directors. It was one of the many instances throughout the show where Spencer puts his business desires aside to promote and help the health and security of younger athletes.
Worst: USC Deal & Quincy Involvement
By far the worst, most questionable and unethical thing Spencer ever did was taking a young athlete, Quincy Crawford, under his wing while simultaneously trying to broker an exclusive network deal with USC.
Once Spencer and Quincy's friendship became apparent to the NCAA, it threatened Crawford's eligibility and potential to play football at USC. Although things eventually work themselves out eventually, Quincy's eligibility remains intact, and Spencer uses it all to take aim at the NCAA, he completely neglected and disregarded the future of a young athlete in pursuit of a payday.
Best: Athlete Health Awareness
At the end of the day, there is certainly a lot of negativity surrounding The Rock's Ballers character. One immensely positive aspect of the character, and the show at large, is the way he and it call attention to the physical and mental health of athletes and the trauma they can experience even after retirement.
From the get-go, his character consistently looks out for young athletes, making sure they get the proper financial representation and care they deserve. Although he certainly has some slip-ups along the way, he remains dedicated to the goal of bringing awareness to the very real and lifelong health effects athletes suffer well outside of the spotlight.