Characters / Running Point

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Played by: Kate Hudson

The protagonist. The only daughter of Los Angeles Waves owner Jack Gordon and his first wife, Isla is highly passionate about basketball and resented that her father overlooked it, causing her to act out and become a party girl. To help her from completely losing her way as an adult, as well as to keep her from becoming an embarrassment to the family, her eldest brother Cam brought her back into the fold to head the team's charity wing. She still felt under-utilized there, but was happy to be involved with the team. She grows and shows enough maturity in this role that Cam tasks her with becoming president after his scandal.

• Career Versus Man: Late in the first season Isla's fiancé Lev begins to feel neglected by Isla's dedication to her job, culminating in Isla missing a big award ceremony because she had to take Travis to rehab.
• Character Narrator: Much of the show is narrated in first-person voiceover by Isla, the lead character.
• Embarrassing Nickname: When she was younger, Isla apparently had weight problems, leading to her brothers calling her Island Gordon.
• The Fashionista: As a high-profile businesswoman with a lot of money, Isla is always very well dressed. Some of her daily wear may go beyond professional attire into the fashionable side. She also goes in big for high-end cosmetics (leading to the team's sponsorship by Sephora), and at least during her engagement party wears hair extensions. For the party, she is professionally dressed by designer Law Roach.
• Former Teen Rebel: Isla had a sexist asshole for a father who didn't care that she liked basketball, so she acted out, appearing in a Playboy spread and having a 20-day marriage to Brian Austin Green. This made her more of an embarrassment than an asset until Cam reins her in by giving her a job with the Waves.
• History with Celebrity: Isla's brief marriage to Brian Austin Green.
• The Klutz: Given her penchant for Amusing Injuries, Isla probably qualifies, although some of those are done to her by others. She repeatedly walks into a glass wall; smashes her knee on Cam's "drug drawer"; tips over on her stationary cycle; gets her eyelid caught in an eyelash curler; and falls off her seat at a restaurant. Handy that her fiancé is skilled in first aid.
• Married to the Job: Once she is appointed president of the Waves, the job takes over Isla's life, attending to the needs of the team, the business, and the players (particularly Travis Bugg). The resulting strain on her relationship with Lev causes him to break off their engagement.
  Isla: Can we just wait until the playoffs are done and talk about this later?
  Lev:' The playoffs will never be done. There will always be another playoff, another emergency that you choose over me.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Probably the number one thing anybody would say about Isla. She loves basketball, and knows a lot about the fine points of playing the game and putting together a strong team. Possibly best demonstrated in the pilot episode when she orchestrates a three-way deal among the Waves, Seattle, and Miami because she knows exactly what each team needs, and what their ownership will respond to.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She tries to be this — she wants to keep her players and staff members happy while still keeping the business above water.
• Resentful Outnumbered Sibling: Isla loves her brothers, but resents that her interest in basketball was overlooked by their father because of her gender, while her brothers got to work in the Family Business right away.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Isla personifies this description. As the only daughter of a self-made professional sports tycoon, who is shown to have been quite sexist, and with two alpha male older brothers, she grew up learning to be tough and willing throw down with the boys. She knows (and loves) basketball better than any of her brothers, cusses like a sailor, never backs down from an argument, and even resorts to physical altercations at times (the paintball incident, the swimming pool fight). However, she is always dressed to impress, loves shopping for makeup at Sephora, and at least for special occasions wears hair extensions. As a child, she is shown playing with Barbie dolls and an Easy-Bake Oven, but that's just as likely to be her father's enforcing her role as "his princess."

Played by: Justin Theroux

The eldest Gordon sibling, who became President of the Waves after their father's passing. Though serious about the business, he has a severe drug addiction and asks Isla to take over the presidency while he is in rehab.

• Addled Addict: Cam is forced into rehab after he tries to do drugs while driving, then hits a Dutch family. He later embezzles funds to bribe the rehab facility and wants to reclaim his position while still abusing drugs.
• Anti-Villain: In season 2 he's subtly trying to sabotage Isla's presidency and finally stages a coup in an attempt to take over, but he does have genuine affection for her and the rest of his family.
• Cabin Fever: Cam is shown to be going stir-crazy in rehab, as he can't stand to be Locked Out of the Loop. He arranges a couple of furloughs, plays The Chessmaster from behind the scenes, and eventually bribes his way out.
• The Heavy: Becomes the biggest obstacle to Isla's leadership for most of season 2 due to wanting his old job back.
• Rightful King Returns: Cam, at least, sees it this way when he makes his return in the final scene of "Game Seven." He's done his penance in rehab and sat out long enough for the scandal to have cooled down. He returns, apparently with the intent of retaking his office and the team.

Played by: Scott MacArthur

Isla's second oldest brother, a likeable doofus who did a brief stint as a pro baller before becoming General Manager of the Waves.

• Iron Butt-Monkey: He tends to suffer Amusing Injuries, but is mostly fine by the next episode.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Ness, though he is quite often Innocently Insensitive and a bit of a Manchild, is generally the kindest and most sympathetic of the Gordons. He's also a bit of a dimwit who confuses easily — Bituin claims that the only TV show he can actually watch without getting hopelessly lost is The Golden Bachelor.
• Some of My Best Friends Are X: Played for laughs. Ness tries to support Sandy's homosexuality by saying he met Andy Cohen once.
  Sandy: Jesus Christ, Ness. You've told me that 11 times.

Played by: Drew Tarver

Isla's younger half-brother and Chief Financial Officer of the Waves. Sandy is an straight-laced cheapskate, though he does care about his family.

• Athletically Challenged: In contrast to his brothers, Sandy is definitely not an athlete.
• Butt-Monkey: A lot of bad things happen to him during the series.
• Straight Gay: Sandy is gay, but is otherwise very uptight and the sibling most concerned with propriety.
  Ali: When I started here, I wanted the Gordons to like me. And Sandy was the hardest. I watched [RuPaul's Drag Race] for three years before I realized he's not that kind of gay. He's just a nerd who likes The Making of WandaVision.

Played by: Fabrizio Guido

Jack Gordon's illegitimate youngest son, whose connection to the family was only made clear after Jack's death. Despite initial attempts to buy him off, the others eventually accept Jackie as their youngest brother.

• Ascended Fanboy: He was a big fan of the Waves and happy to hawk food at their games. He's astounded when it turns out his biological father is none other than former Waves owner Jack Gordon, which gives him the opportunity to work for the business alongside his newfound siblings.
• The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest of the siblings by many years, he's a naive, dopey teen who often has to get the finer points of running a basketball franchise explained to him.
• Karmic STD: In "A Special Place in Hell," Jackie has contracted chlamydia from one of the women who hit on him, and possibly passed it on. It's karmic in that it's the direct result of his naïveté and eagerness to take advantage of his new status and play the big shot, and because Sofia, the dance team captain, had a more sincere interest in him, but he decided to casually sleep around behind her back.
• Mama's Boy: Having been raised by a hardworking single mom, Jackie is very torn up by her loss, speaks of her with the greatest love and respect, and honors her memory on her birthday.
• Really Gets Around: Jackie, of all people, goes through a phase of this. There are plenty of attractive young women eager to sleep with a team insider and member of the Gordon family, so he naively hooks up with what's implied to be a large number of them. Along with the fun, he also gets chlamydia and a severe warning from the team's chairman of the board, who is the father of one of the girls.
• Secret Other Family: Jack Gordon had never told his "main" family, or at least his adult children, that he had another child with the housekeeper. Jackie is overjoyed to find out that he has siblings, and they warm up to him pretty quickly, too.

The Gordon siblings' father and previous President of the Waves.

• Hanky-Panky with the Help: Jackie was conceived via the Gordon patriarch's affair with a housekeeper while the family was away.
• Posthumous Character: Jack has been deceased for several years before the beginning of the series. But he is still discussed frequently, and his impact on his family and the team is always felt.
• Really Gets Around: Apparently cheated on his wife "500 million times", and tellingly sired two more kids by two different women after their divorce.
• Straw Misogynist: He never cared that his daughter Isla was extremely passionate and knowledgeable about basketball and preferred to shoehorn her into the role of a "princess". When Isla takes the reins she proves to be just as, if not much more, capable than her brothers.

Played by: Max Greenfield

Isla's fiancé, a successful Jewish pediatrician. He and Isla have been together for six years and planning to be married for three, and officially announce their engagement in "Beshert."

His relationship with Isla developed while she was in her much less demanding role with the Waves. Although he tries to be understanding and forgiving, the demands of her role as team president place a lot of stress on their relationship.

• Disposable Fiancé: The kind-hearted and successful professional guy engaged to Isla at the beginning of the show, he is increasingly sidelined by Isla's increasing responsibilities and budding flirtation with Jay. Ultimately Jay coming back into town a couple days before their wedding makes her end their engagement.
• It's Not You, It's Me: Lev gives a halfhearted one after calling out Isla for how she is neglecting him and their relationship, ending with, "I don't know, maybe I need more than you can give me right now." After bluntly telling her that she doesn't care about him or his life, it comes off as very insincere.
• Nice Jewish Boy: Isla's Jewish fiancé Lev is a grown-up version. He's a kind pediatrician whose patience with Isla and her shenanigans is almost comical.
• Repetitive Name: Lev Levenson.
• Second Episode Introduction: Lev is first seen at home with Isla in episode two, "Joe Pesci," because the first focused entirely on the workplace situation.

Played by: Jessalyn Wanlim

Ness' Philippine-born wife.

• Mail-Order Bride: Subverted. The Snoozepedic exec assumes Ness's Filipino wife Bituin is a mail-order bride. Isla angrily clarifies that he met her while he was playing basketball in the Philippines. When Bituin is properly introduced, dialogue reveals that her family in Manila is fabulously wealthy and she gave that up to be with Ness.

Played by: Scott Evans

Sandy's boyfriend.

• Derailing Love Interests: In season 1 he's a nice guy that Sandy goes to great lengths to win back. In season 2 he starts working in reality TV and refuses to maintain Sandy's privacy, so they quickly break up.
• Nice Guy: A nice and friendly guy, shockingly normal compared to the rest of the Gordons. He's also a dog groomer and adores his charges.
• On the Rebound: After breaking up with Charlie, he dates his personal trainer, breaks up with him, and then gets back together with Charlie in short order.

Played by: Ike Barinholtz

• My Friends... and Zoidberg: Treated as an afterthought by the main siblings, even when they have him come to LA as a favor to help them beat the McShays. That said, his loutish behavior is not endearing.

Played by: Chet Hanks

The problematic and unpredictable point guard of the Waves.

• Adam Westing: Travis Bugg is a tattooed, scandal-prone aspiring rapper like his actor Chet Hanks, which Hanks even acknowledged in an interview.
• Momma's Boy: When Travis' mother Bonnie becomes a problem for the Waves, Jay lets Isla know that pro basketball players often have oddly codependent relationships with their mothers. They tend to be from lower-income families, so the mothers are busting their asses so their sons can make it big; as a result the players are very close to and dependent on them.
• Off the Wagon: Travis promised to stay clean through the playoffs, and then get treatment. It doesn't last long. In "The Playoffs," he's high when Isla goes to check on him before game one, prompting her to take him directly to rehab.
• Ordered Apology: Travis is not thrilled at being sponsored by a cosmetics company, and defaces their branding as "SephorASS" on his uniform. Isla has to order him to publicly apologize to their sponsor. His first ad-libbed attempt just makes things even worse, but he gets through a second attempt, scripted for him, successfully.
• You Keep Using That Word: A disastrous example in "The Travis Bugg Affair." Travis is not well-educated, making his use of English very hit-or-miss, although he considers himself to be a Cunning Linguist. When a reporter asks him if he refutes the rumors about him kissing Isla, it turns out he doesn't know what the word "refute" means, but decides it's important, leading to:
  Travis: Refuting it? No, I'm not refuting it. I'm not refuting it in the strongest manner possible. Is she a beautiful woman? Yes. Would I hit? I refute to say I would indeed.

Played by: Toby Sandeman

• Elite Athlete's Aging Angst: A longtime star player for the Waves, but he lets Isla know in no uncertain terms that he doesn't have the bones and joints to be playing a full quarter anymore. He's also deeply offended when a (fake) rumor comes out that he might be traded for multiple promising rookies. At the end of season 2, he re-appears after injury to rally the Waves to a championship. Later, he admits to Isla that he has injured his Achilles and is retiring — but is glad he got to go out on a high.
• History with Celebrity: In her introdump Isla tells the audience that Marcus is a bigshot — he is a "twelve-time All-Star [with] two rings, two gold medals" — but most importantly, he dated Rihanna for a bit.
• Older and Wiser: As the oldest and most experienced player on the team, Marcus has Seen It All with regard to what pro players go through. Although he has a generally aloof demeanor, he does step in on a few occasions to impart some wisdom to the younger players. A couple notable occasions are when he pays a housecall on Travis during "The Travis Bugg Affair," telling him to rein in his off-the-court behavior, and in "Doljanchi" when he intervenes on Dyson's behalf regarding the Shockingly Expensive Bill. Later, in "The Playoffs," Isla consults with him on how to handle Travis's drug problem.
• Team Dad: He becomes this for the Waves' players as the series goes on. Even Travis admits he sees him almost like a father figure.

Played by: Uche Agada

A young player who was recruited from the minor leagues. Though a very talented shooter, he does not have the star power, confidence, or huge salary of a top recruit. As a result, he has occasional trouble with his low place on the team pecking order.

• The Baby of the Bunch: The youngest and newest recruit, and recipient of some light hazing as a result.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Early on, some of the other players refer to rookie Dyson Gibbs as "D-League," a reminder that he is barely out of the minors and hasn't shown his worth yet, and possibly a play on his first name.
• Shockingly Expensive Bill: Part of Dyson's character arc in "Doljanchi." As part of their rookie hazing traditions, new players are expected to pick up the tab when the team goes out for a no-holds-barred spending spree at a posh restaurant. Fellow rookie Victor shrugs off a twenty-five thousand dollar check because he received a massive signing bonus. Next up it's Dyson's turn, but as a low-ranked recruit just up from the minors, the thirty-two thousand dollar tab he receives is more than half his annual salary. When he asks their server to double-check it, they add on more. Fortunately, Marcus understands the situation, covers the tab, and declares that particular tradition dead.

Played by: Jake Picking

• Brainless Beauty: He's handsome but not very smart.
• Dumb Jock: An elite basketballer who is so very dumb. He also counts as Lovable Jock, but his intensity ends up scaring Sandy.

Played by: Brenda Song

Waves Chief of Staff and loyal best friend to Isla.

• All Women Are Lustful: Ali has a private moment with Isla in "The Travis Bugg Affair":
  Ali: Okay, look, I need to know. As a horny 35-year-old mom who's been married for twelve years, was there any part of Travis kissing you that was hot?
• Best Friend: Bestie and sounding board to Isla, Ali also acts as support whenever Isla concocts a wacky scheme. It's mentioned that Isla is also godmother to Ali's kid.
• The Fashionista: Although she's not as wealthy as Isla, Ali is just as stylish, and her petite figure is just made for fashion. She favors short skirts and big jewelry.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Isla describes Ali as someone who "swears. A lot". Ali reinforces this point in her introduction when she says "We're in a real ass fuck of a situation here."
• The Social Expert: She started as a lowly assistant and worked her way up to becoming Chief of Staff, becoming adept at handling celebrity and sports drama along the way. Demonstrated during a Training Montage where she turns Jackie into a acceptably competent assistant over the course of an afternoon.

Played by: Jay Ellis

The Waves' coach, who is extremely zen until provoked.

• Consummate Professional: In a cast full of characters ranging from quirky to flat-out crazy, Jay is probably the only person shown to emphasize professionalism in his job. He is very good at his job both on and off the court, always presents a calm demeanor, tries to balance the needs of the organization against the needs of the individual players, and doesn't talk about the personal crisis his ex-wife is putting him through. He breaks down in a big way in "The Streak."
• Food Slap: In "The Streak," during an Out-of-Character Moment, Coach Brown assaults his ex-wife's boyfriend. Instead of hitting a man with a cake, he hits a cake with a man.
• OOC Is Serious Business: Coach Jay Brown has this all over the place in "The Streak." The normally professional, calm, and courteous Buddhist goes out clubbing with the players, assaults his ex-wife's boyfriend, turns off his phone to avoid being contacted, refuses to apologize (taking a suspension during the team's playoff bid), and angrily tears into Isla in front of the players. He even lampshades it himself, saying "I'm not usually the person who lets his personal life affect his work."

Played by: Roberto Sanchez

Chairman of the board of the Waves.

• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Stephen is outraged when he finds out Jackie has not only been sleeping around to the point of getting an STD, but one of the girls he hooked up with is Stephen's own daughter. Stephen accepts Jackie's apology but threatens him to never come near his daughter again.

Played by: Marissa Reyes

Captain of the Waves' dance team, the Wave City Dancers.

• Beauty Equals Goodness: Referenced when she leads the dancers during the Strike Episode and makes a viral video exposing their poor working conditions. Ali comments that she looks like a Disney Princess so the public will naturally side with her and see the Waves as an evil sports corporation.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's a pretty young woman whose choreography emphasizes her good looks and body. While watching her perform Ness tells Jackie that he screwed up by not pursuing her seriously, and Jackie agrees.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sofia gives the siblings a quick one in "Game Seven" when they're trying to figure out where Jackie is. She points out how they take him for granted, don't treat him like family, and don't even know him well enough to remember that it's his late mother's birthday.
• Spicy Latina: She's Salvadoran-American, beautiful, a talented dancer, and has every man's eyes on her. She's also smart, strong, opinionated, family-oriented, and cares very much about Jackie, regardless of him sleeping around and what she'd called him because of it.

Played by: Ray Romano

• Back in the Saddle: Isla brings him out of retirement to be the Waves' new coach.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's rather odd, has a tendency to overshare and clearly needs some sort of counseling, but he's a very good coach once he gets out of his funk.
• The Lost Lenore: The loss of his wife deeply affected him.
• No Social Skills: His people skills clearly atrophied in the years since losing his job, his wife, and not having anyone to talk to.

Played by: Phil Reeves

The League Commissioner of the league that the Waves belong to. He is known as a strict disciplinarian, and has to get involved when Coach Brown goes off the rails.

• The Dreaded: Gant is stated to be the one of two men Jack Gordon was ever afraid of (the other being the head of the IRS). According to Isla's narration, Gant was a POW during the Vietnam War but was sent back by the Viet Cong because they thought he was too mean. He actually turns out to be a Reasonable Authority Figure, but specifically hated Jack.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: In "The Streak," Isla is pleasantly surprised when Gant turns out to be one. His first thought was to suspend Coach Jay Brown for his off-the-court incident, as it reflects badly on the league. After Isla gives him a good argument for leniency and promises an apology from the coach, the Commissioner agrees to reduce the penalty to a fine.

Played by: Andy Favreau

The owner of a major Boston team.

• The Rival: To Isla. First, in "Doljanchi" he manages to cut Isla out of the Hoopli deal and take her place. Then in "The Streak," he is trying to get Jay Brown away from the Waves to become Boston's head coach.

Played by: Nicole Sullivan

Travis Bugg's mother. She raised him on tough love and Florida values. She's loud, opinionated, crude, and not above resorting to violence. She's also more savvy than she might seem at first, and totally devoted to her son's well-being and success.

• AcCENT upon the Wrong SylLABle: Although she can define the word precisely, Bonnie pronounces identity as "eye den titty," emphasizing the last two syllables. She doesn't see the distinction when Isla pronounces it in the more typical way.
• Alliterative Name: Bonnie Bugg.
• Foreign Queasine: Her specialty dish, and Travis's favorite, is something called "trash bag chicken." We don't get all the details, but it involves putting chicken and a whole lot of ketchup (and presumably other ingredients, but who knows?) in a plastic trash bag, then swinging the bag around for a while to mix the ingredients.
• Single Mom Stripper: Bonnie used to strip in order to support herself and her son Travis. She clarifies that she was not dancing, "Just getting naked in front of a bunch of rednecks and Air Force pilots."
• Stage Mom: Bonnie is shown to be particularly obnoxious, even by the standards of other players' parents who complain about their kids' player time. She even shows up to the court during practice to call plays and criticize Travis's teammates. "A Special Place In Hell" deals with Isla having to keep her under control as she put the Waves in this mess by refusing to trade Travis back to Florida.
• Tough Love: She strictly limits Travis's use of pain meds, since (according to their dialogue) he's been in rehab twice before due to abusing them. When she tells him he gets one pill, he tries to wheedle her into making it two, and she tells him that if he's not careful, it'll be none.

Played by: Stella Everett

• Distaff Counterpart: Isla easily sees she's essentially a female version of Travis Bugg. They're both controversy-prone, uncouth basketball players. Unsurprisingly they start seeing each other quickly.
• Lesbian Jock: Brielle is a pro basketball player who, after meeting the team, says she was a lesbian until "a month ago". When she meets Isla she assumes Isla is hitting on her and clarifies that the rest of her teammates are gay. She's also delighted at the prospect of a threesome with Travis and another woman.
• Sickening Sweethearts: Despite some initial belligerence, she and Travis can barely keep their hands off each other in-between games once they start dating.
• Statuesque Stunner: Being a female basketball player meaning she's quite tall and attractive, crude personality aside. She's even taller than her boyfriend Travis.

Played by: Ken Marino

• Punny Name: Al Fleischman (flushman) made his fortune on toilets.

Played by: Scott Speedman

A member of the McShay family, who own a hockey team that rents out the Waves' arena.

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Isla. Their dynamic reflects the rivalry between their families, but there are definite sparks between them and he even asks her to dinner after their basketball game.