Halfway through Running Point‘s pilot, Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson), feels pain after violently punching a popcorn machine. Now, let’s back up a bit and find out why Isla is destroying property of which she owns. Isla is in the Gordon family, owner of the Waves, a fictional NBA team with quite the roller coaster history. Her brother Cam (Justin Theroux) was team president until a drug problem forces him to surprisingly appoint her. A team with the most NBA championships, it now has its share of troubles, like losing corporate sponsorships. She has her own romantic troubles with her doctor boyfriend Lev (Max Greenfield), just like her brothers Ness and Sandy (Scott MacArthur and Drew Tarver, respectively). Can she handle all of that and perform to the same level as her father and brother Cam?

This show is loosely based on LA Lakers’ owner Jennie Buss, who serves as an executive producer here. Serving as co-show runners are Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz and two other writers in ‘Ted Lasso, but basketball’. This may seem like a ‘too many cooks’ situation, and ironically, some moments feel lacking, budget wise. But at other times, it seems like a lot of fun happened within the writer’s room. I did not expect a basketball sitcom on Netflix with Kate Hudson and Brenda Song at stars. Not only that, but they’re riffing at each other and making great jokes about Lindsay Buckingham. Running Point isn’t perfect and looks way too close to the Netflix house style – cheap, but unexpected jokes make the show worth it for me. These jokes are as unexpected as a B-plot involving Jackie Moreno (Fabrizio Guido), who has a meteoric rise within the volatile organization.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen The Mindy Project, but apparently she’s more into ensemble pieces now. Had Running Point been pitched years beforehand, the show would be Isla and Ali (Song) doing riffs together. Or maybe she’d just have one brother with whom she’d have an acrimonious relationship with – fighting, but funny. But characters have their own interactions, talking to each other about basketball, business, and both at the same time. It also captures the idea that these characters have their own egos and needs that other characters neglect. The show, then, doesn’t paint them in a bad light as they stand up for their own needs. It also paints the Waves, and sure, its real counterpart, that neglect is temporary. Isla can even neglect her star player Marcus Winfield (Toby Sandeman),

But Isla can fix that too, with the help of her team’s coach Jay (Jay Ellis). Since I can’t discuss the finale, I’ll discuss a few episodes behind that somehow focus on Isla’s brother Sandy. At first, Running Point angles him as the gay villain who tries to take over from Isla. They eventually learn to trust each other, Sandy especially, as a date tries to lock him in his bathroom. It’s strange that a lot of the supporting actors and characters who stand out happen to be men. However, if they do great work, they deserve the kind of flowers that I give to their female counterparts. One of those standouts is Chet Hanks – the show actually got a human performance out of him. And since Sandy isn’t the show’s big bad, someone is, but one should watch it to find out just who.

Running Point comes soon on Netflix.