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Latest "Ballers" Covers Early Player Retirement, Melvin Gordon Cameo

Fictional Rams GM Charles Greane was forced to release a star player involved in a shootingHBO

Last night's episode of "BALLERS" on HBO looked at the issue of a player potentially retiring in the prime of his career, continuing the storyline of fictional Cowboys DT Vernon Littlefield, played by DONOVAN CARTER, who is not satisfied with just being an NFL star. Littlefield continues his pursuit of becoming a professional gamer, trying out for a League of Legends team. Despite the tryout not yielding an offer from the team and the Cowboys simultaneously offering an $80M contract extension, Littlefield tells his manager he may consider retirement anyway because he has plenty of money. He said, "At some point you got to ask yourself, 'how much is enough?'"

TEAM BUILDING: Spencer Strasmore, played by DWAYNE JOHNSON, is told by his business partner that he has the funding in place for their $3B purchase of the Chiefs, so long as they have a solid GM in place. Strasmore offers the GM position to a top fictional agent. After some deliberation the agent declines and Strasmore is left with the idea that he may have to control the Chiefs' football operations himself.

GETTING REAL: The plot thickened this episode in the case of a fictional Rams player who was caught on video at the site of a shooting. Fictional Rams GM Charles Greane, played by OMAR BENSON MILLER, learns that the gun that was used was registered to the player. Despite his wife telling him to sweep the situation under the rug, Greane confronts the player about it. When he is not truthful about the situation, Greane releases him.

L.A. LIVING: Chargers RB MELVIN GORDON and Fox Sports' JAY GLAZER made cameos this episode. Gordon, who is currently in a holdout with the Chargers, was working out at Glazer's gym in L.A., and invited a fictional player over to a party at his house, where Gordon appeared on screen again.

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Learfield's Cory Moss, MASN/ESPN's Ben McDonald, and Canelo

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with Learfield's Cory Moss as he talks about his company’s collaboration on EA Sports College Football. Later in the show, we hear from MASN/ESPN baseball analyst Ben McDonald on how he sees the college and professional baseball scene shaking out. SBJ’s Adam Stern shares his thoughts on the upcoming Canelo-Mungia bout on Prime Video and DAZN.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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