Jay Ellis isn’t new to a basketball court.
Before the actor became — well, an actor – he attended Concordia University in Oregon where he played basketball. And he was niiiiiiice. Let him tell it, he still is. Basketball is life and every week he’s on a court, smack talking and sinking baskets. And now he’s currently co-starring in Running Point with Kate Hudson on Netflix.
In the 10-episode series, he’s a young coach of a fictional headline-grabbing Lakers-like team that’s helmed by Hudson and in some ways it’s a strikingly familiar world for Ellis. After college, he interned in the public relations department for the Portland Trail Blazers during a pretty newsy time for the franchise.
Andscape caught up with Ellis to talk about the new series, his love for basketball and how his former life as an NBA intern helps inform his work in this current series.