Jay Ellis joins Running Point in recurring role (and we have a prediction!)

Kate Hudson's upcoming Netflix comedy series Running Point continues to get better and better! The series comes from Mindy Kaling and will be released on the streamer sometime in 2025. Insecure and Top Gun: Maverick star Jay Ellis rounds out the cast with a recurring role in the series. Given the description of his role, I have a pretty bold prediction about how this will go down.

Ellis will play Jay Brown, the head coach of the Los Angeles Waves basketball team who also once played for the team (or at least just the sport). His calm approach to coaching has lifted up the team and scored them a number of championship wins. As the head coach, Jay will be working closely with Hudson's character Isla, who's the new president of the Waves.

Jay Ellis is joining Kate Hudson on the court in Running Point — the upcoming sports comedy series from executive producer Mindy Kaling.

Ellis stars as a former player and now seasoned Head Coach of the LA Waves whose zen-like approach has led the team to multiple championships. pic.twitter.com/4zuiV6dRQg
— Netflix (@netflix) May 30, 2024

Now, it's been previously reported by Netflix that New Girl and The Neighborhood star Max Greenfield will play Isla's fiancé Lev Levy. He's a pediatrician and supports Isla from behind the scenes. What that tells us is that Isla will likely start to build a new, secondary life outside of their home that could potentially drive a wedge in between her and Lev. And who's there at work every day...

Look, I've watched The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever. I know how Kaling's love stories go. There's very much an enemies to lovers trope that could almost definitely be in the works here between Isla and Jay and I am all for it. Deepest sympathies to Lev Levy, who will inevitably steal our hearts, but a casting this late into the process with this big of a star kind of screams love interest.

Kaling, Netflix, and everyone knows you don't call in Jay Ellis to play a former basketball player turned coach just for him to recur as a foil to Isla. They will obviously butt heads and they will obviously have some sort of spark. It's textbook workplace comedy! It might be too soon to ship characters that aren't even confirmed to be romantically linked, but I am so beyond here for this.

Stay tuned for more Running Point news and updates from Netflix Life!