Highly Questionable was a sinking ship. The ESPN2 show was filming in a kitchen and two likable characters named Le Batard needed something new and cool or else the show was going to get canceled. Enter Bomani Jones in 2013.

Jones provided the right kind of counter-cynicism the two stars needed. Someone they could bounce off of and who knew how to react to potentially outlandish takes. Next thing you know, the tacky kitchen backdrop changed for the most Miami studio location you could imagine with South Beach passing by in the back window. The transformation of the show launched Jones to national success and popularity on ESPN.

Bomani has always been a step above every other media member on the mainstream networks as a rhetorical critic. His reading of situations is unique, smart and can take an angle that is bound to make certain people turn off TV. And that's okay. Jones is unapologetic about who he is and uses his platform to discuss topics that scarcely get mentioned by national sports media outlets.

Fast forward to 2022, Bomani is four episodes into his new show on HBO and nails it. Game Theory with Bomani Jones is the first show with Jones as the primary host on a major subscription network outside of cable. No tacky set to save, no need to conform to a narrative sent from way upstairs. One of the best things about HBO as a production studio is talent is left alone to be themselves and Bomani Jones seems to be in full control.

Jones happily ends his opening stand up in episode 1 stating that he is wearing a $9,000 suit, then later likens Coach K era Duke to white supremacy with punchlines such as: "...we [black men over 35] kinda hate that [Coach K] beat every black team that people loved. 10 years ago, if Duke would have played the Ku Klux Klan, we would rooted for a zero-zero tie."

In the fashion of many shows trying to make any arguments, a claim must couple with a proof, so Jones played an awkward Coach K interview from 1997 speaking on his inability to recruit certain players, cutting back to Jones saying "Doesn't sound like he was recruiting the kids from Rosa Parks High School." Despite several hilarious slapstick comments through serious news Jones reported, background chuckles in the studio were hardly audible.

As one can imagine, some of these jokes can land flat if this is your first time watching Jones but are intended to make light of a serious topic of the black experience Bomani will routinely explain. Game Theory has since added a live studio audience to adjust the intended tone and Jones has flourished with some feedback as opposed to a nearly silent production crew.

While on another platform, the new show doesn't shy away from his ESPN roots with the first episode featuring a personal Stephen A. Smith interview, a must-see cameo from Jalen Rose and plenty of clips from SportsCenter have popped up through 4 episodes. Game Theory also features the celebrity presence ESPN is known for with consistent artists from all lines of entertainment appearing to talk sports and life.

Game Theory can be described as a combination of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, a lighter Real Sports and a touch of Key and Peele with HBO Sports flair. Viewers that have found Bomani Jones entertaining in the past will certainly enjoy an uncensored, creative-freedom-unleashed side of him in interviews, comedy skits, news reporting and the always interesting opinions from New Yorkers walking the streets.

With new episodes released on Sunday nights, the casual basketball fan that watches Winning Time on HBO would probably find Game Theory an enjoyable and weekly 30-minute watch.

This isn't the first time Bomani has been the host of his own TV show and had creative freedom: some people might remember Jones from his various radio shows or his hit SB Nation YouTube show, Bomani And Jones, but at the age of 41 Jones has fine-tuned his craft and is ready for his biggest platform and opportunity yet. Four episodes in and Jones is only getting better each week.