Ron

**Ron** is a character in the television series *Hoops* voiced by Ron Funches. He is Ben Hopkins' friend who is now seeing his Ben's ex-wife Shannon. He is the assistant coach for the Lenwood Colts basketball team.

## Appearance

Ron is an African-American man with frizzy hair and a goatee. He dresses in a neat button-down shirt and is generally much more well put-together than his friend Ben Hopkins.

## Character

Ron is "Ben’s assistant coach and best friend. Considerate, quiet and patient, he’s Ben’s polar opposite."

## History

He claims to have been a soldier in Iraq in 2003, prior to coming to Lenwood and being an assistant basketball coach. He went "old-school" on the Iraqi forces, taking them all out with martial arts without even grabbing a gun.

## Plot summary

### The Pilot

Hopkins tries to enlist Ron's help in convincing Matty to join the Lenwood Colts basketball team, but Ron wants nothing to do with it. He also chastises Hopkins for texting his girlfriend and Hopkins's ex-wife Shannon, trying to get help with the same thing.

### My Two Dads

When Hopkins arrives at Shannon's and finds Ron apparently there, he texts him to complain, as Ron had told him he was going to a night class. However, Ron actually isn't there, but is instead somewhere else, being painted in the nude. Hopkins is shocked that Shannon is apparently seeing another guy when she's dating Ron, but it turns out that she's actually just hanging out with Hopkins's dad, Barry, having adopted him as a sort of "surrogate dad."

### The Sponsor

Angered by a budget meeting in which he is denied the lavish spending that he wanted for the Colts, Hopkins reneges on a promise to take Ron and Kirk out for soft-serve ice cream, claiming he never made it. Later, Ron gets together with Kirk and Shannon and they grumble about how Hopkins always seems to get away with his lies. They decide to try to catch Hopkins in a lie for once, specifically that he once had sex with a woman named Tina Fitzsimmons. They meet with Tina and discover that she has a son named Gunnar who looks and acts a lot like Hopkins. They confront Hopkins with the boy, claiming that he's his son, at which point Hopkins admits that he never actually had sex with Tina.

### Matty Gets a Girlfriend

When Hopkins tries to argue that girlfriends cause basketball players to have weak legs, Ron claims that Rocky was a winner because he had the support of a loving girlfriend. Hopkins replies that Rocky famously lost and Ron admits to having never seen the first *Rocky* film because he doesn't like stories with sad endings. Later, when Hopkins tells Ron that he "took care" of Matty's girlfriend Wendy, Ron misconstrues it as him having killed her and goes off on an extended tangent about killing a family. Afterwards, Ron helps Hopkins to bring Matty to Shannon's house in order to watch what Hopkins hopes will be an inspirational videotape.

### Zen

Ron attends a birthday party held for him by Shannon. Both are them are shocked to see Hopkins outside the party, Shannon particularly so, as *not* inviting Hopkins to the party was her gift to Ron. Hopkins, however, just comes in to forgive everyone and congratulate Ron on his birthday, shocking them all, as they don't know that he's been changed temporarily thanks to therapy sessions from the DAWA. Later, however, at a Colts game, Ron witnesses Hopkins going back to being his old self.

### The Strike

Shannon gets upset with Ron for not telling him about the teacher strike at Lenwood High School, but he tells her that he did, many times. Later, Ron asks her if her relationship with him is just a rebound for her off her relationship from Hopkins, but she tells him that Hopkins took a shot and missed.

### Death

When the therapist Dr. Brooks comes Lenwood High School, he offers to help her in any way he can. He then, despite her objections, shares a lengthy story of his past with her.

### The Road Game

The Lenwood Colts receive an invite to a prestigious tournament in Cincinnati. Hopkins misses the bus to get there and when they arrive, they are told that they can't check in without their head coach. Ron, therefore, poses as Hopkins. While Hopkins is stuck on a bad road trip with Shannon, Ron lives it up, pretending to be him. Wearing Hopkins's nametag, he gives a big speech and even gets to meet with one of Hopkins's idols, the reporter Phil Storm. After Hopkins finally arrives, the ruse is exposed and Ron begs for Hopkins's forgiveness, telling him that friend doesn't do to another friend what he did to him.

### The Scout

In the wake of the disastrous events from the road game, Shannon splits up with Ron after having had sex with Hopkins. She does not get back together with Hopkins, but Ron is left devastated by the loss of his girlfriend. During a Colts game, he goes off on the coach in an extended tirade, something that one would normally expect from Hopkins, but not from him. Hopkins comforts him, Ron not knowing anything about his having had sex with Shannon. Ron is later left without his friend and to coach the Colts by himself after Hopkins leaves with Matty in order to take an assistant coach position at Henderson Prep.

## References

1. ↑ *Deadline*: ‘Hoops’: Premiere Date & Teaser For Netflix’s Adult Toon Series; Rob Riggle & Others Join Cast by Erik Pederson. July 20, 2020.