List of The Game characters

This is a list of the characters from the American comedy-drama television series The Game.

Characters

Main

Recurring

Main characters

Melanie Barnett-Davis

• Dr. Melanie Barnett Davis, M.D., played by Tia Mowry,^[1] is a third-year medical school student from Connecticut who has given up an offer of admission to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore to follow her boyfriend, Sabers rising star receiver Derwin Davis, to San Diego against the advice of her parents and her cousin Joan Clayton, the lead character from the UPN/CW sitcom Girlfriends.

She is the daughter of a high-powered surgeon. Her brother is Cameron, who is portrayed by Tahj Mowry (Tia Mowry's younger brother). Melanie becomes friends with Kelly Pitts, the wife of veteran wide receiver Jason Pitts, and Tasha Mack, mother and manager of the Sabers star quarterback Malik Wright. Though their relations are rocky, Melanie, Kelly, and Tasha still maintain a close bond. Melanie also becomes friends with her former rival, Dionne, who was once Derwin's image consultant and Melanie's eventual roommate.

Melanie began her relationship with Derwin in college. At the end of Season 1, Derwin cheats on Melanie with Drew Sidora, and Melanie finds out. At the start of Season 2, Melanie leaves Derwin. After she breaks up with Derwin, she confides in her old friend Trey Wiggs. She eventually has a one-night stand with Trey. In the middle of Season 3, Derwin is seeing Janay and Melanie begins dating Jerome Rice. At the end of Season 2, Derwin reveals his love for Melanie and forces her to choose. Melanie turns Derwin down but then realizes that she is still in love with him. She returns to Derwin's apartment only to find out that Janay is pregnant with Derwin's child. After they break up once more in the middle of season 3, this time due to her infidelity with Dr. Buriss/Dr. McHottie, Derwin and Janay try to work things out while Melanie has a fling with her boss, Dr. Buriss. Melanie and Derwin eventually get back together, even though Janay is pregnant, and they have a wedding planned; but just as the ceremony is about to start, Derwin receives word that Janay has gone into labor. Derwin and Melanie eventually get married, after the baby is born, in the hospital chapel.

Two years later in Season 4, Melanie has decided to put her residency on hold and is focusing more on being the wife of a now famous and wealthy athlete Derwin and a stepmother to his son Derwin Junior (DJ), as the couple has now moved into a brand-new mansion and has even done a photo shoot for Essence magazine. Having insecurities about whether Derwin is the father of DJ, Melanie swabs a DNA sample of DJ while babysitting him, with the initial test revealing Derwin is not DJ's father. However, a later test reveals that Derwin indeed is the father, leaving Melanie with the task of telling Derwin about the test. Melanie and Derwin go see a fertility doctor about why they're having problems conceiving, and Melanie is asked if she has ever had an abortion. She says no; Derwin, recognizing that she lied, questions Melanie about the abortion and asks if it was his or not. In the premiere episode of Season 5, Melanie admits that she had an abortion. Derwin originally believes that it was when he and Melanie were in college; however, she tells him that it was actually from her affair with Trey Wiggs. She confesses that the reason she had the abortion was to spare Derwin from living with a reminder of her affair, which is the way she feels about DJ. Even though she makes it seem as though the abortion has not affected her, she seems to show feelings of guilt when she is alone. Feeling a void in her life, Melanie opts to continue trying to have a child, and later finds a surrogate in Tasha. Tasha eventually reneges on their arrangement to be with Pookie. Melanie later realizes that having a baby is not what she wants and leaves to attend Johns Hopkins on the day of the Championship Game, much to Derwin's dismay. At the end of the episode, however, he surprises her at the airport, telling her that he is flying there, with her.

Derwin Davis

• Derwin ("Ding Dong") Davis is a star wide receiver with the San Diego Sabers and the husband of Melanie Barnett . Aldis Hodge portrayed the original Derwin in the Girlfriends pilot. Hodge was replaced by Pooch Hall for the TV series.^[2]

In the first season Derwin goes through the hazing from Sabers captain Jason Pitts, and starting quarterback Malik Wright, whom he ultimately becomes friends with. Towards the end of the season, Malik and Jason "adopt" Derwin. In "To Baby...Or Not to Baby" Derwin proposes to Melanie at half-time of one of the Saber games because he thinks that Melanie might be pregnant. Melanie accepts at first feeling pressured on national television. However, later on Melanie tells Derwin that it is not the right time. Derwin meets singer Drew Sidora at a party he attends with Malik, and Drew asks Derwin to be in her new video, which he accepts not knowing he will play her love interest. Derwin and Drew get close and end up having sex. Dionne tells Derwin she knows he slept with Drew, and Melanie over-hears and calls off the engagement, and their relationship.

Derwin tries to reuniting with Melanie but Melanie shows up with football player and Derwin's rival Trey Wiggs to move her stuff from Derwin's apartment. Derwin's standout performance in training camp (and Jason's poor performance) earned Derwin a starting spot with the Sabers. In season 2, Derwin starts becoming more of a playboy jock rather than his humble church ways. After a few "hookups" Derwin starts dating Janay. Although Melanie begins dating Jerome, she is jealous of Derwin and Janay. Janay finds "Dr. Grizzly", the stuffed bear Derwin bought Melanie, and Derwin throws the bear into a waste basket, but later recovers it and hides it in a drawer. Derwin hurts his knee in a Sabers' playoff game and can not play in the Super Bowl, so he decides not to go to Miami with the team. Melanie misses Derwin and decides to pay him a visit, and they share a passionate kiss, but Melanie goes to L.A. with her boyfriend, Jerome. An intoxicated Derwin goes with Malik to L.A. to seek out Melanie. Derwin tells her, "You look me in my eyes and you tell me you don't love me?" Jerome and Derwin fight and Melanie confesses to Jerome that she loves Derwin. Melanie goes to Derwin's apartment, but Derwin finds out that Janay is pregnant with his baby.

In season 3, Derwin and Melanie get back together, but Melanie is jealous when Derwin goes with Janay to her first pregnancy appointment. After Melanie and Derwin break up again, Derwin decides to get back together with Janay since he is the father of her baby. Janay discovers that Derwin is still in love with Melanie after she finds the bear she thought had been thrown away. Melanie and Derwin get back together and Derwin proposes again, and Melanie accepts, and decides she wants to marry Derwin before the baby arrives. The baby comes when Derwin and Melanie are at the altar. Derwin rushes to the hospital, leaving Melanie at the altar. Later that night Derwin and Melanie get married in a private ceremony. In the fourth season premiere, there are some questions regarding the true paternity of Derwin's son. Derwin also emerges as a superstar player in season 4, getting numerous endorsement deals, including Nike, and becomes the new face of the Sabers organization. In season 5 premiere he asks Melanie if she had an abortion and she eventually admits that she did. He does not like the fact but thinks it was while the couple were in college. When she tells him it was Trey Wiggs' he is mad that she aborted a child even if not his. Since firing Tasha as his manager Derwin has been in the need of a new representation and hires his old agent Irv Smith to manage him prompting Tasha to take legal action as a way to get her money back for a Verizon sponsorship she had recently set up for him. Later Derwin attempts to build a friendship with Kwan off the field with the hope that it will build more chemistry on the field, but Kwan is non receptive and he soon learns that his friendship with Malik has been destroyed because of the Kwan situation. After fixing his relationship with Malik, Derwin attempts to get Malik back on the field with a campaign called "WMD" (What Malik DOing), Derwin admits that he has ulterior motives but he believes this is the only way him and Malik can get back to real friendship. After the owner tells Derwin that Kwan is the starter this adds further contentiousness to their relationship. Derwin finds out that Melanie is unable to have children because of a medical condition and takes it hard, handling it by having a party with Malik and Jason and getting drunk. In the episode "Derwin about to go ham", Kwan and Derwin's animosity reaches the critical level after Kwan refuses to throw Derwin the ball in the first half of a crucial game. In the locker room they engage in a small altercation. Back on the field Kwan is told to call a pass play but at the last minute audibles out for a run, Derwin going into motion "misses" a block and Kwan's knee is brutally hurt and he is lost for the game and possibly the season. Malik comes in to fill in for Kwan and the dream team of Malik + Derwin is back together and they lead a comeback victory. At the press conference Derwin is bombarded with questions about the play that Kwan got hurt with members of the media insinuating that Derwin missed it on purpose, Derwin leaves the press conferences without answering further questions. Back at home Derwin becomes a shell of himself isolating himself off from everyone else because of the pain knowing that everyone is blaming him for what happened. Melanie soon convinces him to leave the house and while at the gas station a fan approaches him, blaming him for the injury and spitting on his car. Later Derwin visits Malik and gets advice about how to get through this and how to not stress so much about his image and focus more on football and his career. After returning home Derwin and Melanie have a truth moment and he reveals that he missed it on purpose because of Kwan's attempt to threaten the legacy. He tells her that there are two Derwins: regular Derwin, and Der win at any means necessary (If it means protecting, his family, and the legacy). In the final episode of Season 5, he leaves with Melanie for Baltimore so she can pursue her dream of being a doctor after he lived his of being a champion football player. In Season 6 Derwin is traded to Baltimore in exchange for Bryce "The Blueprint" Westbrook (or just 'Blue'), much to his chagrin.

LaTasha Mack

• La'Tasha (Tasha) Mack is portrayed by Wendy Raquel Robinson.^[3] Tasha is a wise-cracking, outspoken crazy mom. She is the mother/manager of the show's star quarterback Malik Wright. She grew up in Richmond, California and had a baby in high school with her longtime boyfriend Chauncey Wright. As the show progresses, Malik fires Tasha. She then signs a contract with ISM (Irv Smiff Management). In season 3 Tasha is fired from ISM due to the company's job cuts.

Tasha is best friends with Melanie Barnett and Kelly Pitts. In season 3, Tasha and Kelly go through a rift in their relationship. At Melanie and Derwin's first wedding, Tasha reveals that she introduced Jason to Camille, his new girlfriend. Kelly responds by punching Tasha in the face.

Tasha's first known relationship is with Malik's old head coach, Kenny (Coach T). Malik finds out and disapproves, and due to Tasha's temper, Tasha and Kenny soon break up. Her next relationship was with famous former Laker Rick Fox. Rick becomes a manager at ISM, and after Tasha becomes vulnerable she falls in love with Rick. When Tasha gets fired from ISM and Rick gets promoted, Tasha believes Rick tricked her and they break up. In the season 3 finale, Rick comes back for Tasha and the fate of their relationship is unknown.

After high school her boyfriend Chauncey went to college and left Tasha to be a single mother. When Malik finally meets his father it is revealed that he has a younger sister, Pucci, played by Lisa Tucker. Chauncey married a woman who is strikingly similar to Tasha named Sheila, played by Tasha Smith. Tasha & Chauncey resolve their past issues and make up.

Two years later, Tasha is now Derwin’s agent and appears to be a very successful sports agent, making Derwin a superstar & "the face of Nike", while dating a much younger man named Danté. Dante is obviously in love with Tasha but she is leery of letting their romance be witnessed in public so she tells Dante she can do her thing, he can do his thing and they can do their thing together. Meanwhile, she tries to keep Melanie from ruining her marriage to Derwin, as she advised Melanie to let her doubts about DJ go, continue living the happy life and not to answer the phone getting the test results of which Melanie ignored. Tasha resolved her issues with Kelly and threatened to shoot her if the incident (see above) happened again. Tasha and Melanie having a very heated argument about Tasha representing both Malik and Derwin and Tasha is fired by Melanie. She eventually questions if she should have stayed with Derwin after Malik starts to do wrongdoing. Tasha becomes the main antagonist for the first half of season five, determined to one-up Melanie at every turn; their feud intensifies after Melanie takes over a fashion show that she (Tasha) had planned. At the Sunbeam Fashion Show, Tasha ends up being locked in the bathroom with Melanie, and they ultimately mend their friendship. In season six, she changed the Sunbeam image and she appointed herself Sunbeam president and put Chardonnay as 2nd in command. However, she also becomes entangled in a love triangle with Rick and Pookie (she becomes engaged to the latter), and drags Chardonnay into the mix. The love triangle is ultimately exposed by Jason (who discovered this from Chardonnay), damaging her relationship with Pookie. After Pookie breaks up with her, she gets back together with Rick.

After dating Rick for a while, Tasha is still not happy and thus breaks up with him, leaving herself alone once more. She later undergoes a full-day therapy session to figure out the root of her relationship problems, boiling down to her codependent relationship with her son. Since Malik was born, Tasha has been treating him as she would to a husband, and Malik, who later joins her in therapy, grows tired of this due to his own tendency of dating needy women to feel needed. Tasha realizes that all her life since Malik of proving herself has resulted in pushing people away, including boyfriends.

In season seven, Tasha discovers that she is pregnant with a girl and unsure if the child's father is Pookie or Rick Fox. In the season finale, Tasha gives birth to her daughter, Kai. Pookie arrives shortly after the birth and a DNA test confirms that he is Kai's father.

Malik Wright

• Malik El Debarge Wright-Mack is played by Hosea Chanchez.^[4] Malik is a high-profile athlete and the starting quarterback the Sabers. He has the reputation of being an arrogant rich pro athlete who gets lots of women. He now lives in his own mansion in San Diego and once lived with his mother who was his manager.

Malik was born to Tasha Mack when she was in high school in Richmond, California. As a child, he did not know his father. His best friend since childhood is Terrance "Tee Tee" Carter. Malik attended Richmond High School, Richmond, California and led the football team to a Conference Championship state title. With the San Diego Sabers, he won his first Championship and was named MVP in 2008. In season 2, after an embarrassing scandal where he punches a public figure who uses a wheelchair, he fires Tasha as his manager. He falls in love with actress Robin Givens and convinces her to marry him as a publicity stunt. In the third season, he finally meets his father and his half sister, Pucci, whom he tries to help with her singing career.

Two years later, Malik is still a cocky, spoiled playboy who is sleeping with the wife of the Sabers' new owner, Roger Keith. It is discovered that Malik’s back was injured during the last season; he blames his injury on Keith, who decided to get a better defense to help win games versus getting a good offensive line to protect Malik. As revenge, he is having an affair with the owner's wife. Tee-Tee, his childhood friend and former assistant, is now his own boss and Malik has yet to replace him. However, Malik still treats Tee-Tee as if he is his personal assistant. Tee-Tee puts his foot down telling Malik he needs to get a new assistant and stop calling on him to fix his problems. Malik gets arrested after looking for Tee-Tee one night for assaulting a cop after being pulled over for drunk driving. After advisement from several people (including his mother) and some resistance, Malik decides to go to rehab for his drug problems. He later admits that he was just there for a good Public Relations (PR). Malik figures out how to get rid of Parker, but his plan backfires when she tells her husband that she was sleeping with him. The result is an end to their marriage. He goes to rehab after issues. He then tries to help his girlfriend who into drugs and alcohol. In season 5, Malik attempts to rekindle his relationship with Jenna but is unable to because of relapse. He also is getting used to his role as the backup quarterback. Malik also has to deal with the different lifestyle that he is forced to live now that he is no longer the superstar quarterback. Malik's financial woes force him to sell his mansion, get rid of most his cars, and move back in with Tasha as a way to get his life on track. His friendship with Derwin has also been damaged because of Derwin's push to get Malik benched. Later, Malik and Derwin rekindle their friendship and campaign to have Malik replace Kwan because of his inability to get Derwin the ball. In the episode "Derwin about to go H.A.M.", after Kwan is injured, Malik steps in to replace him and leads the Sabers on a historical comeback win. In the final episode of Season 5, he appears to have gone back to his old habits by breaking up with Jenna. While talking to his new sex interest, he purchases expensive things.

Malik reaches a breakthrough in a therapy session with his mother. He has never had a chance to express himself due to Tasha's domineering behavior and their codependency on one another. The therapist also forces him to stand up to his mother and "grow up". Before he leaves, Malik reassures his love to his mother. He winds up in a rivalry with rapper Franko (William Allen Young) after the latter discovers that he has been sexting Tori, and ultimately winds up being brutally beaten and injured by Franko and a group of men who presumably had their women stolen by Malik. Some time later, Malik is depressed and intent on revenge against Franko, but after a conversation with his mother in which she reveals that he is about to become a big brother, he seems to have given this up.

Jason Pitts

• Jason Pitts is portrayed by Coby Bell. Jason is the husband of Kelly Pitts, father of Brittany Pitts, and retired captain of the Sabers. He starts off as a franchise player and perennial pro-bowler along with QB Malik Wright in season 1. In season 2 when Kelly admitted to marrying him for the money, he eventually admits that he married Kelly because she was easy to impress and that he knew Kelly would worship him. Jason also begins using steroids because of his declining performance on the field. The steroids eventually make his performance better, but he quits when Kelly takes Brittany and leaves. After he and Kelly cannot reconcile their marriage, Jason and Kelly agree to a divorce in season 3. In the season three finale, Jason goes to court for hitting Kelly's ex-boyfriend, and after being released, leaves with his girlfriend Camille in the court room, rather than Kelly. He is single at the beginning of season 4. Jason is also holding out at the start of training camp in season 4, demanding that he gets a better contract, while filling in as a guest sports announcer. He would later get cut by the Sabers & become a reporter on a sports talk show with former NBA star Chris Webber. In Season 5, Jason married African-American bartender Chardonnay Brooks Pitts (portrayed by Brandy Norwood) during a drunken Mexican weekend, and remained married to her to pursue a romantic relationship. Additionally, by season 5 Jason had moved on from his show with Chris Webber and headlined his own sports talk show called The Pitts Stop. In season six, Jason rejoins the Sabers after impressing them at training camp. However, he and Chardonnay begin to have relationship problems when Chardonnay becomes involved in Tasha's love triangle, which he eventually discovers. He then confronts Tasha and basically tells her off. Their problems worsen after Jason gets a concussion and is still intent on playing football, which causes Chardonnay to move out. However, he eventually decides to retire for good, and he and Chardonnay reconcile. At his retirement ceremony, his past with steroids comes back to haunt him when he is approached by a reporter. When Kelly returns, Jason discovers that he is still in love with her and ultimately reveals this during his vow renewal ceremony, much to the shock of all the guests, including Chardonnay and even Kelly herself. Chardonnay then slaps him and leaves him at the altar, possibly ending their marriage. In the season 8 premiere, Jason tries to explain the situation to Kelly, who calls him disgusting. At the end of the episode, Chardonnay decides to divorce Jason and sue him for emotional cruelty, but ultimately drops the lawsuit and leaves town. However, in the season finale, she swears revenge on Jason and vows to return to San Diego, meaning she will become the main antagonist in the ninth and final season. On the plus side, Jason becomes interim head coach for the Sabers. He also remarries Kelly in the second episode of the ninth season. Jason was born to a pro football player, Thomas Pitts and his wife, Maria Pitts. As a child, he moved around a lot because his father blew all of his money and was traded frequently. Because of that Jason became very frugal, which was one of the problems that eventually led to his marriage's demise. He was selected by the Sabers as a first round Draft Pick, was a 7-time Pro Bowler, and helped the Sabers win the Championship Game in 2008.

Kelly Pitts

• Kelly Pitts (née Platski) was initially played by Jennifer Baxter, who was replaced by Brittany Daniel.^[5] Kelly is the wife of Sabers captain and star wide receiver Jason Pitts, mother of Brittany Pitts, and ex-President of the Sunbeams. In season 1, Kelly revealed that she had a trailer park upbringing. She was originally a cheerleader for the San Diego Sabers, where she met and eventually married Jason Pitts.

In season 2, Jason begins using steroids. Jason at first tries to hide his secret from Kelly, but after a couple of ugly situations, he can no longer do it and confesses. Kelly forces Jason to promise he will stop using in two months, or she will take Brittany and leave. After Jason refuses to stop 2 months later, Kelly follows through on her promise and leaves. After Jason quits, they later go to therapy where Kelly tells Jason she married him for his money. In the second season finale, Kelly leaves Jason after he tries to use her to get a contract, and in season 3 they eventually agree to a divorce. When Jason's lawyers advise him to take full custody of their only child Brittany, Kelly blackmails Jason by threatening to reveal his secret of steroid use. During season three, she dates a couple of guys (bartender Joe and gym owner Roman). In the end, she hoped that her and Jason would get back together. Jason instead leaves with his girlfriend Camille (played by Stacey Dash), which leaves Kelly heartbroken.

At the start of season 4, it is revealed that Kelly is now a reality TV star, with her own show centered around the ex-wives of professional athletes. Sporting a new look & attitude, Kelly declares to Jason that she "won" in the divorce because she is spending the money he is earning and she believes she got more out of the divorce material wise. She starts to turn off her friends with the reality show (the cameras constantly following her), and her life starts to spiral out of control. She leaves Jason to take Brittany back and to remind her that he is the reason for her show in the first place. With her life unraveling, Kelly decides to quit her show and leave town to redefine her identity outside the football world.

After three long years, Kelly returns in season 7. Upon her return, she reconnects with Jason, Brittany and Tasha, but Chardonnay is not so keen on this (at first). She and Jason share a kiss, which then brings back old feelings for Jason. Kelly and Chardonnay eventually bond. In season 9, she and Jason remarry.

References