[4] James and Carter were joined by Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green, Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, former New York Knicks All-Star Charles Oakley, and businessman Steve Stoute.

[3][6] The episode guest starred New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., rapper Snoop Dogg, Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker, comedian Jon Stewart, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, and Green, alongside James and Carter.

[9] The third and fourth episodes were also filmed in Los Angeles,[10] with the latter notable for wide receiver Antonio Brown publicly musing on his dissatisfaction with his role on the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as with his heated relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

[14] Following the series' HBO premiere, Haley O'Shaughnessy of The Ringer wrote: "The setting creates a very personal facade, an opportunity to speak on fame and kids and race openly.

"[15] Following the second episode, The Ringer's Micah Peters opined, "[The Shop is] really good TV––they sip wine, they offer a side of themselves rarely seen in public, and LeBron James says swear words.

"[19] Meredith Blake of the Los Angeles Times published a lukewarm review of the first episode, writing, "Though the effort to capture the vibrance and tell-it-like-it-is spirit of the African American barbershop met with slightly mixed results in the first episode, The Shop is more than worth a return visit," and adding "stylish black-and-white photographs of guests arriving at the shop serve as act breaks and enhance the show’s documentary feel.

Haisley referred to other outlets' comments on the episode, writing," Amazing: Slate, the Washington Post, and HBO all agree that an edited, literally filtered TV program created, produced, and starring a world-famous athlete with a notoriously and meticulously maintained image is best described as 'unfiltered.'

The Ringer and the Sporting News at least consulted a thesaurus before copying The Shop's press release language, writing, respectfully, that the episode was 'honest' and 'candid.

"[21] Carrie Battan of The New Yorker wrote positively of the show's candidness, however, commenting: "Theoretically, The Shop should have been yet another affirmation of our worst suspicions—that we would only ever get to see our superheroes in sanitized, strictly controlled ways.

But James has offered a potent rebuttal to the argument that celebrities can't make interesting, revelatory content about themselves and their colleagues.

The ongoings of James' first season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers lent themselves to discussion topics on the series, which led to further coverage by sports media.