Lots of snakes make good pets so I think it’s easy to not give the Ball Python it’s due as a perfect pet snake.
They share many of the obvious attributes with other recommendable species of snakes. I.e. small size, temperature requirements, color variety, reluctance to bite, etc.
A criticism is their inclination to go off food. I believe that this is in fact a huge positive(assuming the owner knows not to leave uneaten food in the cage). Most snake species will eat more than what’s healthy for them if given the opportunity which can cause permanent health problems. This is very rarely a problem for a Ball Python. They do well in feast or famine and are self regulating in a way that is very rare among captive snakes.
I owned a retail reptile shop for a few years, where I regularly sold families their first pet snakes. I kept and sold a variety of species but over the years I found that Ball Pythons were usually a better fit for most people. The wigglyness of a Corn Snake, the musk of a King Snake, the tendency for a Rosy Boa to bite after you’ve been holding it for a few minutes, maybe uncommon individual experiences but with a large enough sample size, people rarely had a bad experience with a Ball Python.
I would recommend a more challenging species for anyone willing to accommodate, but Ball Pythons have earned their place at the top.