A new show about the Los Angeles Lakers is coming to HBO, and one Lakers legend is not happy about it. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is depicted in the show, which is called Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Matthew Belloni of Puck spoke to Abdul-Jabbar about the show and said they should have got the people who lived through it to tell the story.
“While I respect other artists’ rights to choose their subjects, I think the story of the Showtime Lakers is best told by those who actually lived through it because we know exactly what happened.” Winning Time tells the story of the Lakers dynasty during the 1980s. The show reportedly depicts the Lakers and the team in a negative light, and the league doesn’t want to have anything to do with the series.
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Abdul-Jabbar’s longtime rep Deborah Morales is not happy with the series. “When the guy they cast to play Kareem got the part, he was super excited and reached out to me,” she said to Belloni “I don’t think that he realized the response that he was going to get, which was not very nice!” Morales also noted there will be backlash with the show. She said: “I don’t think anybody who has accepted a part playing any of these characters will be embraced by anyone in the NBA or any of the players or any of their friends—and I certainly hope that I never bump into anyone associated with this show.”
John C. Reilly stars in Winning Time as Jerry Buss, the longtime owner of the Lakers who died in 2013. The show also includes Quincy Isaiah, Jason Clarke, Adrien Brody, Gaby Hoffman, Tracy Letts, Jason Segel, Julianne Nicholson, Hadley Robinson, Dr. Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Joey Brooks, Sarah Ramos, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, DeVaughn Nixon, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, Jon Young with Rob Morgan and Sally Field.
Belloni also reported some drama behind the casting of Buss. There are conflicting reports that Will Ferrell was cast to play Buss but then given to Reilly. Belloni said that isn’t true, but Ferrell did want to play Buss. And while Reilly got the role, he wasn’t the first choice either. Michael Shannon was cast to play Buss in August 2019 but was fired after failing the read-through.
