HBO Releases Official Name and First Look at Lakers Series

The new HBO series about the Los Angeles Lakers has an official name. On Thursday, HBO announced that Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will debut in March 2022 with 10 episodes on the network. The series will also be available to stream on HBO Max. 

According to the official synopsis, Winning Time is a “fast-break series chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court.” The series has a resemble cast that includes John C. Reilly, 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. 

Reilly plays Jerry Buss who was the owner of the Lakers during the 1980s. As the owner of the Lakers, Buss won NBA 10 championships with five of those coming in the 1980s. The team featured several legendary players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. Buss died in 2013, and his daughter, Jeanie Buss is now the controlling owner of the team. 

The series takes information from the book Showtime, which was written by Jeff Pearlman. Back in March co-creator Max Borenstein spoke to Collider about the series. “It’s a series, but obviously, its limitations are that it’s inspired and based on a true story, but in a sense, structurally, it has [a] resemblance to The Crown. It’s a dynasty story,” he said. “It’s the story of an American dynasty. In this case, because it’s an American dynasty, it’s not a monarchy, it’s a story about celebrity and culture and entertainment as [seen] through the prism of the NBA and the prism of the Showtime Lakers. So our ambition is to tell that story in the time that it takes to tell it well.”

Borenstein also explained that the series will be ongoing and limited, He said: “We’re trying to tell what we see as being a story of this dynasty that really is transformational in the culture at a really important moment that, I think, is an important story to tell, and a really fun story to tell. We’re going to give it its due in terms of how long it takes to tell it.”