HBO Renews Popular Sports Series for Season 2

By Brian Jones

HBO is bringing back a popular sports series for a second season. On Thursday, the network announced Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty has been renewed for Season 2. The series is based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman and chronicles the professional personal loves of the Lakers in the 1980s when they won five championships. The first season is currently airing, and the season finale will air on May 8 on HBO and HBO Max. 

The fifth episode aired on Sunday and delivered a viewership of 1.2 million across all platforms on premiere night, which is a 37% increase from the first episode. "It's been a thrill to bring WINNING TIME to life with Adam McKay, Max Borenstein, our phenomenal producing team, and this incredible cast, This series not only tells the riveting story of the Lakers' rise, but is also a look back at a transformative era in basketball, celebrity, and the city of Los Angeles. We can't wait to see how this team will tell the next chapter of this dynasty," Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, said in a statement.

1665287-ho-winning-time-po-rgb-us-tunein1.jpg
(Photo: HBO)

The cast of Winning Time includes John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah, Jason Clarke, Adrien Brody, Gaby Hoffmann, Tracy Letts, Jason Segel, Julianne Nicholson, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Sarah Ramos, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, Jon Young with Rob Morgan and Sally Field. In March, PopCulture.com exclusively spoke to Sean Patrick Small who plays Larry Bird in Winning Time. He talked about the challenges of playing the role of a legendary NBA figure. 

"It was really getting the accent and then figuring out his physicality, how he moved and how he walked about the world," Small said. "And that really helped me get into it because he had extremely good posture and I don't have as good as posture as him, so it's not easy for me to just be like, all right, shoulders back, stand up straight. And then that just helped me just slide right into the character. So things like that really helped push me toward that, in the audition process and on set."  

0comments
Start the Conversation

of