Winning Time Trailer: Adam McKay And HBO Explore The Rise Of The Los Angeles Lakers
From comedies to scathing political satires to sports dramas — nobody can ever accuse filmmaker Adam McKay of neglecting to branch out from the confines of the safe and familiar. With his most recent film "Don't Look Up" set for a limited theatrical release this week, McKay has already been hard at work on his next big project: pilot director and executive producer of "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." This series follows the real-life drama of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, whose stories both on and off the court have become the stuff of legend among sports fans (and even among those outside of NBA circles).
Today, HBO has released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming show, which you can watch below.
Winning Time Trailer
What's the telltale sign of a genuine sports dynasty? When you could recite the names of athletes to any person at random and they would know exactly who you're talking about. The 1980s Lakers boasted serious star power with the additions of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr., but "Winning Time" seeks to go even further and chronicle the behind-the-scenes stories of the men and women involved in the organization when the cameras were off and the pressure to was still on to turn the NBA team into an actual family empire.
Based on the Jeff Pearlman book "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s," "Winning Time" stars John C. Reilly as team owner Jerry Buss, Adrien Brody as head coach Pat Riley, Jason Clarke as general manager Jerry West, Jason Segal as assistant coach Paul Westhead, Sally Field as Jerry's mother Jessie Buss, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bo Burnham as Larry Bird, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, and much more.
The series comes from showrunner, executive producer, writer, and co-creator Max Borenstein, who previously stated that "Winning Time" would be "...one of the most heavily researched sports shows or movies." Despite focusing on very real public figures, he also added that the series will play fast and loose with the details of the events in order to tell the best, most entertaining story possible. Borenstein is joined by co-writer of story, executive producer, and co-creator Jim Hecht. The 10-episode series will feature directing work by McKay, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Tanya Hamilton, Payman Benz, and Damian Marcano and has been described as "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."
"Winning Time" will debut on HBO in March of 2022.