The First Trailer For Adam McKay's 80s Lakers Series Looks Like A Winner
After tackling the worlds of local news and NASCAR racing, writer, director, and producer Adam McKay has teamed up with co-creators Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht to take on the rise of the Los Angeles Lakers in the HBO series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." This retelling of the basketball team's late 1970s and early '80s heyday features a large, star-studded cast that includes two Oscar winners, and boasts a sleazy, yet glittery, visual style that harkens back to works like "Boogie Nights" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
The period-set basketball biopic takes viewers on and off the court as the Lakers climb to the top of the NBA, dealing with infighting, the sudden pressures of fame, and a whole stack of temptations. The trailer shows the formation of the Laker Girls, the team's famous troupe of cheerleaders, and even takes a peek behind the scenes at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Dr. Soloman Hughes) filming the '80's comedy classic "Airplane!"
The show's first-look trailer was released today, and it promises viewers a wild ride.
Winning Time is a star studded look at one of the world's most famous basketball teams
Can any series promo that opens with John C. Reilly as LA Laker's owner Jerry Buss vowing to "build something special" be less than entertaining? In the trailer, the Lakers are lucky enough to get a first-round pick in the 1979 NBA draft and gain the services of Earvin "Magic" Johnson (Quincy Isaiah). Johnson's legendary rivalry with Boston Celtic Larry Bird would go on to light up the NBA in the '80s.
The series will also co-star Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Gaby Hoffmann as Claire Rothman, Sally Field as Jessie Buss, DeVaughn Nixon as Norm Nixon, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss, Tamera Tomakil as Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, Michael Chiklis as Red Auerbach, Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead, Rob Morgan as Earvin Johnson Sr., and Molly Gordon as Linda Zafrani. And that's just part of the expansive ensemble cast that will be featured in the series.
"Winning Time" will span ten episodes and is arriving in March 2022, per Variety. You can catch the show either on HBO or its streaming platform, HBO Max.