How A Pivotal Moment In NBA History Became HBO’s Hit ‘Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty’

deadline.com:

Who could have imagined that the dramatization of the Los Angeles Lakers’ ’79-’80 NBA Championship season known as ‘Showtime’ would interest anyone other than die-hard hoop fans?Basing the narrative on Jeff Pearlman’s book, and every news report and book written by members of the Lakers, and taking more than a few creative liberties, Adam McKay, Max Borenstein and their creative cohorts took basketball’s perfect storm pivotal moment when the NBA transformed from a regional sport into a global juggernaut—and made it into broadly appealing television with Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.There’s poker player/chemist Jerry Buss putting all his real estate chips on the table to buy the team and choosing Michigan State star Magic Johnson as his first draft pick, despite already having a gifted point guard in Norm Nixon.

Then there’s incoming genius commissioner David Stern seizing on the rivalry between Magic and Boston Celtics rookie Larry Bird.

And then Buss injecting sex appeal into the sport in the advent of the wild ’80s—Winning Time’s hit HBO 10-part series took full advantage of many storytelling lanes.

In fact, there was so much material left over, they’re already working on a second season and maybe beyond, and the next season won’t get to the second wind of the Lakers dynasty, the Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson portion of the program.“We came at this as fans of the team and everything that this era represented,” EP and showrunner Borenstein says. “These players and coaches achieved so much, but what was also important for me and my collaborators was this not just be a show made for basketball or sports fans; the conception was more ambitious.