Sports films and TV series normally fall in the realm of inspirational filmmaking. There’s an underdog team that has to overcome some sort of adversity to win the big game and prove the haters wrong. Well, HBO is going in a different direction with the upcoming untitled Los Angeles Lakers TV series, which will focus on the basketball team that was on top of the world during the 1980s.
And according to Deadline, this new drama will not only have its pilot directed by Adam McKay, who also produces the series, but will star none other than Michael Shannon and Jason Clarke. The untitled series is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s,” which documented the Los Angeles Lakers’ run of dominance during the decade, as well as the personal lives of the players and coaches involved.
Shannon is expected to play the Lakers owner Jerry Buss, a self-made millionaire that took the struggling team and helped turn them into media darlings and superstars. Shannon is probably best known for his film work, including recent roles in the Oscar-winning film “The Shape of Water,” as well as Oscar-nominated performances in “Revolutionary Road” and “Nocturnal Animals.”
Clarke is set to portray Jerry West. For those not steeped in sports knowledge, West is an all-star player from the ‘70s and went on to coaching before stepping into the General Manager role in 1982.
Writer Max Borenstein is onboard to pen the series, which is set to begin production sometime next month. There’s no release date for the untitled series, but it appears that HBO is putting together one hell of a cast and crew for this.
