Video: 'Winning Time' Trailer for HBO Series on Showtime Lakers Released

Adam WellsDecember 9, 2021

FILE - In this April 9, 2019, file photo, Magic Johnson speaks to reporters prior to an NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazer in Los Angeles. Johnson might actually miss the Lakers if he was not always checking up on them. Johnson quit as the team's president of basketball operations at the end of the last season, leaving him out of a gym, but not out of the loop, as Los Angeles opened training camp. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File

HBO has given fans a taste of what to expect from the upcoming series about the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers.

A teaser trailer for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty dropped on Thursday:

HBO Max @hbomax
Style. Pizzazz. Basketball.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinningTime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinningTime</a>, a new <a href="https://twitter.com/HBO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HBO</a> original series from Adam McKay, comes to HBO Max in March. <a href="https://t.co/4KZsJjAaJy">pic.twitter.com/4KZsJjAaJy</a>

The trailer starts with voiceover narration by Jerry Buss (played by John C. Reilly), who owned the Lakers from 1979 until his death in 2013.

It then moves forward to the first draft pick made by Los Angeles after Buss purchased the franchise—Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah). There are title cards showing the various cast of characters who will populate the series, including Jerry West (Jason Clarke), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes) and Pat Riley (Adrien Brody).

The addition of Johnson to a star-studded roster transformed the Lakers back into a dynasty after the franchise went seven seasons without winning a title. They won five NBA titles and reached the NBA Finals nine times from 1980-91.

Adam McKay, Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht created the series based on Jeff Pearlman's book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.

Winning Time will premiere in March on HBO Max.

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