Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar take issue with HBO’s ‘Winning Time’

Jerry West and also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were amongst previous Los Angeles Lakers employees that revealed their annoyance over their representations in the HBO collection “Winning Time: The Surge of the Lakers Empire.”

The collection shows the outset period of the Lakers franchise business. Jason Clarke plays West, Solomon Hughes plays Abdul-Jabbar, John C. Reilly plays then-team proprietor Dr. Jerry Buss and also Quincy Isaiah plays Magic Johnson.

West’s attorneys, in a declaration to ESPN, claimed he required a retraction over the representation which apparently explains him “as an out-of-control, inebriated rage-aholic.” West looks for a retraction within 2 weeks of the letter to manufacturer Adam McKay and also HBO.

“The representation of NBA symbol and also L.A. Lakers tale Jerry West in ‘Winning Time’ is fiction acting to be truth — a purposely incorrect characterization that has actually created wonderful distress to Jerry and also his family members,” West’s lawyer Miss Miller claimed in the letter. “As opposed to the unjustified representation in the HBO collection, Jerry had just love for and also consistency with the Lakers company, and also specifically proprietor Dr. Jerry Buss, throughout an age in which he put together among the best groups in NBA background.”

Jerry West #44 of the Los Angeles Lakers views on strolling up court versus the Milwaukee Bucks throughout an NBA basketball video game circa 1972 at the Milwaukee Sector in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
(Concentrate On Sport/Getty Photos)

“Jerry West was an indispensable component of the Lakers and also NBA’s success. It is a perversion that HBO has actually intentionally demeaned him for shock worth and also the search of rankings. As an act of usual modesty, HBO and also the manufacturers owe Jerry a public apology and also at the minimum need to withdraw their unjustified and also maligning representation of him.”

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West was an exec for the Lakers from 1979 to 2000 after functioning as a head trainer from 1976 to 1979. He was a precursor prior to ending up being the group’s basic supervisor at the beginning of the 1982-83 period. In the 1980s, the Lakers won 5 champions.

HBO didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The show is based off the New York Times bestseller “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” by Jeff Pearlman.

According to ESPN, the letter also included support for West from Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Jamaal Wilkes and former Lakers employees such as Mitch Kupchak who later became the team’s general manager.

This image released by HBO shows Quincy Isaiah, portraying Magic Johnson, left, and Solomon Hughes, portraying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a scene from the series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” 
(Warrick Page/HBO via AP)

“Instead of exploring his issues with compassion as a way to better understand the man, they turn him into a Wile E. Coyote cartoon to be laughed at,” Abdul-Jabbar says. “He never broke golf clubs, he really did not throw his trophy through the window. Sure, those actions make dramatic moments, but they reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character.”

Abdul-Jabbar added in a separate SubStack post the characters are “crude stick-figure representations that resemble real people the way Lego Hans Solo resembles Harrison Ford. Each character is reduced to a single bold trait as if the writers were afraid anything more complex would tax the viewers’ comprehension.”

Kupchak added he never saw West “lose his temper with anyone.”

Johnson told TMZ Sports back in March he had no plans to watch the series.

Jason Segel, who plays Lakers coach Paul Westhead on the program, told The Hollywood Reporter it’s “not a docuseries” and also believed the show was “made with a ton of love.”

This image released by HBO shows Brett Cullen, portraying Bill Sharman, left, and John C. Reilly, portraying Jerry Buss, standing, in a scene from the series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Empire.”
(Warrick Page/HBO via AP)

Pearlman additionally defended the collection in a Twitter thread on Tuesday.