Adrien Brody and Jason Segel take on legends in 'Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty'

Perhaps no NBA team is more popular in the Philippines today than the Los Angeles Lakers.

Yet even before Kobe and Shaq dominated the game, and Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson donned the purple and gold, the team had a rich history that took them—and the game of basketball itself—to unprecedented heights over the past four decades.

HBO’s latest original series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” shines the floodlights on this history, the events, the protagonists and the anti-villains that gave rise to the ‘80s dynasty “Showtime Lakers.” The ten-episode sports drama comes from filmmaker Adam McKay who also brought us Academy Award winners “The Big Short” and “Vice.”

“Winning Time” is based on the book by New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman titled “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.” There’s no way you don’t know those three names if (to borrow from John C. Reilly’s Jerry Buss, Lakers owner) “you’re a human being with two eyes and a heart.” They have become household names for their accomplishments on and off the court, as well as their larger-than-life personas.

The Showtime era was when basketball transcended from being just a game into an industry where sports and show business collide. Where basketball figures became celebrities themselves, and where their professional and personal lives were front and center.

Their willingness to embrace the spotlight opened the door for athletes from the succeeding generations to build their brand. In other words, we wouldn’t have Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the figures they are today if it weren’t for that.

In an interview with GMA News, Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody talks about the experience of portraying “The Godfather” Pat Riley. “These are enormous shoes to step into, to represent a man who’s really evolved into one of the figureheads of the sport — a true leader. It’s a big gift,” he shares.

Jason Segel, who plays erstwhile Lakers coach Paul Westhead, describes the project as “every little boy’s dream come true,” in more ways than one. “I’m an LA-born basketball fan,” he says. “I’ve also been a fan of John C. Reilly for a long time, and I knew that he’d be awesome in his role.”

“There are fifteen to twenty people on this show who could be the leads of their own show,” Segel adds. “I knew that every scene that I walked into, I’ll be challenged to be my best.”

For both actors, preparing for their roles was both easy and hard. “Fortunately, there is a lot of material out there,” Brody tells GMA News. But the complexity of said material is another thing. “It was a fascinating time historically, both for the game of basketball, how it’s transitioned to the game that we know, this fastbreak basketball, and all these colorful characters.”

“As soon as I saw the pilot, I really realized how much humanity and universal points of connection there are in this and I love the time period,” adds Brody.

The powerhouse cast also includes Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Gaby Hoffman as Claire Rothman, Tracy Letts as Jack McKinney, Julianne Nicholson as Cranny McKinney, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss, and Sally Field as Jessie Buss, among others.

“Winning Time” serves as a time capsule of sorts for fans of the Lakers franchise, and even for those who just want to see how basketball and the culture has changed since these legends first laced up on the hardcourt.

The series begins at 10am on March 7 on HBO GO, same time as the US premiere. New episodes will drop at 9am every Monday, with replays at 10pm.

—JMB, GMA News