The former Los Angeles Lakers player, coach and general manager Jerry West has reportedly demanded an apology and retraction over his depiction in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, calling it “a baseless and malicious assault”.
The new drama series is centred on the rise of the LA Lakers in the 1980s “Showtime era”, when West was the team’s general manager. The actor Jason Clarke plays West, alongside John C Reilly as the team’s owner, Dr Jerry Buss.
According to ESPN, a statement was sent to HBO and the show’s executive producer Adam McKay on Tuesday night by West’s legal team, who allege that the show “falsely and cruelly portrays Mr West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic”, causing “great distress to Jerry and his family”.
“Jerry West was an integral part of the Lakers and NBA’s success,” the letter continued. “It is a travesty that HBO has knowingly demeaned him for shock value and the pursuit of ratings. As an act of common decency, HBO and the producers owe Jerry a public apology and at the very least should retract their baseless and defamatory portrayal of him.”
ESPN reported that the 83-year-old’s lawyers were asking for damages and a retraction within two weeks.
In the letter, former players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes, as well as Lakers employees who worked with West, have given statements denying they saw him commit the angry acts depicted in Winning Time or that they ever saw him drink alcohol at work.
“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 wrote. “He never broke golf clubs, he didn’t throw his trophy through the window.”
Mitch Kupchak, the former Lakers player and a close colleague of West’s, said he “never saw or heard Jerry lose his temper with anyone. I also never saw or heard Jerry go on an angry rant or tirade nor did I ever see or hear Jerry scream or yell at anyone. That was not his personality.”
Winning Time is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s. West’s lawyers alleged that the show’s creators acted with “malice” because scenes where West is shown to be angry were not in Pearlman’s book, and did not happen.
“Contrary to the show, the book leaves readers with the true impression of Jerry as a brilliant and thoughtful GM,” they wrote. “Your extreme departure from the book shows malice in your false portrayal.”
While the show has been a hit with audiences, former players and industry figures have been split. Earlier this week, Abdul-Jabbar, portrayed on the show by Solomon Hughes, criticised the show’s “crude stick-figure” characters in a blog post, and that West’s scenes “reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character.”
Gary Vitti, the former Lakers trainer, claimed he withdrew from a paid role as an “in-house expert” on the show because he didn’t like the portrayal of West’s character. “It was a total mischaracterisation of Jerry West,” he told the Athletic in March.
McKay and other producers on Winning Time have spoken about the extensive research that went into the show and how it stemmed from their love for the Lakers.
HBO has not yet responded to requests for comment. Earlier this month, the network renewed the series for a second season.
