It sounds messy, the reported falling out between business partners Adam McKay and Will Ferrell.
The Academy Award-nominated director and the hugely talented comic actor, respectively, have collaborated on beloved laugh fests including 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and 2006’s “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
McKay is an executive producer on the consistently entertaining HBO dramedy series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” debuting Sunday on HBO and HBO Max with its first of 10 hourlong episodes. It is based on Jeff Pearlman’s 2014, nearly 500-page tome, “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.”
In “Winning Time,” Farrell apparently had hoped to portray then-Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, but the role went to longtime McKay acquaintance Michael Shannon. A great talent in his own right, Shannon apparently took issue with the role requiring the actor to break the fourth wall, as Buss repeatedly looks directly into the camera mid-scene to talk to the viewer.
When Shannon backed out at the last minute, though, McKay and Co. didn’t revisit the idea of Farrell as Buss. Instead, they offered the part to John C. Reilly, who co-starred with Farrell in another McKay-directed comedy, 2008’s “Step Brothers.” It would seem this was too much for Farrell to take.
As sad as that is, the casting of Reilly in the role of Buss — portrayed as an almost-always-optimistic roller of the dice when it comes to business and a lover of the younger ladies — now seems like destiny. Through the eight episodes HBO parent company WarnerMedia made available in advance for review, Reilly is in the running for the series’ most valuable player.
He has competition for the MVP award from the little-known Quincy Isaiah, who portrays Lakers icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the charismatic, ever-smiling and, more importantly, wizardlike point guard Buss and the Lakers drafted at the top of the NBA Draft in 1979— following the player leading the Michigan State Spartans to an NCAA championship. Isaiah captures Magic’s engaging, almost, well, magic personality, portraying him as a young man desperate to be liked and to see those around him happy.
It is a challenge for Magic to bring together his new team, in part because he’s a rookie — and thus has no immediate sway in the locker room — and in part because the team’s captain, gifted center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes), has interests he’s prioritizing over basketball at the moment. Kareem’s gradual, if bumpy, acceptance of Magic — as the big man, known as Lew Alcindor before converting to Islam, struggles to maintain his purpose in life — is “Winning Time” at its most affecting.
The show’s sixth man — the bench player who gets something approaching a starter’s minutes — is a terrific Jason Clarke (“Mudbound”), as Laker’s great Jerry West, who’s coaching the team as “Winning Time” begins. West has talked about his battles with depression, and they are played up in the series, which casts him as a tragic figure who fails to find happiness even after winning a long-elusive NBA championship in his playing days. Almost every moment Clarke is in the frame crackles with at least a little extra energy, astonishing given how down in the dumps the character so often is.
It takes the show a little while to get to the last name from Pearlman’s book title, Pat Riley (Adrien Brody, “The Pianist”). As with West, Riley is a former Laker player at a low point. With floppy hair, a mustache and very little confidence, he is a far cry from the commanding head coach with the slicked-back hair we will come to know. (One of the series’ many nice visual touches has Riley seeing flashes of this future self in when he looks in the mirror.)
The series also devotes meaningful time to Jeanie Buss, the daughter of Jerry who one day will run the organization and also be known for her sex appeal. Here, portrayed by “Moxie” star Hadley Robinson, she starts off as a lowly intern who begins to impress those around her and who becomes increasingly disappointed by how Dad acts around women.
Ultimately, there are too many strong performances to single out, “Winning Time” being one of those shows with a huge ensemble that will have you running to IMDb to see who is playing whom.
You may not recognize, for example, “August: Osage County” playwright and veteran actor Tracy Letts (“Little Women”) as Jack McKinney, the fiery coach credited with installing the Lakers’ high-caliber motion offense that will become known as “Showtime.”
The cast also includes Gaby Hoffman (“Transparent”), as Lakers executive Claire Rothman; Jason Segel (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), as assistant-turned-head coach Paul Westhead; Tamera Tomakili (“Fruitvale Station”), as Cookie Kelly, Magic’s future wife; Sally Field (“Brothers & Sisters”), as Jessie Buss, Jerry’s spunky beloved mother, who keeps his books and tries to keep him out of hot water; Rory Cochrane (“Antlers”), as colorful University of Nevada, Las Vegas head basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, whom Jerry Buss is desperate to hire; and, last but not least, Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”), as Red Auerbach, the cigar-chomping, then-general manager of the Boston Celtics, who tries to rub Buss’ nose in you know what every chance he gets.
The series’ strong first episode, “The Swan,” is well-directed by McKay, whose 2021 film “Don’t Look Up” is among the nominees for the best-picture Academy Award. These first 60 minutes borrow narrative motifs from other recent McKay films “The Big Short” (2015) and “Vice” (2018) and establish the tone for what lies ahead on this road to sports dynasty.
Interestingly, the second episode, “Is That All There Is?,” is more than capably helmed by Jonah Hill, who gives a standout performance in “Don’t Look Up.”
The series is nicely scripted by, among others, showrunner Max Borenstein and his co-creator, Jim Hecht. All involved with writing, directing and performing in “Winning Time” contribute to a winning mix that prioritizes the lighter moments without sacrificing the serious ones.
We can’t wait till the weeks pass so we can watch the season’s final two episodes along with everyone else. And given where we’re left after the eighth — in the second half of the 1979-80 regular season — it’s clear there’s more ground in the book for this series to cover if WarnerMedia orders a sophomore campaign for winning time.
In the meantime, the rest of you folks, regardless of how big of basketball fans you are, need to get started.
As Jerry Buss announces at the end of one of the episodes, “It’s showtime!”
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‘WINNING TIME: THE RISE OF THE LAKERS DYNASTY’
Running time: 10 hourlong episode
Where to watch: Debuts March 6 on HBO and HBO Max
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