LOS ANGELES — Jeff Pearlman wouldn't believe it. His book becoming — actually becoming — a television series? For real? Nope. No way.
He wasn't falling for it when the visionary showed up at his doorstep from across the country with a big tomato, a block of chocolate, and non-alcoholic wine on Easter Sunday in 2014. Not when the big-shot Hollywood director and producer invited him to his house to talk about the possibility in 2018. Not when HBO sent him the contracts soon after.
He had other books optioned before. Nothing ever happened. He figured his 496-page ode to the 1980s Showtime Lakers was destined for the same fate. He learned to suppress his hopes.
