HBO Orders New Pilot About the 1980s LA Lakers

Oscar winner Adam McKay will direct the pilot episode for the network

Magic Johnson with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Orlando Woolridge. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Magic Johnson with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Orlando Woolridge. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Getty Images

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HBO is making a series about Showtime.

However, the showtime, in this case, isn’t HBO’s rival cable network, but instead the era of flashy basketball played by the Los Angeles Lakers when they were winning titles in the 1980s.

Based on Jeff Pearlman’s nonfiction book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, the new show, also called Showtime, will chronicle the lives of the ’80s Lakers on and off the court.

The series will be written by Max Borenstein and Oscar winner Adam McKay has signed on to direct the project.

At HBO, McKay has also had a large role in successful projects such as Succession, Funny or Die Presents and Eastbound & Down.

“Jeff Pearlman’s book and Max Borenstein’s script of the story of the Showtime Lakers really knocked me over. Sexism, racism, tragedy, redemption, no-look passes and a giant cultural shift in America,” McKay told Deadline. “I can’t wait to start filming.”

The series is set to start filming this summer, the same time current Laker LeBron James is set to begin work on his version of Space Jam.

Unfortunately, there’s still no word on who will be playing Kurt Rambis.

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