Jerry West slams portrayal in HBO’s ‘Winning Time’: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar calls series ‘Dull’

Los Angeles Lakers legend and former team executive Jerry West is slamming HBO‘s characterization of himself in the new series, ‘Winning Time,’ calling it a ‘baseless and malicious assault’ that shows ‘legal malice.’ 

West, a former NBA champion and 14-time All-Star whose silhouette serves as the league’s logo, is demanding an apology and retraction from the network as well as producer Adam McKay, according to a letter from his attorneys that was obtained by ESPN.

As portrayed by actor Jason Clarke, West is seen in ‘Winning Time’ as a profane, temperamental executive who is prone to embarrassing outbursts of rage, like breaking golf clubs or throwing trophies.

But while the 83-year-old West has admitted to battling depression for much of his professional life, he and other famed figures in Lakers history are rejecting his portrayal in the HBO series, which is loosely based on a book by best-selling author Jeff Pearlman.

Former Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, dismissed the series as ‘dull’ in a Substack article, while slamming West’s portrayal as cartoonish.

‘It’s a shame the way they treat Jerry West, who has openly discussed his struggle with mental health, especially depression,’ wrote Abdul-Jabbar. ‘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. 

‘He never broke golf clubs, he didn’t throw his trophy through the window. Sure, those actions make dramatic moments, but they reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character.’ 

Los Angeles Lakers legend and former team executive Jerry West is slamming HBO’s characterization of himself in the new series, ‘Winning Time,’ calling it a ‘baseless and malicious assault.’ West, a former NBA champion and 14-time All-Star whose silhouette serves as the league’s logo, is demanding an apology and retraction from the network as well as producer Adam McKay, according to a letter from his attorneys that was obtained by ESPN (Left) Actor Jason Clarke portraying West in Winning time with West’s silhouette hanging over his shoulder. (Right) West is pictured with his own silhouette on his blazer

This image released by HBO shows Jason Segel, portraying Paul Westhead, from left, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, and Tracy Letts, portraying Jack McKinney in a scene from the series ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’

The letter from West’s attorneys includes statements from several former Lakers players, including Kareem Adul-Jabbar (left), Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes. Other Lakers employees, such as current Charlotte Hornets general manger Mitch Kupchak (right), also issued statements in support of West

Director and Producer Adam McKay attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood. McKay is being accused of legal malice for his portrayal of Lakers legend Jerry West in the HBO series Winning Time 

Abdul-Jabbar played for the maligned Hall of Famer during West’s coaching days with the Lakers in the 1970s and continued with the team after West moved to the front office in 1979. 

Unlike Pearlman’s book, titled ‘Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s,’ HBO describes its series as a dramatization. But West’s lawyers say that disclaimer doesn’t indemnify the network from liability in this matter.

West’s attorneys say McKay and the series creators showed ‘legal malice’ because the depictions of their client’s rage did not appear in Pearlman’s book, and for that matter, never actually happened.

The attorneys’ claims ‘Winning Time falsely and cruelly portrays Mr. West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic,’ which ‘bears no resemblance to the real man.’

HBO’s Winning Time is a dramatized take on a book by author Jeff Pearlman (pictured)

West seeks a retraction to be made no later than two weeks from the letter’s arrival.

‘The portrayal of NBA icon and L.A. Lakers legend Jerry West in ”Winning Time” is fiction pretending to be fact — a deliberately false characterization that has caused great distress to Jerry and his family,’ wrote West’s attorney, Skip Miller of the Los Angeles-based Miller Barondess LLP.

‘Contrary to the baseless portrayal in the HBO series, Jerry had nothing but love for and harmony with the Lakers organization, and in particular owner Dr. Jerry Buss, during an era in which he assembled one of the greatest teams in NBA history.

‘Jerry West was an integral part of the Lakers and NBA’s success. 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.’

Neither HBO nor Miller immediately responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. Pearlman declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com. 

The letter from West’s attorneys includes statements from several former Lakers players, including Adul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes.

Other Lakers employees, such as current Charlotte Hornets general manger Mitch Kupchak, also issued statements in support of West.

Many of the statements contradict the series’ claims that West was prone to violent outbursts and drank alcohol in his office.

Lakers greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left) and Magic Johnson (right) at the premiere of Apple’s ‘They Call Me Magic’ in Los Angeles

Claire Rothman, who was in charge of operations at the Lakers’ arena for more than two decades, staunchly defended West in her statement.

‘Jerry treated me and everyone else in the Lakers organization with dignity and respect,’ wrote Rothman, who is portrayed by Gaby Hoffman in the series. ‘I never saw Jerry break or throw anything in anger or rage nor did I hear anyone ever say he did such things.’

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Kupchak, who played for the Lakers and worked alongside West in the team’s front office for 14 years, agreed with Rothman.

‘During my time with the Lakers as a player and in the front office, Jerry was always professional, even-keeled and soft-spoken,’ Kupchak said. ‘He was always positive and encouraging with me. I also found Jerry to be honest and sincere. I 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. Jerry is soft-spoken and does not like confrontation. He always keeps his composure and remains calm even when he has a disagreement with someone. Last, I’ve never heard or seen Jerry ever break or throw anything in anger.’

his image released by HBO shows Quincy Isaiah, portraying Magic Johnson, left, and Solomon Hughes, portraying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a scene from the series ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’

The attorneys attack the HBO series’ claim that West was against drafting Hall of Famer Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, and also took issue with other perceived slights of his performance as an NBA executive.

With the Lakers, West oversaw five championship teams in the 1980s before laying the groundwork for three more titles (2000-2002) by signing Shaquille O’Neal and acquiring Kobe Bryant in a draft-day trade in 1996.

West joined the Memphis Grizzlies front office in 2002 before earning his seventh and eighth titles as an executive with Golden State in 2015 and 2017.

He joined the board of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2017, helping to successfully recruit two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard as a free agent in 2020.

‘So instead of seeing the true Jerry West — a brilliant GM who was the architect of one of the great NBA dynasties — anyone who watched the show would be left with the false impression that West is incompetent, that he didn’t want Magic Johnson. This is a fabrication,’ the letter continued. ‘Contrary to the show, the book leaves readers with the true impression of Jerry as a brilliant and thoughtful GM. Your extreme departure from the book shows malice in your false portrayal.’

Late Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss (pictured) is a central figure in the HBO series Winning Time

Actor John C. Reilly portrays Dr. Jerry Buss as a sex-crazed millionaire in HBO’s Winning Time 

This image released by HBO shows Brett Cullen, portraying Bill Sharman, left, and John C. Reilly, portraying Jerry Buss, standing, in a scene from the series ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’

There have been other complaints about Winning Time from former lakers.

Retired Lakers guard Norm Nixon, who is portrayed by his son DeVaughn in the series, was asked by former Boston Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell in a recent podcast about a scene in which he supposedly played Johnson one-on-one.

‘The main thing is that it never happened,’ Nixon told Maxwell, the 1981 NBA Finals MVP. ‘Never happened. I don’t think I ever played Magic one-on-one. All the years we played together, what, four years? We never played one-on-one. You know how it is Max, you don’t do that, you play shooting games and stuff. That’s just something they came up with.’

Despite the criticisms, Winning Time has been picked up by HBO for a second season, which promises to focus more on the Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 1980s.

The Los Angeles Times called Winning Time ‘a rollicking tale of flash, cash, and clashes’ while Vogue described it as ‘the escapist sports drama we need now.’

Rolling Stone said it is ‘a hell of a lot of fun to watch,’ but reviews have been mixed to say the least.

Actor DeVaughn Nixon (left) portrays his father, Norm (right), in the HBO series Winning Time

The iconic NBA logo was made by using the silhouette of Lakers legend Jerry West (right) 

Abdul-Jabbar did not take issue with his portrayal by actor Solomon Hughes, but did criticize Winning Time for failing to be entertaining.

‘There is only one immutable sin in writing: Don’t Be Boring!’ Abdul-Jabbar wrote. ‘Winning Time commits that sin over and over.

‘That surprised me because Adam McKay is one of the producers and he directed the first episode. Anyone familiar with McKay’s work (The Big Short, Vice, Don’t Look Up) can see his stylistic influence in the entire series. I generally am a fan of McKay’s work—The Big Short and Vice are wonderful—except for the bloated and obvious Don’t Look Up (which I critiqued here). 

‘I thought the poor quality of Don’t Look Up was an anomaly. I hoped that perhaps because he was overwhelmed by his passion about global warming, he let his commitment overshadow his critical eye. But now that Winning Time suffers from some of the same shallowness and lazy writing, I’m not so sure.’

Abdul-Jabbar is no stranger to filming, having acted in the 1970s comedy classic, ‘Airplane,’ as well as ‘Fletch’ and ‘Forget Paris.’ He also starred in karate classic, ‘The Game of Death,’ alongside his martial arts instructor, Bruce Lee.

The Hall of Famer didn’t simply take issue with the dramatization of the story, but rather, said the fictionalization of these episodes ultimately didn’t serve a real purpose.

‘So, the issue with Winning Time isn’t so much that the filmmakers deliberately avoided facts as if they were an STD, but that they replaced solid facts with flimsy cardboard fictions that don’t go deeper and offer no revealing insights,’ Abdul-Jabbar wrote.

This image released by HBO shows Jason Segel, portraying Paul Westhead, left, and Tracy Letts, portraying Jack McKinney in a scene from the series ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’