The HBO series “Winning Time,” a fictionalized and dramatized account of the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynastic Showtime era of the 1980s, has been a big hit.
But it has also come under fire for being too exaggerated, and some former Lakers are unhappy as a result.
Jerry West, the Hall of Fame guard who became the team general manager in 1982, has been livid over how the series is portraying him.
His attorney even asked HBO for a retraction and apology for making him seem like someone who had serious anger-management problems.
Now, the man sometimes known as the “Logo” has revealed that he is willing to take his fight to the highest court in the land.
Via Lakers Daily:
“West recently spoke with former Los Angeles Times sports editor Bill Dwyre about the HBO show and made it clear that he is dead set on clearing his name.
“’The series made us all [the Lakers] look like cartoon characters,’ West told Dwyre. ‘They belittled something good. If I have to, I will take this all the way to the Supreme Court.’
“This isn’t the only mention of potential legal action that West may consider taking, either. His attorney Louis R. Miller penned a letter to HBO making it clear that he believes the television network has broken the law in the way it decided to portray West.
“’You replaced the real Jerry West — a consummate professional — with his polar opposite, then portrayed this lie to the public as genuine,’ the letter read. ‘You thereby violated the law.’”
West isn’t the only Showtime alum who is unhappy with the series. Reportedly, Magic Johnson and longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti also don’t like how the HBO series has gone about telling the story of arguably the greatest team in NBA history.
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