HBO has taken viewers back to the start of the Los Angeles Lakers with a new series, Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty, which premieres Sunday. The series, from co-creators Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, debuted in front of 1 million viewers.
According to HBO, the series opened to approximately 900,000 viewers on linear viewing and HBO Max streaming. Winning Time filled the Sunday 9:00 pm slot formerly owned by Euphoria. For drama comparison, Euphoria premiered in June 2019 with 577,000 linear viewers, with viewership increased to 1 million through HBO GO/NOW before the launch of HBO Max. The premiere of Euphoria’s second season broke HBO and HBO Max records with 2.4 million viewers.
Win Time is a ten-episode series about the professional and personal lives of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s, one of the most revered and dominant dynasties in sports—a team that defined an era both on and off the court. John C. Reilly as Jerry Bass, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Gaby Hoffmann as Claire Rothman, Tracey Letts as Jack McKinney, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead, Julianne Nicholson as Cranny McKinney, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Bass, DeVon Nixon as Norma Nixon, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tamera Tomakili as Erlita “Cookie” Kelly, Brett Cullen as Bill Sharman, Steven Adley Girgis as Frank Mariani, Spencer Garrett as Chick Hearn, Sarah Ramos as Cheryl Pistono, Molly Gordon as Linda Zafrani, Joey Brooks as Lon Rosen, Delante Desousa as Michael Cooper, Jimel Atkins as Jamaal Wilks, Austin Aaron as Mark Landsberger, John Young as Brad Holland and Rob Morgan as Ervin Johnson Sr. and Sally Field as Jesse Bass.
Hyperobject Industries executive producer Kevin Messick along with showrunner and writer Borenstein. Jim Heckt is an executive producer, writer and co-writer. Adam McKay is the executive producer and director of the pilot. Rodney Barnes serves as executive producer and writer. Jason Schuman and Scott Stevens also serve as executive producers.