Jerry West takes legal action against HBO for his portrayal in Lakers' dynasty series / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP Credit Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP

Jerry West's legal team wants an apology and retraction within two weeks for his portrayal in HBO’s Los Angeles Lakers-focused series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

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West, who became Lakers GM in 1982, was the top executive for eight NBA championship teams (six with the Lakers and two with the Golden State Warriors) and was named NBA Executive of the Year twice.

According to ESPN, his legal team believes West's success as an executive has been glossed over by the series and he instead has been depicted as a "clueless bumpkin wearing a fishing hat to practice," which they claim did not happen.

West's legal team believes HBO’s disclaimer on the series calling it a 'dramatization' doesn't insulate the network from liability. The show, which has aired on Sundays since March 6, is based on Jeff Pearlman's book "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s."

West's legal team said that because the incidences of rage shown in the series do not appear in Pearlman’s book, the show has acted with legal malice.

"Jerry West was an integral part of the Lakers and NBA’s success," Miller said. "It is a travesty that HBO has knowingly demeaned him for shock value and the pursuit of ratings."

The letter included statements from several former Lakers players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and top team brass such as Claire Rothman, who ran the Great Western Forum, and Mitch Kupchak, a Lakers player in the early 1980s and later West’s assistant general manager.

Abdul-Jabbar described the depiction of West as "a Wile E. Coyote cartoon to be laughed at" and said West never broke golf clubs or threw a trophy through a window, both of which are depicted in the show. Rothman described West as someone who treated her with "dignity and respect" and denied ever seeing fits of rage from him.

West’s lawyers also attempted to set the record straight about their client's role in the Lakers' decision to draft Magic Johnson first overall in 1979. They claimed the series denigrates West (who is played by Jason Clarke) by showing him go on profanity-filed tirades, implying he tried to sabotage the Lakers' selection of Johnson and that he had a personal issue with the eventual five-time NBA champion and fellow Hall of Famer.

According to his lawyers, West, who was a team scout at the time of the 1979 NBA Draft, told the Lakers they should consider Sidney Moncrief (who went fifth overall to the Bucks) with the first overall pick because of his scoring ability, but the ultimate decision was made by owner Jack Kent Cooke.

During a recent interview with THR, Jason Segel, who plays former Lakers assistant coach Paul Westhead, said that the show "is not a docuseries” and, when asked about the pushback it has received, added, "I think the show is made with a ton of love."

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