Jerry West furious with HBO over his portrayal in a series

The American television channel HBO is currently broadcasting the series “Winning Time” devoted to the epic Los Angeles Lakers in the 80s (five times NBA champion during this decade), with the legends Magic Johnson and Kareem Abul-Jabbar in particular.

But the series finds itself at the heart of a controversy. Jerry West, who was at the time the general manager of the Lakers – after having been one of the most fabulous players in the Californian franchise in the 60s and 70s – is furious with the interpretation of his character in the series.

In a letter sent to HBO, West’s attorneys said their client was the victim of a ” baseless and malicious aggression “, while being ” falsely and cruelly portrayed as enraged, out of control, and drunk “, can we read on espn.com.

The series also shows a Jerry West who would not have liked the recruitment of Magic Johnson. A retraction, apology and damages have been requested from HBO, which has not yet commented.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar supports Jerry West

The series is based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s”, where the scenes unfavorable to Jerry West in “Winning Time” do not appear and, according to his lawyers, do not anyway, never happened. Jerry West, now 84, has received support from former players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lakers staffers.

« Instead of exploring his problems with compassion to better understand the man, they made a cartoon out of him, of the type (beep beep and the) Coyote to make fun of him, Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement. (West) has never broken golf clubs nor has he thrown a trophy out the window. Sure, these actions make for dramatic moments, but it smacks of easy human exploitation rather than character exploration. »