Bo Burnham and Jason Segel Join HBO's Los Angeles Lakers Series as Larry Bird and Paul Westhead
Bo Burnham and Jason Segel are the latest actors to sign up for Adam McKay's Los Angeles Lakers HBO drama series. The untitled project is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.
The series is being written by Max Borenstein and it’s described as “a fast-break series chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined its era, both on and off the court.”
Bo Burnham will take on the the role of basketball legend Larry Bird, who is widely regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time. “Having played his entire professional career for the Celtics, he helped lead the team to three NBA Championships. His time with the team included a legendary rivalry with the Lakers.”
Jason Segel will play Paul Westhead, who is “described as a Shakespeare professor who leaves grading papers behind to be assistant coach of the Lakers. In Los Angeles, Westhead steps into a drama straight off the Bard’s page (of which he is fond of quoting).”
They join the previously cast Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Gaby Hoffmann as Claire Rothman, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss, DeVaughn Nixon as Norm Nixon, Molly Gordon as Linda Zafrani, Rob Morgan as Earvin Johnson Sr., Spencer Garrett as Chick Hearn, Kirk Bovill as Donald Sterling, Delante Desouza as Michael Cooper, Stephen Adly Guirgis as Frank Mariani, Tamera Tomakili as Earletha “Cookie” Kelly, Joey Brooks as Lon Rosen, Salley Field as Jessie Buss, and Michael Chiklis as legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
Source: Variety