The former Los Angeles Lakers executive Jerry West isn’t happy with how he was portrayed in the HBO series titled ‘Winning Time’ and his lawyers are going after the network and producer Adam McKay. Jerry West is demanding a retraction and apology over what he terms “a baseless and malicious assault” on his character.
Lawyers for Jerry West claim “Winning Time falsely and cruelly portrays Mr. West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic,” saying that “bears no resemblance to the real man.” They ask for a retraction no later than two weeks from the receipt of the letter.
ESPN has details of Jerry West’s, legal team going after HBO and demanding a retraction and an apology for falsely portraying him in the ‘Winning Time’ series;
“The portrayal of NBA icon and LA Lakers legend Jerry West in ‘Winning Time’ is fiction pretending to be fact — a deliberately false characterization that has caused great distress to Jerry and his family,” said Skip Miller, a partner at the Miller Barondess LLP law firm in Los Angeles and attorney for West. “Contrary to the baseless portrayal in the HBO series, Jerry had nothing but love for and harmony with the Lakers organization, and in particular owner Dr. Jerry Buss, during an era in which he assembled one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
“Jerry West was an integral part of the Lakers and NBA’s success. It is a travesty that HBO has knowingly demeaned him for shock value and the pursuit of ratings. As an act of common decency, HBO and the producers owe Jerry a public apology and at the very least should retract their baseless and defamatory portrayal of him.”
West’s lawyers said HBO’s disclaimer that the series is a dramatization does not insulate the network from liability. HBO did not immediately respond to or comment on West’s letter.
The series, which has been airing Sunday nights this spring on HBO, is based on author Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.”
West’s lawyers allege that the series creators acted with “legal malice” because many of the scenes in the series showing West’s purported rage did not appear in Pearlman’s book and did not happen. The letter includes statements from former players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes, as well as Lakers employees such as Claire Rothman, Charlene Kenney, Bob Steiner and Mitch Kupchak who worked with West during the time period covered in the show, denying that they ever saw him commit any of the rage-filled acts or drink alcohol in the office, as depicted in the series.
“Instead of exploring his issues with compassion as a way to better understand the man, they turn him into a Wile E. Coyote cartoon to be laughed at,” Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement. “He never broke golf clubs, he didn’t throw his trophy through the window. Sure, those actions make dramatic moments, but they reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character.”
Flip to the next page for more about how Jerry is portrayed in the series.