HBO ushered viewers back to the starting days of the Los Angeles Lakers with new series Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty making its premiere on Sunday. The series from co-creators Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht debuted to just shy of 1 million viewers.
Per HBO, the series opened to approximately 900,000 viewers across linear viewing and HBO Max streaming. Winning Time filled the 9 p.m. Sunday slot previously belonging to Euphoria. To compare the dramas, Euphoria made its series premiere in June 2019 to 577,00 linear viewers and boosted up to 1 million viewers with viewing on HBO GO/NOW, before HBO Max launched. The Euphoria season 2 premiere broke records for HBO and HBO Max with 2.4 million total viewers.
Winning Time is a ten-episode series about the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court. The series John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Gaby Hoffmann as Claire Rothman, Tracy Letts as Jack McKinney, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead, Julianne Nicholson as Cranny McKinney, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss, DeVaughn Nixon as Norm Nixon, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tamera Tomakili as Earleatha “Cookie” Kelly, Brett Cullen as Bill Sharman, Stephen Adly Guirgis as Frank Mariani, Spencer Garrett as Chick Hearn, Sarah Ramos as Cheryl Pistono, Molly Gordon as Linda Zafrani, Joey Brooks as Lon Rosen, Delante Desouza as Michael Cooper, Jimel Atkins as Jamaal Wilkes, Austin Aaron as Mark Landsberger, Jon Young as Brad Holland, with Rob Morgan as Earvin Johnson Sr. and Sally Field as Jessie Buss.
Hyperobject Industries’ Kevin Messickm executive produces alongside showrunner and writer Borenstein. Jim Hecht is Executive Producer, Writer, and Co-Creator. Adam McKay is an executive producer and directed the pilot. Rodney Barnes serves as Executive Producer and Writer. Jason Shuman and Scott Stephens also serve as Executive Producers.