Growing up in New England in the 1980s,Adam McKaywas a devoted NBA fan.
Which meant, of course, that he was a Boston Celtics fan.
So how did a kid who spent the better part of his childhood in Worcester, Mass.
Michael Chiklis in ‘Winning Time’.HBO
For McKay, it proved to be an irresistible story after he’d re-examined some long-held loyalties.
“I was a hardcore Celtics fan,” McKay tells EW.
“I hated the Lakers in the ’80s they were the villains.
Quincy Isaiah in ‘Winning Time’.Warrick Page/HBO
McKay’s fellow Massachusetts nativeMichael Chikliswould disagree.
“Did he really say that?
How do the Celtics qualify as villains?!”
Solomon Hughes in ‘Winning Time’.HBO
says an appalled Chiklis, a still-loyal Boston sports fan.
And that doesn’t even include the actors playing noted Laker superfansJack Nicholsonand Richard Pryor.
“A few days ago Rick told me, ‘I was trying to make you throw up.
John C. Reilly and Quincy Isaiah in ‘Winning Time’.Warrick Page/HBO
I wanted to see how bad you wanted it,'” Isaiah says with a laugh.
“I guess he liked what he saw.”
“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?!'”
John C. Reilly, Gaby Hoffmann, and Hadley Robinson in ‘Winning Time’.HBO
“He’s not going to be boxed into one dimension.
“And I was like, ‘Oh,Showtimeon Showtime, that’s gonna catch on!’
And then my manager was like, ‘No, it’s HBO.’
I was like, ‘Well, cool, even better.'”
“I think I’m now Dr. Take It Easy,” Segel says, laughing.
“I’m 42, so I was dunking 25 pounds ago.
No doubt about it, theWinning Timeset was loaded with talent a true dream team.
But every championship squad has a star player ready to take the game-winning shot.
Reilly got the call from McKay just seven days before filming on the pilot began in late 2019.
“Then as soon as I read the script, I really connected to Jerry Buss.
People underestimate you when you come from a different background, like Jerry and I both did.
I’ve said before, ‘The road behind me is littered with people that have underestimated me.’
McKay even passed over one very famous movie star, a decision that had a personal and professional cost.
I think that probably would’ve made it still not great, but would’ve made it okay.
Adam is one of my closest friends.
And I was very grateful to get this job.”
she says of the project.
(Even McKay calls it the “most visually challenging” of his career.)
Hoffmann continues: “It seemed like an impossible feat.
It’s fresh, exciting, fast-paced, and somehow does all fit together.
I don’t know if I’ve seen this before.
They hope, like basketball, it’s a language that needs no translation.
All you got to have is the want to do it.
And basketball is that American sport to the whole world; everyone’s playing it everywhere now.
But Segel promises that even basketball-agnostic viewers should look atWinning Timeas a slam-dunk Sunday-night viewing option.
If you love basketball, it’s the show for you.
If you love that era, it’s the show for you.
And if you love really strong acting, it’s the show for you.
It’s got it all.”
(“Just don’t make me look silly,” DeVaughn says his father told him.)
“We know that a bunch of them are not happy,” he acknowledges.
Especially for a guy like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who’s one of my idols.
“But hopefully by the end, I would go and Ms. Buss would come by and say hi.
Maybe that’s me being delusional.
And he may have to worry about getting the same foul treatment in Boston.
Even asWinning Timeis set to debut, Chiklis is still miffed about McKay’s breach of fandom.
“I’m seriously concerned about McKay saying the Celtics are villains,” the actor reiterates.
