Adrien Brody to play Pat Riley in HBO’s Showtime Lakers Series
By Kurt Balingit
Adrien Brody will play hall of fame basketball coach Pat Riley in HBO’s upcoming sports drama series about the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980. As of now, the series is untitled but was ordered by HBO in December of 2019. It’s being described as a chronicling of the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. The Showtime Lakers is one of the most revered and dominant teams in all of sports history.
Pat Riley coached the team to four NBA championships with his iconic style, confidence, and fast-break offense, he defined the era’s style of basketball. The show is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.”
Brody won the Academy Award for best actor for his starring role in “The Pianist.” He also stars in Wes Anderson’s films, “The French Dispatch,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,”. Along with Brody, the show will have John C. Reilly playing Jerry Buss, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, 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, and Joey Brooks as Lon Rosen.