‘Winning Time’: How Sean Patrick Small Went From Writing His Own Larry Bird Story To Playing NBA Legend
deadline.comSean Patrick Small has long been aware of the similarities between him and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird.Growing up as a 6’4 kid who played basketball, he took on Bird’s number 33 shirt as he was trying to perfect his own jump shot.While it’s not a big jump for HBO to cast him in the Adam McKay-exec produced series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty as Magic Johnson’s rival – you just have to look at the pictures – the confluence of events that got him there is its own wild story.Small transferred to USC after discovering a passion for acting and writing. “How can I try to combine these two things together in order to make my way?
I’ve been told that I looked like Larry Bird, and I’m 6’4 and played basketball. Let’s see if this guy has a good enough story to write about,” he told DeadlineA friend recommended Seth Davis’ book When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball, which details a legendary NCAA championship game that launched an epic rivalry between Bird and Johnson.He subsequently optioned the book himself and wrote a four-part miniseries based on it, exploring the early lives of the two stars.
It wasn’t, however, just a writing sample. Small managed to attach Thomas Carter, director of Samuel L. Jackson-fronted basketball feature Coach Carter, to the project, and began pitching to networks and streamersMeanwhile, the HBO series came together from Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht and based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the LA Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.John C.
Reilly was attached to star as owner Jerry Buss in a star-studded cast that also includes Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Adrien Brody, Sally Field, Michael Chiklis and Jason Segel as well as Quincy Isaiah as
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