Jerry West has seen “Winning Time” on HBO, and he’s not happy.
The former Los Angeles Lakers executive officially demanded a retraction and an apology from HBO and executive producer Adam McKay on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. West called his portrayal in the show, which is currently airing weekly on HBO, a "a baseless and malicious assault” on his character.
His lawyers said that "Winning Time falsely and cruelly portrays Mr. West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic," and that it "bears no resemblance to the real man.”
"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," Skip Miller, one of West’s attorneys, told ESPN.