Report: HBO Could Produce Show on Kobe, Shaq-Era Lakers

Adam McKay’s HBO series about the 1980’s “Showtime” Lakers hasn’t even premiered yet, but the network is already thinking about another Lakers show.

And this one will be about Kobe and Shaq.

According to Lacey Rose of The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has “quietly optioned” a show about the book Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty by Jeff Pearlman.

This comes on the heals of HBO's new show, Winning Time, The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, about the Magic Johnson-era Lakers

Winning Time is based around Pearlman’s first Lakers’ book: Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers. It stars John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss and Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, exploring Magic’s first season with the Lakers in 1979.

Rose said the initial plan was for the series to conclude in 1991, but if it is a success the writers could expand to other eras.

“If the stories are there and the different eras are there, why not keep exploring it?” HBO president of programming Casey Bloys told Rose.

Winning Time, The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty premiers March 6 on HBO. The soon-to-be premiering series is full of Hollywood stars, including Jason Segal, Jason Clarke, Michael Chiklis, Adrien Brody, Gillian Jacobs, and Sally Field.