Hulu has announced a new nine-part docuseries about the Los Angeles Lakers will be airing in 2022. The series will chronicle four decades of the storied franchise that saved the NBA in the 80s and set the tone for superstar NBA players in the process.
Likely inspired from the ESPN 10-part Chicago Bulls documentary- “The Last Dance” – that dropped in spring 2020, you can expect colorful and emotional new interviews from over 35 people within the organization. That includes the Buss family, legendary coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, NBA Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and team captain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among numerous other current and former players. Also featured are interviews with a range of high-profile fans and a treasure trove of archival footage featuring never-before-seen interviews with the Lakers late owner, Jerry Buss.
Starting from his acquisition of the team in 1979, the docuseries captures Jerry Buss’ remarkable journey to build, sustain and pass on a family-run sports empire. The project will offer a fresh and revealing look inside the legendary “Showtime” era that saw the team win five NBA titles and turned the Forum into Hollywood’s hottest ticket throughout the 1980s. The series also details the high-stakes drama off the court and incredible successes of the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led championship teams, and the cultural impact of the Lakers franchise and rebirth of the team, culminating with the 2020 NBA championship led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. At the heart is a story about sports, business, and, most of all, family – and how those competing forces must be harnessed to achieve greatness.
The project comes to Hulu from Lakers’ CEO and controlling owner Jeanie Buss, Emmy® Award-winning director Antoine Fuqua, in association with Fuqua Films and Haven Entertainment and Los Angeles Media Fund.
This is the second high-profile project dropping regarding the Lakers franchise in 2022. The other is a fictionalized limited series coming to HBO about the Showtime-era dynasty.
