Adrien Brody goes deep on portraying Pat Riley on HBO's 'Winning Time': 'He is really trying to find that voice'

On the latest episode of HBO’s Winning Time, Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody made his series debut portraying Basketball Hall of Famer Pat Riley.

Brody enters the show for the first time in the third episode, shortly after former Lakers head coach Jerry West announces that he would no longer coach the team for the 1979-80 season.

Riley, who appears down on his luck and struggling to adjust to his life after his playing career, is pursuing ways to fill his time. In the show, Riley hopes to try television broadcasting and he approaches longtime Lakers announcer Chick Hearn about creating such an opportunity.

In reality, after retiring from playing in 1976, Riley actually began as a broadcaster in 1977. He was then hired to work under Paul Westhead (who will be portrayed in the show by Jason Segal) as an assistant coach for Los Angeles in 1979. However, for the purpose of the show, the timelines were adjusted a bit.

Brody, who acts alongside Gillian Jacobs (who portrays Riley’s wife Chris), recently caught up with For The Win to discuss his experience working on the show thus far.

You can watch new episodes of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty every Sunday at 9pmET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.