Last week, Jerry West let his lawyers do the talking.

Now, he's calling shots himself. And he's ready to take HBO all the way to
the Supreme Court.

The NBA icon is a subject of HBO's series "Winning Time" about the
Showtime Lakers of the 1980s. In it, West is portrayed in his role as a
Lakers executive as frequently fueled by anger and alcohol, a depiction
he's none too fond of. He's also portrayed as advising Lakers owner Jerry
Buss to � gasp � not draft Magic Johnson. It's a depiction that ex-Lakers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes and former team
employees denied is accurate in a letter to HBO from West's lawyers
demanding a retraction.

'They belittled something good'
In comments made to the Los Angeles Times published on Monday, West spoke
directly about his thoughts on "Winning Time" for the first time in
public.

�The series made us all look like cartoon characters,� West told the
Times. �They belittled something good. If I have to, I will take this all
the way to the Supreme Court.�

So there you have it. Get your lawyers ready, HBO.

West's brief comment to the Times follows up a more formal statement from
his attorney Skip Miller last week. In it, Miller hints at legal action
that could precede West's plans to involve that nation's highest court.

"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,"
Miller's statement reads. ... "As an act of common decency, HBO and the
producers owe Jerry a public apology and at the very least should retract
their baseless and defamatory portrayal of him."

West's attorneys also took specific issue with the Magic Johnson
implication.

�So instead of seeing the true Jerry West � a brilliant GM who was the
architect of one of the great NBA dynasties � anyone who watched the show
would be left with the false impression that West is incompetent, that he
didn�t want Magic Johnson," the statement reads. "This is a fabrication.
You depict Jerry as a clueless bumpkin wearing a fishing hat to practice,
which also never happened � rather than a dedicated and capable GM."

HBO's response
HBO doesn't deny that it's taken dramatic license with the show. "Winning
Time" is a fictional dramatization of real-life events. The network is
standing its ground.

" 'Winning Time' is not a documentary and has not been presented as such,"
an HBO statement reads. "However, the series and its depictions are based
on extensive factual research and reliable sourcing, and HBO stands
resolutely behind our talented creators and cast who have brought a
dramatization of this epic chapter in basketball history to the screen.�

You lied and libeled, HBO.

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