Hulu is set to premiere their new docuseries Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers next week. Ahead of its launch, some of those responsible for creating the series held a press conference to discuss the Lakers and what went into the telling of their story.
The press conference features Lakers CEO Jeanie Buss, director and executive producer Antoine Fuqua, executive producer Kevin Mann and NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
When asked what they hoped to accomplish by sharing this story with the world, Fuqua jumped in to explain that this was an easy decision for him.
“It’s kind of obvious why I wanted to get involved. First of all, what an amazing franchise. What an amazing winning franchise to even talk about,” Fuqua said. “And the idea that Jeanie is the first woman to ever win a [championship], to me is a big deal. To explore that was fascinating to me but also to tell a story of a true American dream, that Dr. Buss achieved, from where he came from, very humble beginning all the way to now and to track his daughter’s and his children’s journey to where we are today, just an amazing opportunity.”
The docuseries, while primarily focusing on basketball, does broach some difficult topics for the Buss family and others involved in the organization and the group was asked about how they handled those types of situations.
“Documentaries are interesting because they start to unfold and tell you what they want to be based on what the participants tell you,” Fuqua said. “Anytime someone say something to us, we check it with the other person they’re talking about. We tried to talk to as many people as we could to make sure the stories were collaborating and making sense and if they weren’t then we would absolutely correct it.”
Abdul-Jabbar, who had his share of drama with the Lakers organization during his playing days, had some words on the topic as well.
“Well I think that at this time of my life I have a much better perspective on what my life is about and I can speak to it with some confidence and accuracy. That’s why I’m glad I’ve had a chance to interact with the people making the film and with the Laker nation,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “There’s always some stuff out there that;s not accurate or way off course and this gives me an opportunity to have my say and have it be accurate and have everybody who will watch this film understand that it’s all the real deal.”
For Jeanie Buss, the story told in this documentary forced her to revisit some of the toughest moments in her life and she opened up about that.
“It was difficult to relive Magic [Johnson] having to retire suddenly because of the HIV virus and going back into that space of not knowing what was going to happen to him at that time and being scared to death and remembering that he asked us to retire his jersey right away so that he could be there, to make sure he’d be there,” Buss said. “Of course, reliving Phil Jackson getting fired twice as the Lakers’ coach was painful for me but in perspective, you know, it all made sense. And of course, the tragic loss of our beloved Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna and reliving those moments that are still raw and painful. But we don’t hold back. This is our story. These are the things that happened.”
The Lakers are synonymous with Los Angeles and the group was asked about what this franchise means to the city and how the two reflect each other.
“A Laker game is the epitome of, like when someone moves to Los Angeles, one of the first things people ask is ‘have you been to a Laker game?’” Mann said. “It’s like nothing you could experience, I mean it’s like celebrities watching celebrities watching celebrities and it’s a little bit of a surreal experience. I grew up in Washington, D.C. That is not the energy of a Wizards game at all.”
Finally, with the popularity of the Lakers franchise and the effort dedicated to this series, Buss was asked about any future media projects for the Lakers.
“We are currently working on a couple different projects and, as Antoine said, this is Hollywood and there are opportunities for us here,” Buss said. “But I’ve now heard that the Golden State Warriors have their own production company, certainly our players and former players are into production so there’s a lot of rich content, a lot of rich stories that can be told and I expect, yes, the Lakers to be involved in more projects. But this Legacy project is really reflective of the team, the product, the brand that Dr. Jerry Buss created.”
Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers will premiere Monday, August 15 on Hulu.