DeVaughn Nixon To Play His Dad Norm Nixon In HBO’s Showtime Lakers Pilot

Denise Petski

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EXCLUSIVE: In an art-imitates-life casting, DeVaughn Nixon (Prom, Marvel’s Runaways) has been tapped to play his dad, Norm Nixon, in HBO’s pilot about the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers.

Written by Max Borenstein (Godzilla), the Untitled Showtime Lakers Project is based on Jeff Pearlman’s nonfiction book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.

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Executive producer Adam McKay is directing the pilot, which chronicles the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Lakers, one of sports’ most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined its era, both on and off the court.

DeVaughn Nixon’s Norm Nixon is a debonair playboy who overcomes insurmountable odds to become the All-Star point guard of the Lakers. He expertly maneuvers the complexities of NBA stardom, until talented young rookie Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) arrives in L.A.

Norm Nixon spent 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA. A two-time All-Star, he won two championships with the Lakers over Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers at the onset of their Showtime era in the 1980s. During his NBA career, Nixon scored 12,065 points (averaging 15.7 points per game) and had 6,386 assists (8.3) in 768 games played. Although he had impressive statistics, he might be remembered most for faking a free throw at the end of a Lakers-San Antonio Spurs game on November 30, 1982, which caused a double lane violation. The referees erroneously ordered a jump ball, instead of requiring Nixon to re-shoot the free throw. The Lakers got the ball and Nixon made a field goal to tie the game, where they prevailed in overtime. The last three seconds of the game were later replayed in April 1983.

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Nixon joins previously announced cast members Jason Clarke (who plays Jerry West), John C. Reilly (Lakers owner Jerry Buss), Quincy Isaiah (Magic Johnson) and Solomon Hughes as )Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).

McKay is executive producing through the yet-to-be-named company he launched after parting ways with longtime producing partner Will Ferrell and dissolving their Gary Sanchez Prods. Joining McKay at his new company is former Gary Sanchez Prods. executive Kevin Messick, who will executive produce the Lakers pilot alongside McKay, Borenstein and Jason Shuman. Jim Hecht co-wrote the story and executive produces.

DeVaughn Nixon was born in 1983 during the height of the Showtime era, when his dad was playing for the NBA-champion Los Angeles Lakers. Nixon’s acting credits include a lead role in Disney’s Prom and the Hulu series Marvel’s Runaways. An actor at an early age, he starred opposite Whitney Houston as her son in The Bodyguard and had a role in James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He’s repped by SDB Partners, Elevate Entertainment and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.

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