SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Sean Patrick Small used to draw comparisons to Larry Bird as a basketball player at Los Altos High School. Now he’s playing the NBA legend on the small screen in HBO’s series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”
“I’d love to sit down and have a beer with him sometime but I’ve been saying if he just watches the show and he sees kind of how I portrayed him, I don’t think he’d have an issue with it,” said Small.
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It’s a part Small, who wore Bird’s #33 in high school, was destined to play. He attended USC with the hopes of pursuing his passion for writing and acting. Small wrote a mini-series about Bird’s rivalry with Magic Johnson so he was more than prepared when he got the call from HBO.
“This audition popped up and I was like, ‘I think I can play that guy,’ joked Small.
A week later, Small landed the role. Two weeks later, he was on set to begin filming alongside a cast that included John C. Reilly, Sally Field, Jason Segel and Adrian Brody.
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While Small knew all about Bird’s background, it was a bigger challenge to mimic his playing style. “I’ve played basketball my entire life but playing modern-day basketball compared to Bird’s shot and movements on the court is quite different,” said Small. He spent countless hours with a trainer to get as close as possible to replicating Larry Legend’s game.
It was the experience of a lifetime for Small.
“I always tell my friends, especially the ones back home, this is the closest I get to being a professional basketball player,” said Small. “I’m getting paid to play basketball. I mean what is better than that?”
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.