‘Winning Time’: Delante Desouza on Playing Lakers’ Great Michael Cooper
Q&A
Delante Desouza can see a lot of himself in Michael Cooper, the NBA player he portrays in HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. This is the actor’s big break on television—much like the shooting guard who was looking to make the most of his opportunity and keep his jersey. Winning Time viewers were introduced to Cooper just before Lakers training camp got underway for the pivotal 1979-1980 season, the first with Magic Johnson on the team.
Desouza recalls scrolling the Actors Access service in 2019 and coming upon potential auditions for Showtime, the show’s working title at the time. “They were looking for an actor six feet or taller who played basketball and looked identical to Michael. At the time I didn’t know about Cooper. I just knew Magic and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar],”
His headshot caught the eye of casting director Francine Maisler. Desouza was then asked to submit an audition tape and before he knew it he was hooping it up. Here, the rising star talks about doing Cooper justice and why the player’s story resonates as the season unfolds.
How was it getting to know about Michael’s life and career?
Delante Desouza: I think one of the things that I learned from research is in the show, we see Michael Cooper’s transition from this second-year veteran who didn’t get to play the year before due to a knee injury. When we meet him in training camp, he is pretty much fighting for a spot on the team. We get to see that journey…to him becoming one of the most prolific defensive players the league has ever seen. Through it all, he had this tenacity and hunger to do whatever it takes to win. He and I both have this underdog mentality. We do whatever it takes to get the job done.
We’re introduced to Michael on his road trip to L.A. in the desert where his car breaks down. His wife Wanda (Olivia Puckett) is seen getting her hands dirty and fixing the car.
It’s a pretty funny scene. It’s a perfect picture of Michael and Wanda Cooper. Michael Cooper in the story is unsure of himself, anxious all the time. He is so afraid of getting cut from the team. His wife is like, “Pull this together. You got this baby. I’m proud of you. I’m supporting you.” She is the one who is driving the car. It’s a really beautiful relationship, to see that true love they both share. As the season expands, it definitely becomes something to take a look at.
There are a lot of new faces alongside the likes of John C. Reilly. The Lakers formulate their team onscreen just as you and your teammates/cast are doing this season. How was it developing that bond with Quincy Isaiah, who plays Magic Johnson, and making sure that translated?
The cool thing about this is that there is that mix of cast members. There are guys who are veterans and have been doing this for years like Jason Clarke [who plays Lakers’ great Jerry West] and Adrian Brody [Lakers’ Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley]. Even within the team, we have Devaughn Nixon, who plays his dad [Lakers star] Norm Nixon. He has been in the industry since he was a kid. Then there are newcomers like me and Quincy. We’re both new actors where this is really our first role. I think that is what initially created the friendship and bond between us. Particularly between me and Quincy. The relationships you see between Coop, Magic, Norm, Kareem. The friendship translates beautifully through the screen with Coop and Magic. The dynamic duo and how their relationship develops through the season is very similar to how I and Quincy as actors develop shooting this.
HBO
Talk about the actual training camp. What went into filming those iconic basketball scenes, including the first home game at The Forum?
Before the show even started filming we had about three months of basketball training camp. Idan Ravin was this NBA skills coach who has trained Steph Curry, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Training with him, we had days where we would train for hours, learning how to move as the Lakers did in the 1980s. That high dribble. That long stretch and stride. We learned how to become silhouettes of our actual players. Then by the time we got to the games, it was just pretty much go from there.
Have you gotten any feedback or heard about Michael’s opinion of your casting?
Actually not yet. From what I hear based on people who have talked to him, it sounds like he is very excited about the show and to see what I bring to the table. I’m eager to hear his thoughts one day.
What are you most excited for people to see as we are getting into the back half of the season?
Seeing how the team develops. There is going to be a lot of drama within the team. It’s going to take a lot of building for them to rise together and come together to win a championship. The beautiful thing now is we see the [bond] between Norm and Magic. We see Kareem’s [fellow newcomer Solomon Hughes] aloofness and his distance from the rest of the team. We see Coop as this anxious, nervous character. He is not just paranoid about being cut, but we get to see these relationships work themselves out and become something completely new and different by the end of the season. There is something truly special between the dynamic of the team and how it plays out together.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO
