Reports: Bo Burnham to play Larry Bird in new Adam McKay HBO series

Bo Burnham has big shoes to fill.

Award-winning (“Eighth Grade”) actor / director / comedian from Hamilton has been cast as legendary Celtics forward Larry Bird in Adam McKay’s upcoming HBO drama series about the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers of the Years 1980, according to several reports.

Based on Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s”, the series will recount “the professional and personal lives” of the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, according to HBO.

Burnham, who is 6’5 1/2, according to IMDb, was recently seen in the Oscar-nominated dark comedy “Promising Young Woman.” Burnham, who made his debut as a teenager composing comedy songs on YouTube, is also said to have worked on songwriting for an upcoming “Sesame Street” movie.

News of Burnham’s casting comes shortly after HBO announced that another local – Lowell native Michael Chiklis – will play Celtics Red Auerbach coach / executive on the series. Other stars of the show include Sally Field (“Forrest Gump”) as Jessie Buss, Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) as Pat Riley, John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) as by Jerry Buss and Jason Clarke (“Chappaquiddick”) as Jerry West. Newcomer Quincy Isaiah will play Magic Johnson, while Rob Morgan (“Mudbound”), who also stars in McKay’s “Don’t Look Up”, will play Earvin Johnson Sr.

The untitled series is slated for release in 2022 and will be written by Max Borenstein (“Godzilla”).