LEGENDARY Los Angeles Laker Norm Nixon has been portrayed by his son on the HBO series Winning Time.

DeVaughn Nixon is a well-credited actor, having roles on shows like Snowfall and NCIS.

3

Norm Nixon played for the Lakers from 1977 to 1983Credit: Getty

3

DeVaughn Nixon portrays his dad in Winning TimeCredit: Instagram/calikiddevo

3

Norm Nixon won two championships with the LakersCredit: Getty
Nixon obviously was an easy pick, acting and sounding just like his father, but he still found the role to be a challenging experience.

“I had to drop 30 pounds and had to get shredded,” he said to Variety.

“I had to really fine-tune my basketball skills as well and become a baller again because I hadn’t touched the ball since high school.”

Winning Time gained a reputation for dramatizing the Showtime Lakers, a scenario that made the role harder for Nixon.

He said he had to find a middle ground between respecting his father and playing the role the way the writers wanted it.

“That was a challenge. I didn’t want to piss him off, and I didn’t want to piss my bosses off at the same time,” Nixon said.

Like a lot of other members of the portrayed Lakers team, Norm was skeptical of how he would look in the show, even though his son was playing him.

“I mean, I saw how Magic said that he wasn’t gonna watch it, but I mean, come on, man,” DeVaughn said.

“You have to be curious, a little bit. We’re doing everybody justice. It’s an origin story of every character. We dive deep into characters and we have great writers and they’re huge fans.

“It’s a love letter to the Lakers and how much we appreciate them.”

Norm did visit the set though to provide insight about the team and to talk to his son about the role. He even gave his son some wiggle room to play the role how he saw fit.

“My dad didn’t really have too much concern. I think he talked to a couple of his boys. They were watching, I’ve no doubt in my mind,” DeVaughn said.