LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — If you’re a big basketball fan, you’ve probably heard about the new HBO show “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”

The fictionalized series shows how the Lakers became the marquee franchise of the NBA in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.

However, casting the role of Earvin “Magic” Johnson was no easy feat.

Oddly enough, the perfect casting choice was right in Magic’s home state of Michigan.

“I’m hesitant to say that it’s meant to be because it’s like a lot of things had to come together and yeah, I guess it was meant to be,” said Muskegon, Mich. Native Quincy Isaiah.

Isaiah may look familiar to some, partially because of his resemblance to Magic Johnson, but you’ve probably never seen him before.

“Winning Time” is actually the first TV show or movie he’s ever been in, and Isaiah was tasked with the tough project of capturing Magic Johnson’s one-of-a-kind energy.

“Being from Michigan definitely helped understand who he was as a person and the upbringing, but I also learned about stuff I didn’t know,” continued Isaiah. “He’s unique, and I think a lot of times it’s tough to conjure that up on 14 hour days, but it helps when you got a team around you of writers and producers.”

Throughout the show, there are all kinds of references to the Mitten State.

In those moments, Isaiah said he’s more like a fan, than the star of the show.

“When they said we we’re doing episode two in Lansing, I was like I love that. I love that,” said Isaiah. “The house that we’re in, like the Johnson family house. It reminds me of a house like my uncle in Detroit has, you know?”

Isaiah even got to take some liberties while acting.

“I think it’s in the first episode, I was like ‘yeah, I’m about to show you what we do in Michigan,’ or whatever. That was like an ad-lib. And it was like fun because again, I get to talk about my home state and put us on,” said Isaiah.

Before he was working alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Isaiah was taking business classes at Kalamazoo College.

Isaiah said his decision to stop taking business classes and switch his major to acting, turned out to be magic.

“I took a calculus course. I want to say, like three weeks in, I was like, yeah, I’m not I’m not doing this anymore. And I feel like I got up in a class and was like, ‘yeah, I’m out,’” said Isaiah. “But like, you can be fired from any job if you’re working for somebody. So it’s just about finding something that you enjoy doing, and attacking it and really and just getting better at it.”

While Isaiah hasn’t met Magic Johnson, he made up for that with ferocious research during the pandemic.

All photos from the show are courtesy of HBO Press Room.