To be fair - it WAS how it was characterized in the 80s. Like, openly and obviously.

Bird was the midwestern hard working scrappy white guy. Magic was the flashy talented kid cruising on charisma and talent.

You don't have to 'go woke' to point that out - it wasn't even really disguised subtext at the time. It was just right out there in the open.

Even the stuff w/ Kareem this last week didn't exactly make him some sympathetic martyr nor did it really sugar coat the fact that a lot of his 'firmly held beliefs' made him something of a gigantic asshole.

There's been a lot of editorial license used here to punch the story up a bit (especially with Jeannie), but if you've read the Pearlman book - this is holding true to the underlying themes pretty well. The only place I'd say it strays a bit is that it's a LOT more Magic-centric than the book was and plays up Buss's playboy history a bit more. But that was more whitewashed by the book than anything - his antics were an open secret in LA. Dude was something of a miscreant to say the least.

That's how he ruined it.

the white black thing was a joke as it is on here. Sorenson is a real lunch pail type of guy

I didnt say it wasn't a topic back then...I was saying those in charge on the production decided to make it a political statement/focal point. They could have just as easily woven it into the context without 50 graphics of "white" then 50 of "black". It was a "cringe" moment...like "yeah, no thanks".

This is what propaganda looks like...if you want to marginalize it...go ahead. I know what the real intention behind it is...

I'll simply choose to not watch anymore of it or anything else that tries to push this agenda down my throat...this "woke" BS is a toxic, societal cancer.

Kinda sad since the Magic-Bird rivalry since college and into the NBA is what basically saved the NBA from being regulated into a niche league.

Bizarre that anybody is even criticizing that sequence. That's literally how it was in reality and the graphics were meant to be irreverent/humorous (as a lot of it is). This show may not be for you guys, I think.

Yeah - gonna say that anyone who's wound up about that isn't exactly the target audience.

'Propaganda' would've been to treat it exactly as Black Op is suggesting and pretend like it wasn't the driving narrative at the time.

But that's fine - he's knows what he knows and the rest of us Sheeple can just lap up the boob bait, I guess...

Interesting that you mention "target audience"...then immediately follow with the word propaganda.

Nevermind...enjoy your regularly scheduled programming.

Do you believe Downtown Abby and Wrestlemania cater to the same demographic?

You cannot be this dense.

Phenomenal series, and that’s coming from somebody that despises the franchise.

The only thing that made me cringe with this show was the “2nd worst Donald from the 80s” text when they introduced Sterling.

Completely unnecessary, and blatant political statement that had nothing to do with the show.

I forgot about that one...yeah...no propaganda woven in it.

6th episode was a lot of table-setting. Probably the "least best" episode of the series so far.

This could legitimately be a multi-season series. I have no idea how they're going to capture this decade in 10 episodes, and they've only got 4 left.

Right? It feels like it almost has to be. I haven't watched episode 6 yet but through 5 I mean we're just seeing McKinney get hurt.

We're halfway through the series and haven't even gotten to Westhead yet, let alone Riley. They could have a whole episode about AC Green, another one about the Norm Nixon/Byron Scott deal. James Worthy hasn't even made an appearance yet. Big Game James has to be a central character, right?

The decline years are fascinating in their own right with the loss to the freakin' Pistons and then that final Riley year completely imploding even as they actually put together a good year (I think that was the year that Riley really started to buy his bullshit and got Worthy hurt during wind-sprints or something going into the playoffs - the whole team HATED him by then).

I'm guessing they'll just ignore that season with Dunleavy when they lost to the Bulls, but if you're gonna have Magic tapping out and finish with changing of the guard sort of thing (not to mention get Michael in the show), you'd have to include that year. And we'd get some time with Vlade!

Yeah, I haven't been able to figure out how they're gonna do this in 10 episodes since the 3rd episode ended and they still hadn't really gone anywhere. The 80s Lakers have SO much ground to cover.

I feel like they did a pretty decent job of getting West's character back on the rails.

Now he's settled into that sort of tortured and reluctant genius role that I think captures his time w/ the Lakers pretty well.

Yeah, this should cut into 3 seasons.

Season 1 - Buss purchase through to the first championship and eventually Westhead being fired early in the season and replaced by Riley.

Season 2 - 82 through 86. The playoff loss to the Rockets after consecutive championships over the Celtics would be a good come-down and place to end that season. I think this would really be the apex of the series w/ Worthy and Byron being added to the mix. You've got Magic at his apex, Kareem slowing FAST and Riley slowly starting to go completely Hollywood.

Season 3 - Another title over Boston and then the slow decline of...pretty much everyone. It wouldn't be all downers because there were some great moments in there. But you can't have this series without the coda, can you? If you're gonna make it Magic-Centric, you need to put a bow on it.

Then again, did anyone else notice that Spencer Haywood just kinda showed up as though he materialized from thin air? I mean, nevermind that the Lakers traded probably their best player at the time and a guy who would've thrived in that wide open system in Adrian Dantley to get him. Hell, Dantley made the HoF. I don't think they ever mentioned Dantley even once. And I'm pretty sure he was on the team through camp.

They're missing some pretty big stuff in here so I guess they may just skip a bunch.