Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

[siberian khatru]

Are you ****ing kidding me? This looks fantastic, and I'm not even a Lakers fan. But I absolutely remember that team and those times.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

If you want to know who the show is going to shit on, take a look at who isn't in the good graces of Jeanie Buss. It portrays her as a precocious business genius who is also the one pure soul in LA. The Lakers took a high profile shit on Jerry West, so it isn't surprising that he's depicted in an unflattering light. With that said, the way Jason Clarke plays him is also hilarious.

[Pepe Silvia]

I can see Jerry West being a dick. He was the face of the Lakers and then Magic Johnson comes in and steals his thunder. Jealousy. Its a story as old as time really.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by PackerinMo

I can see Jerry West being a dick. He was the face of the Lakers and then Magic Johnson comes in and steals his thunder. Jealousy. Its a story as old as time really.

Yeah, I have a hard time believing that some of this isn't the recent history of West as a very staid, behind the scenes personality being imparted onto his earlier years.

Because West was absolutely something of a fireplug as a player and I don't see that just shutting off as he became the coach and eventual driving force of the 80s Lakers.

Do I think he was some drunk rageaholic? No. But I think the show got away from that fairly quickly. I feel like at this point he's one of the more likeable characters in the show.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Is it entertaining to make an all time NBA a raging alcoholic for entertainment? It's just over the top. Its the lakers in the 90's. Plenty of over the top stuff you could show. They just show you a 30 second spot of the cocaine filled parties taking place in the Forum. Thats a gold mine. Not mined yet.

And the open shirt. Sure that was a thing in the 70's. Its 10+ years later. Did Buss really dress like that?

It's the 80s lakers.

And yeah, Buss absolutely dressed like that. I remember him dressing like that into the late 90s. But here's a picture of him holding the trophy they haven't even won yet on the show....



And yeah, he was a poon hound. I think the characterizations of Buss are extremely fair and Reilly has done an exceptional job portraying him.

[Pepe Silvia]

John C. Reilly did a lot of serious roles before he was typecast in comedy, so I'm not surprised in the slightest that he was able to pull this off. He can do it all.

[KC_Connection]

Jerry West's not done with HBO's #WinningTime.

“The series made [the Lakers] look like cartoon characters,” West told former @latimessports editor Bill Dwyre. “They belittled something good. If I have to I will take this all the way to the Supreme Court.”https://t.co/r4cuxurzIX

— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) April 26, 2022

That sounds like something the TV version of Jerry West would say.

In any case, I very much agree at this point that he's one of the most likable characters on the show.

[Direckshun]

I completely agree -- he's maybe the most likeable character.

But I also understand why he'd be upset at scenes of him rawdogging a woman, and being perpetually foul mouthed and miserable, and slamming his MVP trophy against anything nearby.

It's just a show, folks. He is only the canvas on which Adam McKay drew.

Mark Zuckerberg is a horrible human being, but he realized that The Social Network was a dramatic story that happened to be about him, not a direct documentary on Facebook.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I completely agree -- he's maybe the most likeable character.

But I also understand why he'd be upset at scenes of him rawdogging a woman, and being perpetually foul mouthed and miserable, and slamming his MVP trophy against anything nearby.

It's just a show, folks. He is only the canvas on which Adam McKay drew.

Mark Zuckerberg is a horrible human being, but he realized that The Social Network was a dramatic story that happened to be about him, not a direct documentary on Facebook.

And again, think of how he handled some of his later years in LA behind the scenes and how frustrated/flat out angry he got at being someone marginalized.

I don't doubt for a single second that the miserable, hyper-competitive elements of the character we're seeing are pretty accurate. Again, West was NOT a wilting flower. And he was always known as one of the league's great competitors.

Why would that not carry over into his front-office years?

[gblowfish]

I've watched this whole series so far. The only really likable characters are the guy who plays Michael Cooper, the guy who plays Pat Reilly and the guy who plays Buss' business partner. Everybody else has been a douche. Magic will screw anything that moves. Cookie hangs with him even though he boinked her best friend. Buss is a total degenerate. He motor boated the hospice nurse (who is some Mexican model, btw). Sally Field is a drunk. His daughter is psycho. Kareem is a dick to all the other players on the team. Jerry West is a raging alcoholic. Chick Hearn calls Reilly's color analyst voice "bundle of sticksgy." Westhead is a pants wetting coward. The coach who fell off his bike is a mean spirited ego maniac. Bird is a surly douche. Doctor J plays Magic like a fiddle, just like Norm Nixon did in training camp. Even Buss' secretary will do whatever to stay employed. Paula Abdul is a pole dancer. John C. Reilly as Buss is pretty entertaining. He plays sleazeball to a T.

[GloucesterChief]

Bird was a surly douche who talked copious amounts of trash on the court. If they get that far I wonder how they will handle A.C. Green.

[gblowfish]

Is Magic going to sleep with a barnyard animal?

[Prison Bitch]

Best
Series
Ever

Rumors on S2 being renewed….either a continuation of 1980s (yay!) or the Shaq Kobe run. Shaq says he’s in. But guess who won’t be? ME.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Best
Series
Ever

Rumors on S2 being renewed….either a continuation of 1980s (yay!) or the Shaq Kobe run. Shaq says he’s in. But guess who won’t be? ME.

why jump over the Bird/Magic championship games in the mid 80’s?

[KC_Connection]

From everything I’ve read they aren’t skipping over the Magic era at all in S2.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

From everything I’ve read they aren’t skipping over the Magic era at all in S2.

S2 should really cover the next 2 years.


80-81 can show the cracks developing and Westhead trying to put his stamp on the team and prove that he’s a real NBA coach and not just someone coasting on McKinney (which, coincidentally, is mostly what Riley went on to do offensively).

81-82 can have Magic cutting Westhead off at the knees, McAdoo showing up and Riley making the Lakers ‘his’ team.

Seems like ‘80 through ‘82 is a perfect little timespan.