Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

But sportsball, right?

Come ON, really? No one is watching this show? If that's the case, I feel sad for you. It's fabulous and so fun!

Dynasty? The Celtics had a dynasty. The Lakers are just pretenders, now destroyed by LeBron James playing general manager. The Lakers will be mediocre for several years.

I love it! But then, the subject matter is near & dear to my heart. I grew up in L.A. & lived through this. I was twelve when the Lakers drafted Magic, and I've been bleeding "Purple & Gold" ever since. (prior to that it had been Dodger Blue, hah).

I was a little wary when I first heard about it. John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss? Sure, yes, sounds great (and he is fantastic, as always), but how it the world were they going to find guys who could pull off Magic & Kareem?? Quincy Isaiah & Solomon Hughes have been a very pleasant surprise! The whole cast is great.

I wasn't feeling the first 3 episodes, although I thought the actors were great, but episode 4 was amazing. I found some of the scenes thrilling. And the last ep was so wonderful with the focus on Kareem. Solomon Hughes is really good in the role.

Too bad we didn't get any dick shots in the locker room, but I have to say that DeVaughn Nixon who is playing Stormin Norman is sooooooo sexy, I did appreciate that one shot in his briefs. Gorgeous. If they ever did a Prince bio, he would be perfect.

R4, I lived through it too. I had season tickets and was at every game. Yes R3, there was a dynasty. You're talking about current events. This shit is history. You must not have been there. I was, I know. Anyone else that was there or knows the history of the team would say the same.

I’ve been watching and enjoying it a lot.

Finally. Seriously, no one else? Floored!

R3 you're actually claiming the 80s Lakers weren't a dynasty?

You do realize they won 5 titles and went to 8 Finals during the decade, right?

That, my friend is a dynasty.

The Celtics ruled the 60s for sure.

Bulls the 90s.

All dynasties.

The show is pretty good, I guess. Even though I'm a die hard NBA fan, I'm just not sure if this story was dying to be told.

I wasn't as enamored of last night's episode as the last two. It was nice to see Segel's Westhead get a chance to step into the spotlight but most of the hour was meh. That girl clinging to Johnson was so annoying.

Really looking forward to seeing Brody's Pat Riley step into the coaches shoes, though.

Personally, I’m exhausted by the dramatized accounts of real people. However, I think Sally Field has a role in it and I would consider it for Sally.

I'm loving it. Yes, the Lakers were a dynasty. Going to those games in the 80s was one of the major reasons I enjoyed living in LA. Fucking Showtime was the best.

Episode Four was fantastic. Knowing what was coming at the end....I watched that last minute or so through parted fingers. (Mary, I know) And they still got me! Because I hadn't remembered the *exact* circumstances. Also, "Good Vibrations" playing over it. That was all kinds of fucked up.

P.S. It's really nice to see Jack McKinney get his "due" as an innovator & THE creator of Showtime. The man who understood the potential of Magic-Kareem's pairing, how to unlock it, and unleashed it on the rest of the league. (I feel like I just channeled Bill Walton).

R14 What? Who? So butch!

If you're asking such questions about the competitive greatness of Magic, Kareem & Jack McKinney, you do not belong in this thread. My goodness!

Is there any eye candy and/or gay content?

OP I’ve been watching it from day one. I really, really like it! The acting is great and I think it’s well done. After every episode I wanna watch the next one right away! I’m disappointed that I have to wait a whole week for the next one.

You may enjoy a couple of locker room scenes R17. I expect them to get better.

I saw the first episode and loved it.

I need to watch the rest. Maybe this long weekend.

What happened? Too many Boston fans here? I really enjoyed that episode. Loved the monologue Buss delivers at the open, and I am getting jazzed to see more Pat Riley. Brody looked hot as fuck in that mirror. He's terrific in this.

I listen to KFI and Tim Conway said it was amazing if you could make it through the first 2 episodes. I would watch but not that type of gay.

If I'd seen this when I was in my twenties (or maybe even my early thirties), the less-than-flattering portrayal of some of these people (like Chick Hearn & Jerry West ) would have really bummed me out. Sacred Cows, and all that. But, in my mid-fifties...I can't stop laughing at "Gentleman" Jerry West as a foul-mouthed rageaholic, and Chick as an arrogant, boozy jerk (and something of a bully; "Patricia").

Also: Delonte DeSouza is absolutely NAILING Michael Cooper. (Cooooooooop!)

Oh MY!! Jerry West is now *demanding* an apology from the makers of "Winning Time" for portraying him as a foul-mouthed rageaholic. This just keep getting better & better.

[quote] I listen to KFI and Tim Conway said it was amazing if you could make it through the first 2 episodes. I would watch but not that type of gay.

Tim Conway Jr, the racist asshole, who mocks Asian-Americans? THAT Tim Conway?? Well, okay....

Abdul-Jabbar has already made his disdain for the series known, even well before the show premiered. “While I respect other artists' rights to choose their subjects, I think the story of the Showtime Lakers is best told by those who actually lived through it,” Kareem said to Puck in December. “Because we know exactly what happened.”

Now, appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio's NBA Today, Abdul-Jabbar reportedly told hosts Justin Termine and Eddie A. Johnson that he actually gave Winning Time a shot. “I watched half the first episode and it’s ridiculous," he said. "I don’t want to talk about it.”

I LOVE Kareem -- like REALLY, really love him -- but I disagree. This isn't a documentary, like Jordan's "The Last Dance"....It's t's a DRAMATIZIATION

Where is the gay Faggotry Magic Johnson content? We on datalounge know how Erving caught the AIDS. Where r the Gay Orgies& Magic fucking the Hot White basketball players?

Sure your were, R28....🙄

It's unfortunate that Kareem didn't give it a few more episodes. I admit, I was ready to give up three episodes in, too, but then the 4th and 5th ones knocked my socks off. And the episode that is essentially devoted to understanding Kareem was especially powerful, and portrayed him as a deeply thoughtful person struggling with his talent as a basketball player when there was so much injustice against black people in the world. I thought it was a terrific hour and Solomon Hughes is giving a very thoughtful performance. Even in this last ep, the conversation Kareem has with Magic's father is just fantastic.

He wrote an entire essay on it, but I have to disagree that the series is "drearily dull". It isn't. Not by a long shot.

I love Pat Riley. Five years ago, he sat directly in front of me during a UCLA game at Pauley Pavilion (scouting Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf & a guard from Stanford). I was plotzing. At halftime, I leaned forward over his shoulder and asked, "Hi, Coach. May I take a picture with you? I'm a big fan!" He replied, "Sure!". I began to extend my arm/phone, awkwardly, and he said, "Give me your phone, I'll take it!"

UCLA beat the snot out Stanford, which was great...but I was on CLOUD-9, all night, because I got a selfie with "Riles".

With all due respect to Adrien Brody: he ain’t Pat Riley.

Unless Pat Riley got a nose job. 😳

Enjoying the heck out of this show. Paula Abdul was the first Laker girl. Who knew?

Is that the one Bo Burnham dropped out of?

Fuck Boston!

I wonder how much they “dramatized” Bird? Was he always such an ornery, disgusting redneck?

Or was that in the early days?

When does EJ sashay onto the screen?

When his daddy starts sucking white basketball players cocks& swallows! 2 faggots together.

Who else thought the locker room full frontal scene tonight was ridiculous That looked like a white man's cock on a black guy. Can't they afford to get one made that's the right color?

R37 it looked like it belonged to that guy.

Here’s a video give you a idea how good Larry Bird was.

Here’s one more. The story told at the 24 minute mark by Tiny Archibald is hilarious!

Makes me wonder what would have been the outcome had Bird gone to the Lakers in the draft.

I’m bummed there’s only two more episodes left. Will there be a second season to the show?

No, unfortunately, the season finale is next weekend. I love this show. Yes, there will be a second season, thank God. Can't wait.

I watched some old film on Bird today. Several people have put together great footage of his best stuff. Damn he was an ugly looking man (still is) but damn could he fucking play ball. What a talent. And what a smartass.

R41: The Lakers didn't have a first-round draft pick in 1978, when Larry was drafted (at #6) by the Celtics. But I suspect fans of the Trailblazers, Kings, Pacers, Knicks & Warriors have all probably wondered "What might have been?"

The Lakers had the first round pick in '79, and picked Johnson. The Celtics were smart to wait for Bird, it paid off well.

The Celtics always came off as racially motivated, hunting and pecking for the best of the white players. I hated them even more for this.

[quote]Yes, there will be a second season, thank God. Can't wait.

Me, too! I would imagine S2 will pick up the story in the 1981-82 season. The Lakers' 1980-81 season was a bust/not worth remembering. Magic missed 45 games due to injury & they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by a lower-seeded team (Rockets). Things got interesting again in 1981-82. Magic butted heads with Westhead & requested a trade six games into the new season -- which resulted in Westhead being fired & Pat Riley being promoted to head coach. The Lakers returned to the Finals that year and beat the Sixers (again).

I also wouldn't be surprised if they fast-forwarded to the 1983-84 season -- when the Lakers & Celtics met in the Finals for the first time during the Magic-Bird era.

I’m enjoying it immensely. I signed on when I learned Sally Field was cast. I’ll watch everything she does. Reilly gives a Reilly performance, over the top and nuanced at the same time. I might be in the minority but I don’t think the Kareem actor is good at all. I think the role either plays to the actors limits or he’s underplaying. The actor playing Magic is terrific and he’s really caught his charisma.

An anachronism, of sorts, jumped out at me instantly during the final episode. Only an older, hardcore Lakers-fan would have caught it.

In the waning moments of Game 6 vs. Philly, the writers had Chick Hearn utter his famous phrase: "This game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-o is jiggling!"

*sound of a needle scratching across a record*

NOPE! There was no Jello-jiggling in 1980! Chick had yet to tack that onto "and the butter's getting hard". I can't recall exactly when he began adding it, but it was definitely in the latter years of the decade . James Worthy's mother came up with it & suggested it to Chick.

As an aside: Michael Cooper (Cooooooooop!) & Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell both have GREAT podcasts in which they interview former teammates, as well as their old rivals. Highly recommend both. They are extremely fun & interesting to watch. They all respect each other & get along (mostly), but are still so salty & petty about those Lakers-Celtics battles. Love it!

I loved when the fans would yell Cooooop! Sounded like Booooo!

I love this show. It brings back great memories of being there in the Forum.

It was a magic time for me.

For the Lakers fans. Chick's greatest hits:

Stu and Chick had a decent rapport. Chick had to be a bitch to work under.

^^ For real....Chick was something else! And that's why we we grew to loved Stu.....he knew how to deal with Chick

Loved this past episode! So this Sunday is the last episode? How long do we have to wait until the 2nd season?

This PAST Sunday WAS the final episode for season 1. I only know that it was picked up for season 2. You might try some of the trade sites for additional information.

The guy who plays Norm Nixon really does it for me. Adrien Brody is brilliant in this

It's so shitty it's been cancelled.

The Lakers go on to beat the Celtics the next two times they meet in the final (85, 87). It was rather brilliant to end season two with 84 loss., knowing redemption was coming. But now we can't see it.

Damn.

Fun fact: My gayling self was madly in love with James Worthy.

I loved the show and finished last night. I’m also disappointed it won’t continue. I don’t even give a shit about basketball but this show was exciting and fun.