Winning Time: True or Not True
HBO’s Winning Time on Lakers former star player Magic Johnson has been one of the streaming network’s most popular shows since Game of Thrones. It offers insight into one of the most exciting franchises in NBA history. Still, while the show might be highly appealing to the ordinary person, some of the players and coaches from that time in the franchise didn’t have the same reaction.
HBO has prided itself on the fact that it can personify the flashiness and flare that the Showtime era had to offer; HBO even allowed its writer some creative freedom to create the most over-the-top and appealing version of the Los Angeles Lakers. Winning Time has received an influx of positive reviews, the same can’t be said for the real-life equivalent of some of the characters in the show. A lot of the athletes that are in the show have come out and said, “They have no interest in the show and were not consulted in the creative and writing process.” That can prove to be a massive problem in the form of accuracy in writing the actual show.
Jerry West, a Laker legend and NBA logo who was portrayed by actor Jason Clarke, had his legal team send a letter to HBO, specifically the producer of the show, Adam McKay, petitioning for a “reaction and a public apology from HBO.” The letter that Jerry West and his legal team sent claimed that HBO falsely portrayed Jerry West as an “out of control and intoxicated rage-alcoholic.” Jerry West says he’s the exact opposite in real life of the man portrayed as him in the show. Jerry West had players like Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Michael Cooper, and Jamaal Wilkes along with people from the Lakers front office such as Claire Rothman, Charlene Kenney, Bob Steiner, and Mitch Kupchak all provide letters and responses to the show that denies Jerry West’s behavior in real life.
Magic Johnson, a Laker legend and former star point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers is portrayed by actor Quincey Isaiah. In an interview with Variety, Magic Johnson said publicly that he has zero interest in watching the show. Magic also said, “You can’t do a show on the Lakers without the Lakers. The real Lakers. You have to have the guys. There’s no duplicate of Showtime. I don’t care who you get.” He also was quoted saying that HBO didn’t reach out to him or his teammates to have a role or participate in the series.
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, another Laker legend and one of the all-time greatest, is played by actor Solomon Hughes. Kareem said in a Substack blog post that, “he has no real interest in watching the show.” Kareem claims just as Jerry West and Magic Johnson do that some of the events that take place in the show are not factual and it’s a product of “lazy writing” by the producers. Kareem criticizes the plot and how the characters in the show are portrayed. Kareem says, “There is an amazing, compelling, culturally insightful story to tell here, but Winning Time just ain’t it.”
Despite all of these disparities between the writers at HBO and the real-life players, I personally have found the show very amusing and fun to watch. This show is not factual according to the players who lived through these experiences, so be aware of this.
By Avner Belsky