Amph Arena Winning Time: The Rise of The Lakers Dynasty

Naturally I'm rather excited for this; some of this casting is spot-on (Reilly as Buss, Quincy Isaiah as Magic), and I do like this a mini-series/docudrama, as opposed to another documentary/talking head production.



Aside from my nonsense, I'm curious to see if anybody else around here, even beyond the usual basketball crowd (HBO's been promoting this rather heavily) is interested & will be watching. The NBA wouldn't be where it is today without the efforts of Buss & company (along with their counterparts in Boston) in the 80's (though I don't think this covers the entire decade); love, hate or indifferent to them, the Showtime Lakers made quite the cultural mark.

 

The Lakers have carried the NBA to levels that can’t even be made into numbers. The L.A. vs Boston days were classic Basketball that were a big part of my childhood. I don’t have HBO, but I really would like to see this show. When I say show, I mean they pretty much invented the meaning of the NBA show.

 

I was on the Boston side of that equation (with Parish being my favorite), but man, what a time for basketball.

 

As one of the all-time great point guards, his ball-handling skills are superb, so…

 

Yeah, John C. Reilly was superb, though the 4th wall stuff didn't bother me... it was the going back in cinematography styles in the same damn scene that irked me. Also, concerning West, he was indeed a tortured soul as a coach, etc, given how so much of his playing career went, but this first episode essentially glosses over the fact that the Lakers won the title in the '71-'72 season (with a 33-game winning streak, no less), West's only one as a player; you see the banner up in the Forum rafters briefly at the end of the episode, but that's it.



Did a good job, though, with the other historical stuff: West's insistence they draft Moncrief, since they already had Norm Nixon (played by his real-life son!), Kareem's prickish attitude. Also really liked the lunch scene between Buss, Magic, his father & Cooke.

 

Season 1 was a wheels of Jerry West.
Looks like Pat Riley will be taking his lead in Season 2.

 

If they're going to do a multi-year season, then ideally they'd end with the '84 Finals, and have season 3 focus on '85-'87.

 

First season was excellent. Glad to see S2 is already coming out soon.

 

Well Winning Time season 2 premieres to tonight. A show about the Lakers Dynasty from the '80's. A completely over the top portrayal of the actual events that consistently breaks the fourth wall while the episodes are going on. But at the same time thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

Haven't watched the premiere episode of season 2 yet but the season 2 reviews are pretty good so far. Season 2 should cover the '80-'84 seasons.

 

Loved S1. Didn't know that S2 was this far along.

Being from Boston, I loved the episodes showing the city in the 70s, how dirty and disgusting it was, along with their rivalry.

 

Yeah Boston should have an even bigger presence this season. Even though history makes it sound like they battled each other throughout the entire decade they didn't actually start facing off against each other in the finals until the mid '80's. Hope this series goes all the way up to when Jordan and the Bulls start winning their titles in the early 90's.

 

They are releasing podcasts along with each episode and it is interesting to hear the things that they fictionalized.

 

First ep was great. Same feeling and quality as S1.

 

@AvarandElzarsittininatree That is where the book ends but it's a very short blurb. There is quite a bit but not a ton about that season including their expected run in the playoffs but once it got to the finals it was very short. On a side note I find it interesting and that had the Lakers won that series, it would been Magic sixth NBA title the same number Jordan wound up so basically that series in retrospect ultimately decided who have six titles...Magic or Michael? We all know how that ended obviously.

And while I love the series and thought last night was a great season opener, I can see why many former Lakers are honked off. It's sensationalized to the highest degree lol.

 

Yeah I can completely understand why many of the real people involved don't care too much for the series as it is a very over the top portrayal and is pretty much just as much comedy as it is an actual story of the events that occurred.

 

I mean....there's a reason why you get John C Riley in the top spot. it's a historical drama, but under the context of 4th wall breaking comedy, bordering on satire.

And that's not something we're always used to in historical dramas. They're usually played straight and serious. Almost like Oscar bait. But like The Great on Hulu, there's room for other ways of doing stories about history.

 

It's really just comes down to a ratings thing as more people would likely watch a comedic version of a sports team than a serious depiction of one.

A serious depiction of this story has pretty much already been made anyways in the 30 for 30 Lakers vs Celtics documentary.

 

Strong-ish start to season 2; the Kareem-Magic drama/Westhead's belief in his system (that's doomed to cause more issues) was done well, as was the Johnson family decision to have Magic be there after the birth of the son the public doesn't really know about. The Buss family dynamic between the dud sons & Jeanie is good, too, but honestly the focus should just be on Jeanine there. Would have liked to see a little more Claire, too. Adrien Brody as Riley is going to be standout this season.



Line of the episode, during the dinner scene with Buss, Auerbach & company- Sharman quips (after a proposal to put the NBA on cable): "Nobody is going to pay for TV."

 

Anyone watch episode 2? The stuff with Jerry & Honey was weak, but the drama between Norm & Magic, Paul & Pat was good stuff. Angry Jerry West remains endlessly entertaining. Have a feeling the Lakers '81-'82 season will go better than '80-'81.

 

I liked it. Good ep.