Winning Time Review: A terribly fun basketball series
Quincy Isaiah as Irwin “Magic” Johnson Photo: Warrick Page / HBO
One of the fundamental myths of modern professional sport begins with the idea that the National Basketball Association lost its way in the 1970s, becoming a niche league for a variety of reasons, including a lack of sympathetic players – or, in short, used by television presenters of the era behind closed doors, lack of white players. And then the 1979 NCAA Basketball Championship broke the ratings record for a game between Indiana farm boy Larry Bird and screaming Michigan kid Irwin “Magic” Johnson, both of whom were about to become NBA rookies. Bird and Magic will continue to dominate professional basketball in the 1980s, setting the stage for future stars and helping to turn the sport into an international phenomenon.
All this is true … hey. The reality was more complicated. The NBA from the 1970s was much richer in charismatic characters and sublime drama than common wisdom would suggest; and the 1980s had its share of ugly scandals. The two eras clashed in the exciting Los Angeles Lakers teams of the 1980s, which had exciting moments on the court and some messy moments in the locker room – all reflected in vivid detail in the delicate book by sports reporter Jeff Pearlman Show : Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty from the 1980s, and now in his energetic and entertaining television adaptation, Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty.
Winning Time was co-created by Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, who have their names in almost every script. But the biggest name in the titles is Adam McKay, a basketball-loving, screenwriter-producer-director who made a name for himself with Will Ferrell’s cleverly silly comedies like Anchorman and Talladega Nights before moving on to political films like The Big Short and Don’t Look up. McKay directed the first of 10 episodes of the season (eight of which were submitted for review) and the series has his stamp. He is very similar to The Big Short in the way he conveys complex information about history, strategy, finances and personal conflicts, with a combination of illustrations, humorous screen text and characters who break the fourth wall to speak directly to the camera.
Time to Win: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
B +
B +
Time to Win: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
Created by
Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht; based on Jeff Pearlman’s Showtime: Magic, Karim, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
Starring
John C. Riley, Quincy Isaiah, Solomon Hughes, Hadley Robinson, Gabby Hoffman, Adrian Brody, Jason Siegel, Tracy Letts, Jason Clark
Premieres
Sunday, March 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO
Formatting
Simultaneous sports drama; eight episodes watched for review
John C. Riley plays Jerry Buss, the insolent playboy in LA and real estate mogul who bought the Lakers in 1979 and changed the team’s image and reputation, making their The Forum arena one of the city’s hotspots. Riley plays the character as a mixture of a river boat gambler, a swindler, a lustful scumbag and a lost soul: a man who misrepresents his finances to buy a team drowning in red ink and then keeps his creditors at bay for as long as he can, hoping the Lakers can make the long run in the playoffs and generate enough revenue to keep him out of bankruptcy.
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Pearlman’s book spans a decade of the Lakers saga; and Winning Time began with a scene in 1991 when Magic Johnson discovered he was HIV positive. But the action of the first season took place mainly in 1979 and 80, covering the steps taken by Buss and his staff to turn a lost franchise into one of the NBA’s flagships. The season weaves three main threads. The first includes Buss, the undisputed champion who seeks the respect of NBA blue-blooded men as Boston Celtics CEO Red Auerbach (Michael Chicklis), while leaning on his hard-working daughter Ginny (Hadley Robinson) and the shrewd business manager of Foreman Hoffman) to find every corner they can to push money out of the arena and the team. The show is very good at turning Buss’ business deals and macho into a TV-ready drama, where every argument and maneuver with long shots is a big bet.
The second thread includes a key component of the Lakers’ renaissance: Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah), a dynamic player with a big, bright personality who seems poised to be the next NBA superstar. But first, Johnson must overcome the bitter disapproval of his strict Christian parents, his inexperience when it comes to life-changing financial decisions, and his insatiable sexual appetite. Winning Time is packed with well-known actors, but even more impressive are newcomers like Isaiah and Solomon Hughes (played by Karim Abdul-Jabar), who not only imitate famous hoop stars, but also dig deep into what they are. has pushed.
Adrian Brody as Pat Riley Photo: Warrick Page / HBO
The last main topic of the series is related to the clash between past, current and future Lakers coaches. Jason Clark plays Jerry West, a highly driven former player who leaves his concert as head coach to save his sanity but remains as a consultant. Tracy Letts plays Jack McKinney, the new head coach, a tough supervisor with an innovative scheme to turn the Lakers into a fast-breaking machine non-stop. Jason Siegel is McKinney’s loyal assistant, Paul Westhead, who doubts himself as an intellectual. And in the shadows lurks Pat Riley (Adrian Brody), another former player with a sharp mind, a deep understanding of psychology and a desire to do whatever it takes to succeed. All four of these actors are heavy hitters, and the way they play their petty quarrels is a kick to watch.
Not everything the Borenstein / Hecht / McKay team tries here pays off. It’s great that they have the power to fill even the smallest roles with the best actors; but it’s hard not to be disappointed when people like Lola Kirk, Julian Nicholson and Gillian Jacobs show up (playing the wives of West, McKinney and Riley, respectively) and don’t do much but react to the main characters. The show also goes beyond the “retro” visual style, using a variety of techniques to make images look like faded and battered old movie footage or fuzzy home video. The trick can be distracting at times. Rarely adds much.
John C. Riley as Jerry Buss Photo: Warrick Page / HBO
However, Winning Time is obviously the work of people who know and love basketball history. They like to shoot in sweaty gyms and maze corridors under the Forum. They like to make references to the cult basketball movie “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” and the banal old opening animation “NBA On CBS”. They like to pause an episode for a few seconds to point out that the woman the Buss hire to be the Laker Girls’ chief choreographer is Paula Abdul, or to point out that when the Lakers play the Clippers, one of the people in the crowd is the newborn. Kobe Bryant, son of Clippers striker Joe “Jellybean” Bryant.
The writing team has their favorite topics. They explore how almost every one of their characters is driven by broken relationships with their parents. Winning Time often introduces flashbacks to show how West’s difficult childhood in West Virginia or how activist Abdul-Jabar feuded with his father, a transit cop in New York. The show also delves into the subtle (and not-so-subtle) racism that underlies the promotion of the Magic / Bird Rival League, and the coded words used by NBA executives to describe white and black players.
Overall, however, Winning Time is not heavy or preaching. Mostly he switches between affectionate, intrusive and playfully ironic. It’s a portrait of the NBA’s abyss of great transformation, thanks to new stars and new corporate partners (including Nike, whose failed Magic shoe presentation is the storyline in one episode). This is a show about how creating something great and lasting is hard work and how not everyone involved goes out without a hitch. Winning Time is for one of the golden ages of the sport, yes; but it is also about the vagueness of the concept itself. By incorporating many different perspectives, the Winning Time team makes it clear that, looking back, everyone has a different idea of what the golden age really was – and when and why it ended.
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