Hey Lakers fans, cheer up. You’ll finally get to see the team return to its winning ways...except it’s on an HBO limited series. (I’m sorry, that was mean, but LeBron did just say the team doesn’t measure up, so let’s just call it the harsh truth.)
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty premieres Sunday, March 6 at 9/8c, with the 10 episode series examining “the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers,” per a press release provided to The Root.
If you lived in LA in the ‘80s nothing was bigger than the Showtime Lakers. At a time when Los Angeles was becoming increasingly divided across class and race lines, the Lakers united the city. Of course, that didn’t last long.
If you haven’t seen the trailer for the upcoming series, heads up; it has a little profanity, so you should use headphones if you’re in public. In fact, you should always use headphones in public. Don’t be that person.
The series is based on the Jeff Pearlman book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, and the team will include Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, DeVaughn Nixon as Norm Nixon, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tamera Tomakili as Earleatha “Cookie” Kelly, Delante Desouza as Michael Cooper and Jimel Atkins as Jamaal Wilkes.
The project is not without controversy, as Lakers legend Magic Johnson is firmly in the “not planning to watch” category. As we previously reported at The Root, Magic told TMZ, “I’m not looking forward to it. I’ll leave it at that.” He went on to say that his reasons were mainly competitive.
“We got different shows coming out,” he said. “I got one, then Jeanie Buss [Lakers owner and team president] got one on Showtime coming out. Those are the ones I’m looking forward to.”
Magic may be genuinely concerned about diluting the market with similar content, but I also imagine no one wants their business put in the streets if they can’t control the narrative.
Well, sorry, Magic. I get the feeling Lakers Nation is very excited about this one, and you won’t be able to avoid it. And frankly, it’s going to be the best thing that happens to the Lakers all season.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty premieres Sunday, March 6 at 9/8c on HBO, then becomes available on HBO Max.