If the 1980s was the undisputed decade of glamor and decadence, then the Lakers of Dr. Jerry Bass and Pat Riley, Magic and Kareem, Jack Nicholson and the Paula Abdul dance crew clearly took center stage as the living embodiment of the sports world, and the League was in desperate need of such an entertainment infusion. .
It was, after all, the heyday of Showtime, even if HBO wasn’t about to name its brilliant new series depicting a brilliant, transformative era for the NBA and America after one of its rival networks.
The star-studded and insanely entertaining film Victory Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will be shown on Sunday night. The 10-episode opening season, the first eight episodes of which were shown by The Post, offers a winning formula to match the rise and dramatic failings of a team that has won five championships and made it to the NBA Finals eight times in 10 years. .
The Lakers’ rivalry with the Celtics — and, in particular, point guard standout Ervin “Magic” Johnson’s rivalry with longtime rival Larry Bird — propelled the league to new financial heights and popularity, and set the stage for the next eras involving Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
“Absolutely. It’s the story of a dynasty. It’s the story of an American dynasty,” showrunner Max Borenstein said in a phone interview Friday. “We don’t have royalty in this country. We have a celebrity.
Win Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty HBO Max
“And in the case of the NBA, it was the moment for a tier four or fifth league because of the alchemy of putting the Magic together in Los Angeles and picking Byrd in Boston and the very specific vision of Jerry Buss. of what sport could be if it was combined with the sex and entertainment of a Hollywood-style show, changed the league and really changed the sport.”
The show, based on Jeff Perlman’s 2014 book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, begins with Johnson being informed of his HIV diagnosis at Cedars Sinai Hospital in 1991.
The ensuing flashback to the rest of the first season immediately leads you to believe that the show’s producers are planning to stick around for more than one TV campaign. The story immediately jumps back to 1979, when avid playboy Buss buys the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke and hires Johnson—the 6-foot-9 NCAA Michigan State champion—with the first pick overall. project of that year.
Oscar winner Adam McKay directed the pilot episode, and fans will unmistakably note the visual style is reminiscent of his acclaimed 2021 films The Big Short, Power, and Don’t Look Up. Others, including Jonah Hill, took over the reins thereafter, but Borenstein and the writers continued to push various McKay-trademark crossover storylines of characters breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to viewers.
Adrien Brody as Pat Reilly Warrick Page/HBO
The cast is an incredible mix of unknown actors playing superstars Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes) and famous supporting stars like Sally Field as Bass’s mother Jessie, Michael Chiklis as Red Auerbach and Adrian Brody as Riley, who opens the first season as a former down-and-out player long before turning into a slick-haired, Armani-clad frontman at the end of the decade.
Riley takes a job as a television analyst and then moves to the coaching staff under Paul Westhead (Jason Segel) when team legend Jerry West (Jason Clarke), original head coach replacement Jack McKinney (Tracey Letts), was out after just 14 games after a serious bike accident.
However, it was comedy and drama veteran John C. Reilly—with a varied resume that included memorable roles in films as diverse as Chicago and Step Brothers—who took over the lead role of Jerry Bass after being originally cast as actor Michael Shannon backed out.
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Bass Reilly serves as the show’s central figure and narrator, much more so than any of the team’s players, and Bass’s relationships with prominent women in the cast – his mother, his daughter and eventual successor Jeanie (Hadley Robinson) and the Forum’s groundbreaking general manager Claire Rothman (Gaby Hoffmann) – talk about some of the show’s most priceless and memorable moments.
“The biggest blessing that could ever happen to us is finding our way to John S. Reilly,” Borenstein said. “I’ve loved him as a fan for years in both comedies and dramas, but this role gives him the opportunity to do his best.”
Norm Nixon’s son DeVon Nixon also skillfully portrays his father pranking the team prior to Johnson’s arrival, while personal favorite Wood Harris (Remember the Titans, The Wire) plays a supporting role as an imported former Knicks big man and possible Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood.
Of course, one of the ongoing criticisms of many sports shows or movies is that the game scenes don’t always feel authentic. (Of course, the football scenes from Ted Lasso come to mind.)
Win Time is about the Lakers from Showtime in the 80s. HBO Max
However, any flaws in the on-court scenes don’t seem all that out of place because Hughes, the 6’11 former Cal center as the surly and reasonable Kareem and Isaiah as the effervescent Magic, capture their off-court personalities in impressive detail. right down to his infectious smile.
To this end, although the opening credits note that some events are fictional or made up for the time frame, Borenstein emphasized that “we want to tell the audience that we have made great efforts to follow the truth, and that in fact this was our main rule “.
Thus, Johnson’s infidelities and his on-and-off relationship with his hometown girl and eventual wife, Cookie, are not swept under the carpet at all, nor is the reason UNLV’s Jerry Tarkanian (Rory Cochrane from Dazed and Downed) confused” fame) turned down the Lakers’ appearance before McKinney was hired to replace West.
“This story is definitely something we wanted to explore, warts and all, aspects of this city, celebrity, fame and fortune, and all of its downsides. It’s very personal to me,” said Borenstein, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. “I hope people enjoy it and we get the chance to film a second season.
“We will do our best to keep working. I think we can really tell an American epic, a story of a dynasty that is still just as compelling.”