My review of "Winning Time"

[SWC75]

I’ve now watched all ten episodes of what will now be the first season and was wonderfully entertained by this audacious, fast-paced show. I love the scenes where Jerry Buss addresses the audience and was sorry that there were fewer of them after the amazing opener. The cast is wonderful. John C. Reilly is perfect as the ever-smiling but often troubled Dr. Jerry Buss, (I doubt Will Ferrell would have been as good). Sally Field is wonderful as his mother and Hadley Robinson as his under- appreciated daughter, Jeannie, (who now owns the team), and Gabby Hoffman as Buss’ chief assistant are also excellent. Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes both look and act like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The coaches, Tracy Letts as Jack McKinney, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead and Adrien Brody as Pat Reilly, all do a good job and the many other roles seem well-cast.

I’d give the show a ‘10’ except for the portrayal of Jerry West, which has been heavily criticized by everyone who knew Jerry and by Jerry himself, who appears to be ready to sue the producers. I’ve only seen Jerry West on TV but he always seemed like a polite southern gentleman. That he would have to be more than that to be the competitor he was is not surprising. I’ve read that he had a lot of inner turmoil but not that he was the temperamental, profane, self-involved jerk we see here. It made me wonder how much of what we see in this series is true and how much of it is not. There’s such a thing as literary license and that may be necessary to turn the cacophony of life into a story but that doesn’t excuse character assassination.

I also question the characterization of Paul Westhead as a weakling who doesn’t realize that he’s going to have to argue with the referees. Westhead had been the head coach at LaSalle for 9 years before this and had successful teams there. That’s not the NBA but Westhead shouldn’t have been that far over his head coaching the Lakers. He’d never been an assistant to Jack McKinney before the 1979-80 season yet he’s depicted as a long-time McKinney loyalist who is told by Jack that McKinney hired him because he knew that Westhead would never be a threat to his job or to leave for another. This just doesn’t seem right.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com

The official website for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO, featuring interviews, schedule information, behind the scenes exclusives, and more.

www.hbo.com

 

[MikeSU02]

I’ve now watched all ten episodes of what will now be the first season and was wonderfully entertained by this audacious, fast-paced show. I love the scenes where Jerry Buss addresses the audience and was sorry that there were fewer of them after the amazing opener. The cast is wonderful. John C. Reilly is perfect as the ever-smiling but often troubled Dr. Jerry Buss, (I doubt Will Ferrell would have bene as good). Sally Filed is wonderful as his mother and Hadley Robinson as his under- appreciated daughter, Jeannie, (who now owns the team), and Gabby Hoffman as Buss’ chief assistant are also excellent. Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes both look and act like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The coaches, Tracy Letts as Jack McKinney, Jason Segal as Paul Westhead and Adrien Brody as Pat Reilly, all do a good job and the many other roles seem well-cast.

I’d give the show a ‘10’ except for the portrayal of Jerry West, which has bene heavily criticized by everyone who knew Jerry and by Jerry himself, who appears to be ready to sue the producers. I’ve only seen Jerry West on TV but he always seemed like a polite southern gentleman. That he would have to be more than that to be the competitor he was is not surprising. I’ve read that he had a lot of inner turmoil but not that he was the temperamental, profane, self-involved jerk we see here. It made me wonder how much of what we see in this series is true and how much of it is not. There’s such a thing as literary license and that may be necessary to turn the cacophony of life into a story but that doesn’t excuse character assassination.

I also question the characterization of Paul Westhead as a weakling who doesn’t realize that he’s going to have to argue with the referees. Westhead had been the head coach at LaSalle for 9 years before this and had successful teams there. That’s not the NBA but Westhead shouldn’t have been that far over his head coaching the Lakers. He’d never been an assistant to Jack McKinney before the 1979-80 season yet he’s depicted as a long-time McKinney loyalist who is told by Jack that McKinney hired him because he knew that Westhead would never be a threat to his job or to leave for another. This just doesn’t seem right.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com

The official website for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO, featuring interviews, schedule information, behind the scenes exclusives, and more.

www.hbo.com

You are right about Reilly, overall, especially the potential for this to falter if they had gone with Ferrell. I just don't think he could have pulled off what Reilly does.

This show goes out of its way to say its a dramatization. More so than any other tv show or movie, imo, that covers sports. Rudy, Remember the Titans, etc... these stories are always changed for TV. And it happens for everything on TV/movies outside of sports, as well. These are not documentaries (which, I'm not saying you disagree with, just in general).

I honestly don't think the West portrayal is bad. He has admitted the pains that losing caused him, how hard his early life was, how he didn't want to be coaching, etc. Now, are some of the actions of the character almost cartoonish, maybe, but what came about was a guy that has a level of self-awareness (the coaching thing, for instance), a guy that is insanely competitive and a guy that is acknowledged as having a wealth of basketball brilliance.

Bird, Red, Westhead, imo, all have better cases for being upset about their portrayals. But even then, I'm fine with it for entertainment and production purposes (it's a 10 ep season, not 25). Also, I think the Dr J actor could have been better cast for that role. Nothing against the actor, but he was not conveying just how cool Dr J was.

I actually think they went light on the Spencer Haywood stuff. That whole situation was insane. INSANE. I believe he was planning on cutting the brakes on Westhead's car in real life. If that whole situation happened now, the Internet would explode.

Finally, I think they did pretty well with the in-game scenes. Those are always tough and I thought it wasn't bad.

I'll be interested in where they jump to next. There are a lot of places to go to and I'm excited for the next season.

 

[SWC75]

You are right about Reilly, overall, especially the potential for this to falter if they had gone with Ferrell. I just don't think he could have pulled off what Reilly does.

This show goes out of its way to say its a dramatization. More so than any other tv show or movie, imo, that covers sports. Rudy, Remember the Titans, etc... these stories are always changed for TV. And it happens for everything on TV/movies outside of sports, as well. These are not documentaries (which, I'm not saying you disagree with, just in general).

I honestly don't think the West portrayal is bad. He has admitted the pains that losing caused him, how hard his early life was, how he didn't want to be coaching, etc. Now, are some of the actions of the character almost cartoonish, maybe, but what came about was a guy that has a level of self-awareness (the coaching thing, for instance), a guy that is insanely competitive and a guy that is acknowledged as having a wealth of basketball brilliance.

Bird, Red, Westhead, imo, all have better cases for being upset about their portrayals. But even then, I'm fine with it for entertainment and production purposes (it's a 10 ep season, not 25). Also, I think the Dr J actor could have been better cast for that role. Nothing against the actor, but he was not conveying just how cool Dr J was.

I actually think they went light on the Spencer Haywood stuff. That whole situation was insane. INSANE. I believe he was planning on cutting the brakes on Westhead's car in real life. If that whole situation happened now, the Internet would explode.

Finally, I think they did pretty well with the in-game scenes. Those are always tough and I thought it wasn't bad.

I'll be interested in where they jump to next. There are a lot of places to go to and I'm excited for the next season.

I sent for both Jeff Pearlman's and Jerry West's books to try to find out for myself how true a portrayal of Jerry that is. From what I've read in articles, no one associated with the Lakers at that time considers it accurate. My feeling right now is that a comparison could be made to Bobby Jones, not the basketball player but the great golfer who won the grand slam back in 1930 and then quit at age 28 because the pressure to excel was too great. He has the outward demeanor of a calm southern gentleman but a lot of inner turmoil.

The "it's not a documentary" defense doesn't ring true. Anything to have any weight to it has to have some basis in reality. You can't just trash somebody and say it's necessary to do so to tell your story.

 

[MikeSU02]

I sent for both Jeff Pearlman's and Jerry West's books to try to find out for myself how true a portrayal of Jerry that is. From what I've read in articles, no one associated with the Lakers at that time considers it accurate. My feeling right now is that a comparison could be made to Bobby Jones, not the basketball player but the great golfer who won the grand slam back in 1930 and then quit at age 28 because the pressure to excel was too great. He has the outward demeanor of a calm southern gentleman but a lot of inner turmoil.

The "it's not a documentary" defense doesn't ring true. Anything to have any weight to it has to have some basis in reality. You can't just trash somebody and say it's necessary to do so to tell your story.

I legitimately don't think they are trashing West, honestly. I don't get to the end of the show and think that he is anything but a highly competitive dude who has trouble dealing with people that don't have his level of basketball brilliance that had to deal with some tough stuff growing up. Did they make him more visibly emotional? Probably. But a key character just stewing in a corner with anger and turmoil isn't going to land on a tv series like this. Is that worthy of a lawsuit? I guess we'll see.

But the other thing is that *every* show or movie that is based on a true story takes liberties. And most are pretty extensive. It happens all the time and is almost universal. Like I said, I'm not sure of a sports movie or show that is based on a true story that is fully accurate without leveraging dramatization and I can basically make that same statement for all media that's based on a true story.

They can sue, I just don't think it will go anywhere and just sort of reinforce how they are portraying him.

The other thing is that an insulated group or an individual will always view reality differently than how others, outside of that viewpoint, view them.

I dunno, I just think the Lakers/West got upset right off the bat and didn't let the show get its sea legs and made it an issue when they should have let it go.

 

[Orangezoo]

I legitimately don't think they are trashing West, honestly. I don't get to the end of the show and think that he is anything but a highly competitive dude who has trouble dealing with people that don't have his level of basketball brilliance that had to deal with some tough stuff growing up. Did they make him more visibly emotional? Probably. But a key character just stewing in a corner with anger and turmoil isn't going to land on a tv series like this. Is that worthy of a lawsuit? I guess we'll see.

But the other thing is that *every* show or movie that is based on a true story takes liberties. And most are pretty extensive. It happens all the time and is almost universal. Like I said, I'm not sure of a sports movie or show that is based on a true story that is fully accurate without leveraging dramatization and I can basically make that same statement for all media that's based on a true story.

They can sue, I just don't think it will go anywhere and just sort of reinforce how they are portraying him.

The other thing is that an insulated group or an individual will always view reality differently than how others, outside of that viewpoint, view them.

I dunno, I just think the Lakers/West got upset right off the bat and didn't let the show get its sea legs and made it an issue when they should have let it go.

Yeah by the end of the show West is seen more as just the passionate winner he was and a guy who truly appreciated his time as a player more after getting into a GM like role. Overall I thought it was an OK first season although they could have gone 20 episodes and packed a lot more in. Just didn't flow great for me.

 

[MSOrange]

I have not seen the series so I can't comment, but this is a good article about Jerry West that came out in Sports Illustrated about 10 years ago.

Jerry West discusses his success & his depression

Here's the trouble with the gods: They don't come clean. Not even to fellow gods. So maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe Jerry West couldn't do what he would love

vault.si.com

 

[SWC75]

I have not seen the series so I can't comment, but this is a good article about Jerry West that came out in Sports Illustrated about 10 years ago.

Jerry West discusses his success & his depression

Here's the trouble with the gods: They don't come clean. Not even to fellow gods. So maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe Jerry West couldn't do what he would love

vault.si.com

Jerry certainly has a lot going on in his mind but I noticed this comment: "I'm not looking for sympathy. I'm just telling the truth. You'd probably never know I was in it, I mask it so well." Also "His humility was as critical as his eagle eye. He could stand quietly on the edges and observe his players, figure out what their egos needed, and supply it." and "Worthy, one of the stars on the Showtime Lakers, says in West by West. "He internalizes his thoughts so much, it looks like pain." You don't need to show a guy swearing like Tommy Lasorda to reveal character. You can pick certain moments where he reveals himself to someone close to him or to someone he's counseling. My idea of exercising dramatic license is the fact that Pat Riley became Chick Hearn's broadcast partner in 1977, not 1979. It's not making Jerry West look like a jerk when wasn't.

 

[MikeSU02]

I have not seen the series so I can't comment, but this is a good article about Jerry West that came out in Sports Illustrated about 10 years ago.

Jerry West discusses his success & his depression

Here's the trouble with the gods: They don't come clean. Not even to fellow gods. So maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe Jerry West couldn't do what he would love

vault.si.com

What a totally normal person. /s

If they put this in the TV show, everyone would have complained.

Like that night in Honolulu during training camp, recounted in the book, when, as G.M., Jerry took 15 members of the Lakers' front office and scouting department to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House and returned his steak to the kitchen twice because it wasn't cooked as he'd requested. He insisted on eating it when the cook got it wrong a third time, insisted on paying for it even when the manager told him there would be no charge, insisted that he would never come back again if he were not charged ... but then was so incensed when he was charged that he walked out of the restaurant, leaving his 15 guests in awkward silence, and returned with four cheesecakes from a nearby restaurant for everyone to eat right in front of the bewildered manager. He'd go back to his hotel room or his home after nights like that and lie awake, feeding kindling to the glowing embers, turning slights into flaming grudges. Blazes too magnificent for any steak-house manager but just right to roast an opposing guard or general manager.