HBO's “Winning Time” gets another look, and a big thumbs up by me: Hulu’s “Lakers Legacy” is also great
33) The Derek Jeter documentary “Captain” was quite good too
In my initial assessment of HBO’s “Winning Time” on the Showtime 1980s Lakers, I got carried away by a few things in writing my initial review (which was certainly not impartial). I leaned heavily into the fact that the show did take a lot of liberties in their depiction of historical Lakers events during that time period. I also fell way too in love with the title of my piece “Winning Time is not a winner in my mind”. From there, my piece criticizing the show was already written in my head, and I just needed to put the pen to paper.
Prior to writing it, I only watched the pilot episode. I also watched a few interviews that Bob Ryan gave on the series, as well as other takes by notable hoop-heads, like Bill Simmons and Mark Stein. The anger former Lakers legends had around the show, with Magic Johnson shunning it, Jerry West’s hurt feelings as well as Kareem Abdul Jabbar eloquently critiquing it, certainly were very persuasive to me.
However, after initially publishing my critique of “Winning Time”, I felt an ever so slight pang of guilt, uncommon for me shortly after completing a written piece.
There were three telling signs that I paid close attention to, indicating that I really needed to reconsider my take on this show.
i- A good buddy of mine who is never quick to criticize anyone, but will definitely give you his perspective on things when warranted, texted me this -
“You wrote that after only watching one episode? It kind of discredits your stance if you haven’t even seen the show. I do agree that they did do Jerry West dirty, whether it was fictitious or even true! But, you also should have watched other episodes before you wrote that.” -EW
ii- A cousin of mine also texted me once he had completed the whole first season of the show. He loved it, even though he doesn’t even like basketball, and probably would have difficulty naming any professional player on an NBA roster not named LeBron, Steph Curry, or Kevin Durant.
“I meant to ask you for your take on the show, but then you wrote a newsletter about it. Seemed as if you were complimentary of the initial book. Either way, I don’t know anything about basketball, but I really enjoyed the show. I thought it was fun, as it obviously was not a documentary.” -JL
iii- I love Jeff Pearlman. I think he is a really good writer, and even more importantly a really standup guy. So, I felt a little bit bad about taking shots at the show that originated from his book, (Showtime: 1980s Lakers). But, again I made very clearly in my initial piece how much I enjoyed the book and I separated it from the show.
However, about a month after publishing the Winning Time piece, I actually pulled it from my site for a couple weeks out of guilt. I really didn’t want to insult Jeff Pearlman. I loved his other Lakers book, also. I also have had the pleasure of having a few pleasant email exchanges with him over the years, too.
I did end up re-publishing my initial critique/piece (without much fan fare or promotion) just so it can still be found in my archives.
I did this for 4 reasons:
I wrote it, and am proud to stand by my words. After-all that’s what writers do (or at least that’s what they should do!)
To the point of when writers/authors pull their work: From my perspective, they do this to curry favor with other people. I get it! I guess in my mind I was doing that too. Although I’m pretty sure my relationship with Jeff Pearlman is more like me being a fly buzzing around a horse’s eye (the horse being Jeff Pearlman). This is not a shot at him, or to belittle me. It’s just that, we all live on our own little worlds and universes. Also, there are quite a few of his books on my bookshelf, but none of mine are on his (not yet, at least).
It’s a bit of a moral dilemma where people feel like they need to tip-toe around certain opinions that might hurt other people's feelings. This is especially true in the social media era, where I personally know people on the “come-up” who have scrubbed their social media sites just so as to not attract the ire of a potential future employer.
I’m living my life as my authentic best self, showing people that it’s okay to have opinions that go against the grain, but also showing that opinions can change and people can evolve over time.
#3 is not just limited to someone partying and being recorded on IG or FB. But it actually is more so for a person’s unpopular opinions. Hence why some famous people are so good at giving great non-answer, answers in their interviews. Do you know who was actually fantastic at giving the non-answer, answer in interviews? It was none other than Derek Jeter! (More on on the Captain a little later).
I did watch “Winning Time” over the course of four days at the end of July.
I was genuinely captivated by the show, and found Quincy Isaiah and John C. Reilly, wonderful characters in their portrayal of Magic Johnson and Dr. Jerry Buss, respectively. The scene (in Episode 2) where Magic Johnson jumps into a pick-up basketball game in his hometown in Michigan, to completely dominate, bully and humiliate Cookie’s (then) boyfriend, was a real “WOW” moment.
And as I really got into the series, there was a certain rawness to the characters that I’m not sure was even fully captured in Jeff Pearlman’s book. I also actually thought Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s character wasn’t exactly the “stick-figure representation” Kareem claimed he was. He was shown to be more thoughtful and complicated, then I think critics gave the show credit for, including Kareem himself.
Ethan Strauss wrote a fascinating piece, that raised some interesting points about the real life Lakers organization of today compared to back when Jerry Buss first bought the team. The show still does depict Jerry West somewhat negatively, yet somehow shines Jeannie Buss in the most positive of lights. This is despite the fact that Jeannie Buss is certainly no fan of the show, either. The great irony in this, that Strauss very astutely points out, is the fact that Jeannie Buss is still the managing partner (and primary share holder) of the LA Lakers, and Jerry West has been on the outs with that franchise for many years, now.
Strauss’s keen insights shows us all how truth and fiction often overlap in the most interesting of ways. And, despite his largely accurate assessment, the Jerry West portrayal is certainly way more nuanced and charming then what many reported stories say, or what Bob Ryan would want you to believe.
As for the Hulu show on the Lakers “Legacy”, I’m not 100% sure if this show was in production to be rolled out right after Season 1 of “Winning Time” as a bit of a counterweight to the initial fictionalized HBO show about the 1980s Lakers. Four episodes have dropped so far, and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
The Apple TV “Magic Johnson” documentary is out too. It’s incredible that all three of these Laker Shows are out in succession. But, maybe it’s not that incredible. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was by design. But it certainly seems as if the roll out of some of these shows might have been a reaction to an initial action.
It’s easy to get lost in all this content. The hoop-head in me would love to go on a further deep dive and devote all my creative and professional energies in uncovering the connections between those three shows and Jeff Pearlman’s initial Lakers book. Afterall, I do love sports and the human interest angle in it all.
And even though I’m a New Yorker, through and through, I have always had a soft spot for the LA Lakers. They are the marquee franchise in the NBA much like how the Cowboys are the main franchise of the NFL and the Yankees are the marquee franchise of MLB. Although there are some die-hard Dodgers and Red Sox fans who would vehemently deny the Yankees of their hard earned and rightful perch in Major League Baseball.
Speaking of the allure and mystique of the Yankees: I know Aaron Judge has been a tremendous talent and an exemplary star wearing those pinstripes; But, can any Yankee in the modern era of baseball compare to the beloved retired captain of the Yankees? I mean can any player in recent memory compare to Derek Jeter across all 30 MLB teams?
In watching the Derek Jeter documentary series, I was amazed at how normal of a guy he comes across. How his wife, when she first met him, had no clue he was the starting short-stop, and the face of the NY Yankees. It’s almost as if Jeter found her more attractive by her lack of knowledge/interest in his professional sports stardom.
The Yankees clearly are the Yankees and are always (at the very least) in the periphery of NY culture, if not front and center! There certainly was an extra mystique about the Yankees from the time Derek Jeter joined the team in 1995. He became an instantaneous household name helping the Yankees win their first World Series victory in 1996, after a long 18 year drought.
Some things in the documentary jumped out to me more than others: It was interesting to hear from him, his family and teammates, how Jeter navigated the world as a biracial-black man with such a bright spotlight on him. I really liked his honesty in how despite having Won 5 World Series Championships, he was still bothered by which world series championships got away.
2001: The one that was right after 9/11, and is very well chronicled.
2003: How the Yankees lost this one after their epic win in the ALCS in 2003, is still baffling.
2004: Not just a collapse, but “THE COLLAPSE” of epic proportions.
I remember Jeter’s 3000th hit and how big of a deal that was. I also remember Jeter breaking his ankle in the 2012 postseason and how deflating that was for the team. I remember Jeter’s last at bat at Yankee Stadium, being a walk-off single. And I also remember his last hit ever versus the Red Sox, right in Fenway Park. I remember all of this, and I’m not even that big of a baseball fan.
Interestingly, among the numerous documentaries that ESPN exclusively makes (under the 30 for 30 library), sometimes I notice the final segment of these films, seems to end with a bit of a whimper. I’m not sure if that is by design, or is somehow the fault lines when deifying athletes. Where the “star athlete’s” next act never seems quite as good as their greatest moments on the field. After-all, the Michael Jordan “Last Dance” Chicago Bulls Documentary actually only captures a very specific time period in Michael Jordan’s career/life. The documentary made no mention of Michael Jordan’s coming out of retirement to play in the early 2000s or his career as an Executive/Owner in a Front Office of an NBA franchise.
Maybe the Jeter documentary ended with his leaving the Miami Marlins MLB ownership group, to set the record straight. Or maybe the whole intention was to further humanize Jeter in showing how he moved his family there to make it work, but in the end that situation didn’t work-out. Either way I was left feeling incomplete from the ending of the Jeter Documentary. The Jordan Documentary on the other hand, did feel complete, even though I certainly did want more.
Even if you don’t necessarily care for sports, I think there certainly is something to be learned from studying iconic franchises in their industry. The Lakers and the Yankees are both very large brands, who happen to attract very large stars who want to play for them. Titans of any industry always want to attract the biggest stars. We as a society are really privileged to be afforded such amazing content that teaches about these stars, these franchises and these industries. Hopefully this content I’m providing for you right here, makes a similar type of contribution.
This was really great!
I loved this show! And I know exactly the scene you are talking about in Episode 2, where they flash to one dog humping the other dog. LOL. Hilarious!!!