After two months and 10 unpredictable episodes, HBO's hit series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty ended in a dramatic fashion fitting for such a polarizing season. By the end of Season 1, Jerry Buss's (John C. Reilly) mother, Jessie Buss (Sally Field), passed away, former Los Angels Laker Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris) stopped his assassination attempt on the team, Jeanie Buss (Hadley Robinson) became more disillusioned with her father's debaucherous antics, and, most importantly, the Lakers hoisted up their first NBA title in eight years. Season 1 was a series of shocking retellings of history that pissed off a bunch of Lakers legends, and there is no doubt Season 2 will be much of the same.
Avery Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
Avery Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s
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Created by Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, and executive produced by Adam McKay, Winning Time is based on Jeff Pearlman's book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s. Season 1 barely scratched the surface of what the book covers, only chronicling one year of the Showtime Lakers' dynastic decade. Yet, it was enough to enrage many of the actual living Lakers its characters are based on. Jerry West has demanded an apology and retraction from HBO and Winning Time's production team. The indomitable Kareem Abdul-Jabar dismissively described the show as "deliberately dishonest" and "drearily dull." Magic Johnson vowed to never watch Winning Time because of its inaccuracy and lack of input from the Lakers organization. If they felt disrespected by Johnson being depicted as a womanizing egomaniac, West as a short-tempered control freak, and Abdul-Jabar as a stoic dictator who would tell a child to "fuck off," then they're likely going to boycott what comes next in the Winning Time story.
Season 1 begins with Johnson leaving the doctor's office in 1991, likely after his positive HIV diagnosis, but Season 1 doesn't get to it. We don't get to see the perpetually happy Johnson brawling on the court with Phoenix Suns player Kevin Johnson or the zen-like Abdul-Jabar putting Denver Nuggets Danny Schayes in a headlock on the court. Jerry Buss was once sued for $25 million by a woman who claimed he promised to take care of her for the rest of her life.
There is a lot more for Lakers legends to be pissed about if HBO decides to bring Winning Time back for a second season.
Will there be a second season of Winning Time?
HBO wasted little time assuring us there would be more Winning Time when it renewed the show for a second season on April 7, days after the fifth episode aired. There's no surprise HBO wants to stay in the faux Showtime Lakers business after the show steadily began attracting a wider audience. The fifth episode drew 1.2 million viewers across all platforms on its premiere night, a 37% increase from the series premiere. By the show's seventh week on air, the series premiere's viewership had ballooned from 900,000 on opening night to close to seven million, according to HBO reporting to Variety.
What will Season 2 of Winning Time be about?
With Season 1 ending at the inception of the Lakers' 1980s dynasty following the team heroically winning the 1980 NBA championship, Winning Time's season seems all but locked to take us into the dynasty's later years. Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President at HBO Programming, confirmed as much during the Season 2 renewal announcement when they said, "We can’t wait to see how this team will tell the next chapter of this dynasty.” The team Orsi referred to includes Winning Time executive producer and showrunner Max Borenstein, who has given the only public tidbits about the upcoming season.
Speaking with Deadline following the Season 1 finale, Borenstein stated Season 2 would be told at roughly the same pace as Season 1, which chronicled the approximately 12 months between Buss purchasing the Lakers and the Lakers winning the 1980 NBA Finals. Borenstein believes "there’s a lot of transitional stuff that starts to happen in that next season" involving Lakers head coach Westhead and assistant coach Riley. Westhead was fired as Lakers head coach 11 games into the 1981-1982 season after the defending champions were eliminated from the 1981 NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets. Riley replaced Westhead, but not before the sort of Showtime drama made for TV. Westhead was relieved of his duties on November 19, 1981, a day after Johnson publicly demanded to be traded, citing differences with Westhead as a reason. It was later revealed by players like Norm Nixon that Westhead's isolation style of play worked against the team's fastbreak offense that led to their 1980 title.
Borenstein also stated Season 2 of Winning Time would focus on a "struggle Magic has that next year, and Jerry West’s next step in the direction of becoming the general manager." In the 1980-1981 season, following the Lakers title run, Buss named West the offensive coach after the former Lakers' head coach declined Buss's offer to take his old job back following Westhead's firing. Winning Time's first season proved the show could find drama gold in the sort of events that transpired in the year between the start of the 1980-1981 and 1981-1982 seasons.
The temperamental Riley didn't find out he would be the head coach until two hours before the press conference announcing Westhead's firing, likely inducing the type of enraged anxiety he exhibited in Season 1 when he was unsure if Jack McKinney's return to the team before the 1980 NBA Playoffs meant Riley was going to lose his job. Likewise, the same Magic Johnson who tied much of his identity to being universally adored in Season 1 was booed by the home crowd at The Forum in the first game after Westhead's firing. Back then, fans believed Johnson's self-centered trade demand was why the Lakers lost the coach who brought them their only NBA title in close to a decade at the time. Also, in a bit of storybook irony, Johnson will be watching arch-nemesis Bird win his first NBA title, as Bird did at the end of Season 1.
If Season 1 was a look into the reinvention of the Lakers, Season 2 appears to be about the difficulty of fitting everyone into the team's new identity while trying not to be blinded from their ultimate goals by the spotlight.
Who will be in Season 2 of Winning Time?
Given Borenstein's comments, it's a safe bet most of the core cast from Season 1 will run it back in Season 2. That includes Buss (John C. Reilly), Johnson (Quincy Isaiah), Claire Rothman (Gabby Hoffman), West (Jason Clarke), Riley (Adrian Brody), Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes), Westhead (Jason Segel), and Jeanie Buss (Hadley Robinson). Since Season 2 will likely chronicle the 1980-1981 season, Season 1 favorites Norm Nixon (DeVaughn Nixon) and Michael Cooper (Delante Desouza) will likely return. And the feud between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics—namely Johnson vs. Bird— was the marquee rivalry for the 1980s. So, Bird (Sean Patrick Small) and Celtics' ornery general manager Red Auerbach (Michael Chiklis) will terrorize the sunshine state's jewels for years to come.
A new season will mean the likely exit of former mainstays. Wood Harris, who plays the struggling Spencer Haywood, delivered some of the most captivating acting performances of the first season but may not appear in Season 2 since Haywood was overseas playing with the Italian professional basketball team the Reyer Venezia the season following the Lakers' title win in 1980. Jessie Buss's (Sally Fields) motherly tough love will more than likely be absent from Season 2 for obvious, heartbreaking reasons.
There will also be new faces joining the series. The Lakers were eliminated from the first round of the 1981 NBA Playoffs by a Houston Rockets team led by a dominant force named Moses Malone. So, expect to see Big Mo on your screen in Season 2.
When will Season 2 of Winning Time come out?
No one knows yet, since it's unlikely any of Season 2 has been shot at this time.
However, it's hard to argue Season 1's appeal was partly due to it airing during the end of the NBA season, and the start of the NBA Playoffs, when the drama in the Association is at its most feverish, and fans are salivating for any basketball action. With that in mind, don't be surprised if the Winning Time Lakers return to your TV screens in March 2023, just as the real-life Lakers are making a push for the team's 18th title.
Keith Nelson
Keith Nelson is a writer by fate and journalist by passion, who has connected dots to form the bigger picture for Men’s Health, Vibe Magazine, LEVEL MAG, REVOLT TV, Complex, Grammys.com, Red Bull, Okayplayer, and Mic, to name a few.
FAQs
Will there be season 2 of Winning Time? ›
The champions are on their way back! Today, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty shared the exciting news via their Twitter account that Season 2 is officially in production. Cheesing and looking pumped to be back in the game, the candid photo reveals the cast and crew preparing to shoot a scene.
Is there a season 2 to Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty? ›For all of you hoops fans who followed the series, don't worry—HBO has already announced that a second season is on the way.
How many episodes will Winning Time be? ›1 Season | 10 Episodes | TV-MA
HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty is a fast-break drama series that goes back in time to chronicle the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports' most revered and dominant dynasties.
EXCLUSIVE: We'll be seeing more of Johnny Buss in the upcoming second season of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Thomas Mann, who guest-starred as the character in the first season, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2 of Adam McKay's critically praised HBO series, Deadline has learned.
Is Winning Time series over? ›Alongside the title announcement in December 2021, HBO announced the series would debut in March 2022, with the premiere date subsequently set for Sunday, March 6 and will air an episode weekly, concluding the season on May 8, 2022.
Who is the future billionaire in the Lakers show? ›| Patrick Soon-Shiong | |
|---|---|
| Title | CEO of Nantworks LLC Owner of Los Angeles Times Owner of San Diego Tribune Minority owner of Los Angeles Lakers |
| Spouse | Michele B. Chan |
| Children | 2 |
| Chinese name | |
'Winning Time' portrays Jeanie as having a significant role in the franchise early on, but she pushed back against that: “Yeah, until it's not. As much as they portrayed my character as having a lot of the the input into the Laker girls and things like that, that's not the case.
Will there be a season 2 of Moon Knight? ›Moon Knight season 2 does not have a release date as of September 2022. Isaac was pretty clear that he sees Moon Knight as a limited series and not an ongoing show. “I'd never heard of Moon Knight before, and I collected comics when I was younger.
How old is Jeanie Buss? › Is Winning Time based on a true story? ›In essence, most of the story is true — the Lakers dynasty did indeed win all of those trophies — but some small details have been elevated or straight-up fictionalized to provide dramatic effect and fill out the ten-episode narrative.
Where is Winning Time filmed? ›
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty was filmed in Greystone Mansion and Los Angeles.
Can I watch Winning Time on Netflix? ›You can watch 'Winning Time' exclusively on the HBO cable channel and HBO Max streaming service. The first episode premieres March 6 at 9 p.m. ET.
Who was Kareem's wife? › Who owns LA Lakers? ›Los Angeles Lakers
Did Spencer Haywood circumcise himself? ›Spencer Haywood confirms truth behind his circumcision
In the fifth chapter of the first season, the Lakers sign Haywood (played by Wood Harris), who reveals that he circumcised himself with a razor and a rock. Haywood himself has since said that this was indeed true.
Dr J is played by actor Jordan Southerland in Winning Time, and the makeup team have done an excellent job in turning him into the Sixers legend. Southerland even posted a clip to Instagram showing how he transformed into Dr J for the show.
Is Winning Time shot on film? ›Winning Time features a very unique look that and part of that is because they shot on 35mm film, 8mm film, and with old Ikegami tube cameras that were actually used to shoot some of the actual content in the '70s and early '80s.
Is Magic Johnson married? › Is LeBron a billionaire? ›LeBron James has officially become a billionaire, according to Forbes. This makes James the first active NBA player to reach the milestone, and the second NBA player to reach billionaire status, joining retired basketball star Michael Jordan.
Are Magic and Kareem friends? ›Despite the rocky start to their relationship as teammates, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar eventually developed a closeness off-court to match how well they connected to each other on the court as mainstays of the Los Angeles Lakers' "Showtime" era.
How much is Patrick Soon Shiong worth? ›
What happened to Jack McKinney Lakers? ›His head hit the concrete, which gave him a concussion and a three-day-long coma. Unfortunately, when McKinney died in 2018 at the age of 83, his daughter said that his passing was due to complications from the brain injury. At the time, the Lakers were only 13 games into the season.
Is Magic Johnson part owner of Lakers? ›During Johnson's ownership of both teams, the Sparks won the 2016 WNBA championship, and the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series. Combining his playing career and sports ownership career, Johnson has 10 NBA championships, five each as a player and later as a minority-owner of the Lakers.
How did Riley become Lakers head coach? ›Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a broadcaster for the Lakers. In November 1979, after the team's head coach, Jack McKinney, was injured in a near-fatal bicycle accident, assistant coach Paul Westhead took over the team's head coaching duties and hired Riley as an assistant coach.
Is Moon Knight a villain? ›Before his origin was even revealed, Moon Knight debuted as a villain in the classic '70s Marvel horror comic Werewolf By Night as an agent of a secret organization who wanted to capture Jack Russell, the titular werewolf.
Is Moon Knight in Dr Strange 2? ›Is Moon Knight in Doctor Strange 2? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Moon Knight does not have a cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Is Moon Knight an avenger? ›Moon Knight does have Avengers connections in the comics, but they don't exactly support the idea of him joining the team. In his fact, his temporary stints with groups like the West Coast Avengers just prove why he doesn't belong with them. Moon Knight doesn't follow orders well and prefers working alone.
How many kids does Dr bus have? ›He got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 in a ceremony he shared with his team's staff, including each of his six children (Jeanie, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse) who are continually active in the franchise. Among his numerous philanthropic efforts, Dr.
How old is Jamie bus? ›How old is Jeanie Buss? Jeannie Buss was born on September 26, 1961, in Los Angeles, California, Jeanie Buss age is 58 years. She got a degree in business from the University of Southern California (USC) and graduated with honours.
What does Jeanie Bus pay? ›| Net Worth: | $550 Million |
|---|---|
| Salary: | $50 Million + |
| Monthly Income: | $5 Million + |
| Date of Birth: | September 26, 1961 |
| Gender: | Female |
How many seasons of Winning Time are there? ›
Is Winning Time based on fact? ›Although much of "Winning Time" is based on actual events as chronicled in Jeff Pearlman's best-selling non-fiction book "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s" there are some liberties taken for dramatic effect.
What parts of Winning Time are true? ›In essence, most of the story is true — the Lakers dynasty did indeed win all of those trophies — but some small details have been elevated or straight-up fictionalized to provide dramatic effect and fill out the ten-episode narrative.
What did Magic Johnson say about Winning Time? ›Magic Johnson calls 'Winning Time' inaccurate, says he hasn't watched it. In promotion for his new docuseries, Magic Johnson briefly discussed “Winning Time” and became the latest person to criticize it for it's inaccuracies.
Where is Winning Time filmed? ›Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty was filmed in Greystone Mansion and Los Angeles.
Is Jeanie Buss in Winning Time? ›'Winning Time' portrays Jeanie as having a significant role in the franchise early on, but she pushed back against that: “Yeah, until it's not. As much as they portrayed my character as having a lot of the the input into the Laker girls and things like that, that's not the case.
What year is Winning Time set? ›The book follows the Lakers from their selection of Earvin “Magic” Johnson with the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft and dives into all of the larger-than-life personalities that made up the team, including other players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and head coach Pat Riley, and the run-and-gun style of play they ...
Why did Tarkanian not go to the Lakers? ›Following the death of Weiss, Tarkanian was a torn man and despite Buss's sincere attempts that also saw him tell the man to take as much time as he needs, the UNLV superstar coach just couldn't bring himself to coach the Lakers.
What do former Lakers think of Winning Time? ›Separately, former Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote on his blog that “Winning Time” is “deliberately dishonest” and “drearily dull.” The former center called the characters in the limited series “crude stick-figure representations that resemble real people the way Lego Han Solo resembles Harrison Ford.”
Who is behind Winning Time? ›Based on the book by Jeff Pearlman, “Winning Time,” co-created by Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht and executive produced by Adam McKay, opens in 1979 with Buss' purchase of the team from Jack Kent Cooke. But as it unfurls its dramatic tale, Season 1 of the series fudges some real-life details — and leaves out others.
Are Magic and Kareem friends? ›
Despite the rocky start to their relationship as teammates, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar eventually developed a closeness off-court to match how well they connected to each other on the court as mainstays of the Los Angeles Lakers' "Showtime" era.
Is Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty a true story? ›Sex, drugs, and basketball. HBO's new docudrama Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, premiering March 6, is based on Jeff Pearlman's 2014 best-seller Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.
Is the doc in Winning Time? ›Makes Cameo Appearance In HBO Max Series ”Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty“ Legendary emcee and iconic Dallas, Texas The D.O.C., who most recently collaborated with super-producer Dr.
Did Magic and Nixon get along? ›Nixon said he was 'happy' Magic Johnson came along
Not only did Nixon say he wasn't intimidated nor bothered by Johnson coming in, but he also said he was happy to have him on board. “I was happy to find a guy who could help take some of the heat off me so I could do what I needed to do on the court,” Nixon said.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (TV Series 2022– ) - Carina Conti as Paula Adbul, Paula Abdul - IMDb.
How did Jack McKinney bike accident? ›On November 8, 1979, McKinney was biking to meet Westhead when, as he neared a stop sign, the gears on his bicycle locked. His head hit the concrete, which gave him a concussion and a three-day-long coma.