Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

But more than his game, he is respected today as an elegant spokesman for causes
He seems to be, while not affable, just a better human being than he was

 

Magic never won a title without Kareem.

Kareem's stats are insane.

He averaged 21/7 in the NBA finals win against Boston... when he was 39.
He averaged 30/16 and shot 60% from the floor against Walton, in his prime, and the future champion Blazers.

 

As much as I revered MJ, I still say Kareem was the most dominant player ever. 7'4" and able to be as nimble as a guard. He had the Sky Hook, the turnaround J, the face up J, he blocked shots, a soft touch around the rim (couldn't dunk at UCLA), and rebounded with great hands.

 

1st in Scoring and 4th in rebounding. Averaged over 10 rebounds a game for each of his first 11 seasons. For his career average 11 rpg 11 x All-Defensive NBA. If anyone has a complaint about being overlooked as GOAT it is Mr Jabbar

 

Really enjoyed the first episode. I went in wary. Usually stuff like this, based on things I grew up watching that also has been told in many books and documentaries, fall flat.

This one is off to a strong start with great casting, different angles and interesting storytelling devices.

Also, I’m still scarred by that awful ESPN movie on Bob Knight.

 

DeVaughn Nixon plays his father, Norm

 

Wilt was the most dominant player ever.

 

I have yet to understand why other players didn’t adopt the Sky Hook.

 

It seems like any time a player has some insane statistical accomplishment we find out they are the second player in league history to do it. The first was Wilt, who did it 46 times.

 

Between this and the Moncrief would have won a title or two with the Lakers I gotta speak up a tad for my all-time favorite athlete! And Kareem is also high up on my list so would never denigrate him. But Magic is my man.

Magic didn't win a title without Kareem but he also only had 2 full seasons to try and do so. And in those two seasons the Lakers won 63 games the first year, and then made it to the Finals the second year, before a Worthy ankle sprain that got worse and worse doomed any chance they had against the Bulls. And they would have been one of the title favorites in '92, after signing Sedale Threatt, because the main thing they were missing in 91 was someone, anyone to help out while Magic rested. Conversely, Kareem did win a title without Magic but in the eight years he played after that Bucks championship, he missed the playoffs in '76 with the Lakers and in '75 with the Bucks, while being in his absolute physical prime. In '79, with Kareem, Wilkes, Nixon, Adrian Dantley, they were a pedestrian 47-35. Kareem's scoring had gone down three straight years. He was 32 at the end of the '79 campaign and the Lakers were a middling team. There was nothing to indicate that somehow the best part of his career was still to come. Then Magic came, Kareem's scoring shot up again, he found a joy in the game again, and he managed to play another damn decade while bolstering his GOAT argument with five more titles. I feel safe in saying there's no way in hell he's playing till 1989 without Magic coming. And that longevity and the way Magic helped him keep producing is a huge reason Kareem does have an argument for being an all-time great. But if they have Sidney Moncrief instead and he retires in 1985 after six more average to above average seasons and no more titles...his legacy is quite a bit different.

(On the Sid point, he was fantastic for like a four-year stretch, but he was also pretty much finished as a player by 1986. His numbers and play went off a cliff afterward with the injuries. And as a rookie he averaged 8 points a game. Is Rookie Sid scoring 42 in Game 6 of the Finals without Kareem? Is he leading the 81 Lakers to the West title and beating Boston? Beating Philly or Boston or even some of the great Spurs teams from 82-86? I don't see it. Magic completely and totally altered the franchise's on-court fortunes in a way no one else would have. Well, other than Larry.)

All that said, Kareem is the man. And Basketball Reference actually undervalues his performance in the '87 finals because they list him as being 39 but he turned 40 in April that year, meaning he was 40 when he put up those 21 and 7 against the Celtics in '87. And of course he was 38 in '85 when he went for 25-9-5 against the Big 3 in leading the Lakers to their greatest title. That series also includes my single favorite story from the Showtime Era, when Kareem asked his Riley if his dad could ride the bus with them to the game before Game 2, something that was never usually allowed. But after the Memorial Day massacre and Riley destroying Kareem in film sessions, Riley knew Kareem and his dad needed that moment. Riley then gave a pregame speech quoting his own father talking about taking a stand sometime and kicking ass. They went on to win Game 2 in the Garden behind Kareem and then the series. You can also see how much the Lakers still believed in him even in the later years when they went to him in the closing seconds of Game 6 of the '88 Finals. With the repeat on the line, trailing by 1, they ran the play they ran a million times before, with Kareem getting it on the block and going to the hook. He gets fouled (and Laimbeer did foul him, sorry, Pistons fans), makes 2 FTs, they win and go on to win Game 7. Plus in '86, in a league with Moses, Ewing Hakeem, Kareem still got 1st-team all-NBA and had 2 40-pont outings against the Rockets and Sampson/Hakeem during the regular season

So Kareem is a phenom. I just don't want Magic getting shortchanged is all! Kareem, Worthy, Nixon, Wilkes, 'Doo, Coop, Scott, Riley's hair, Buss, etc., were all part of the greatness of that decade. But Magic created Showtime, period, from the very first regular season game when he went crazy jumping in Kareem's arms after his buzzer-beater. Magic's game brought them 5 titles and his style created the world that could ever lead to an HBO series. On and, uh, off the court...

And speaking of Earvin, Inky, someone did develop the sky hook into a lethal weapon: Magic himself! From '87-91 and then during the 96 comeback, it was one of the most unstoppable offensive weapons in the game when he used it.

Anyway! Haven't seen the first episode yet. Leery of it because I picture myself being like an annoying Game of Thrones book fan where I'll start picking apart the way they have Magic shooting a jump shot on the show or some other ridiculous details that don't actually detract from the show but would drive me crazy. I've seen reviews ranging from, hey, this is pretty good to HBO should be removed from the airwaves for producing this (The Daily Beast's was...not kind). And just the look of the show and the way it was shot looked like it could become grating after 8 episodes but I'll definitely give it a shot.

 

Been waiting for someone to post that.