Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

Holy shit.

Nixon and West are still alive.

And Kent Cook? Oh, my.

 

That was an awesome first episode. I only hope those Buss Magic moments were true. Wonder if Nixon was that big an asshole; well he was discarded and the dynasty only grew so….

 

White white white white white white white white


Black black black black black black black black

And I sort of hope West is really like that.

Side note, Moncrief, Nixon, Kareem and Wilkes probably win 1-2, too.

 

Solid start. The casting of Magic and Kareem....uncanny.

 

“the second worst Donald of the 80s”

 

That was gold.

 

Dammit! That was killing me too. But had not looked it up.

Consider me denounced. And in need of a Fresca.

 

I call writer’s embellishments on Magic telling Buss he was going back to Michigan State

 

Magic did maintain the illusion he was considering a return to school for 2-3 weeks after the NCAA title game. He was still going to class and taking part in stuff around campus. He gave noncommittal non-answers to the question of a possible return. His friends and teammates mostly said they believed he was going pro.

As I recall now, the idea of him returning was dropped shortly after the Lakers won the coin flip with the Bulls. I believe in those days the deadline for early entry, still called "hardship," was mid May.

(In theory you had to prove 'hardship' but in practice, all you had to do was say so. Magic's family was not dirt dog poor but they were definitely not rolling in dough.)

The show depicted all this maneuvering going on in the midst of driving snowstorms in Lansing. Actually I believe the weather was fairly nice in April/May of 79.

 

It is amazing how the perception of Kareem has changed since he was a player

 

He was a very disliked player before he converted. After that, he was hated. I don’t think the first half of his career in LA he was much more than tolerated by the locals. He has said he learned to enjoy himself on the court after Magic came. He grew up a bit. But he was treated like shit and unlike Ali, he became even more of an introvert. People today discount his game. But when he played, rebounding meant something. And it was tough down there, it was physical and hard work. He never played near the foul line, he ran from baseline to baseline on every play. He didn’t meander up the court and position himself 20 feet from the rim. He was pushing and being pushed on every play, against big men. He doesn’t get the respect today he deserves.