'Winning Time' Fans Rip HBO for Botching Ending of Los Angeles Lakers Show

Brian Jones

09/18/2023 06:23 pm EDT

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty has been canceled by HBO, and fans are not happy. Before its Season 1 premiere last year, Winning Time was one of the more talked about shows because it was about the 1980 Los Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers legends criticized the show, fans and critics enjoyed the two seasons for multiple reasons.

Before HBO announced the news, PopCulture.com spoke to Salli Richardson-Whitfield who directed three episodes of Winning Time Season 2. She was hoping for a third season but also realized that the network could pull the plug on the show.

(Photo: HBO)

"That is up to, what do we call it, the basketball gods or the TV gods?" Richardson exclusively told PopCulture. "I don't know. You never know with any of these shows nowadays. We used to be given a few seasons to pick up your audience, and so I really have no answer for that. But if people keep watching, I think we have a shot because our numbers have only been going up and up and up, and people are absolutely loving the show this season. So fingers crossed." Here's a look at fans reacting to Winning Time coming to an end.

One More Season

One fan replied: "Everybody killed it, I LOVED Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Brody captured Riley's intensity perfectly, Solomon Hughes was damn revelation. This hurts like I worked on the damn show and I DON'T EVEN LIKE THE LAKERS."

Infuriating

One person replied: "Show is so good. Cancelling it was weak. The last episode felt like they even didn't want it to end. Another season would be [fire emjoji].

Disappointment

Sneider added: "I guess a part of me should be relieved... my COOKIE JOHNSON script didn't get a chance to be completely cannibalized by this show, which did a nice job with their relationship. It felt ripped from my own head in some ways. Still A LOT left to explore there..."

Lost It

One fan said: "I want them to release the viewership for all their canceled shows. They were hyping Succession like it had 40M an episode."

From a Non-Sports Fan

One person wrote: "I'm convinced it's about player backlash and not viewership… it's streaming. My wife and I love winning time… but it started up while some of our other shows were wrapping up, so we just started season 2. Horrible misstep for Max."

Sad Day

A person said: "Was hoping to see a Celtics spin-off to see a more in-depth look from their perspective. Loved this series. Growing up in the 80s Laker Showtime captivated me."

Strong Message

And this fan wrote: "This is the consequences of going on strike. With no end in sight until mid 2024 not going to be any TV shows left. It's a lot cheaper to just strike everything down and let everyone else go and cancel it then just paying for stage and office space while waiting 4 just 2 groups."

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