‘Winning Time’ Director Salli Richardson-Whitfield Hinted at Show’s Future Before Cancelation (Exclusive)

HBO made a surprising move by canceling Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty after two seasons. And Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who directed three episodes in Season 2, was hoping for a third season as there were more stories to tell. PopCulture.com spoke to Richardson-Whitfield before HBO canceled the series, and she explained why Season 3 of Winning Time could happen. 

“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.”

Unfortunately, the story of Winning Time ends on a sour note as the Season 2 finale shows the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Boston Celtics in the 1984 NBA Finals. The last scene of the season (and now series) shows Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) sitting in the shower sulking. Richardson-Whitfield explained why that scene closed out the season and is not just about the game. 

“I think that this season we have found it to be very important that people don’t just look at this show for just basketball,” Richardson-Whitfield said. “This is a journey of some of our great American heroes and an emotional journey and a family journey, a romantic journey, a lot of things. And I think that that scene in particular just really drives that home, that that is what this is about. It’s about magic and his determination to win and to make it through no matter what. We all know that through failure comes triumph.”

Richardson-Whitfield loved working on Winning Time for the last two seasons but also said it was not easy. “This is one of the hardest shows I’ve ever done,” she said. “I would just say even just physical stamina. This is a big huge machine, and it’s something that’s very near and dear to people’s hearts, so you really want to get it right. And this is not a kind of show where I’m just working 9:00 to 5:00. It’s like every weekend, me and my director of photography, Todd Banhazl are prepping. These basketball sequences are enormous and take a lot of planning. I feel like I’ve learned so much this season in just how to become a better filmmaker and how to do these big iconic sports scenes.”

“For me personally, it’s been a great triumph. And I think for everyone involved, the show has been a great triumph for us. We’ve really worked hard to honor these characters, and I think it’s an amazing season.”