Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty is back with a new season and will show the Los Angles Lakers battling the Boston Celtics during the early 1980s. The television show, which can be seen on HBO and Max with new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, is based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty written by sportswriter Jeff Pearlman. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Pearlman about the show based on his book continuing with Season 2.
“I mean, it’s a dream come true for a writer,” Pearlman exclusively told PopCulture. “It’s not even a dream because you never dream of it, that someone would take something you wrote and turn it into an HBO series. And not only that, you get paid for it. It’s the greatest thing ever. So yeah, it’s thrilling. And I’ve seen all of Season 2 and it’s awesome.”
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As the first season of Winning Time aired last year, the show took some heat from former Lakers such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West, who didn’t like how he was portrayed on-screen. But Season 1 earned strong reviews with an 86 percent critics score and 83 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Pearlman said he loved how the show has played out and didn’t understand the hate from West.
“Actually, my wife keeps saying this, she’s like, ‘I don’t understand why Jerry West would feel this way,’” Pearlman said. “Such a loving portrayal of the guy. He’s such a great character in the show, and the way Jason Clarke plays him is so great. So I was more surprised that most of the Lakers or some of the Lakers had any problem, because to me, much like my book, it really feels like an ode to that era and an ode to those teams and an ode to those guys.”
In his career, Pearlman has written books about the Dallas Cowboys, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Brett Favre, Walter Payton, and he published another book about the Lakers called Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty which focuses on Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson. Pearlman was asked if the Lakers of the early 2000s were similar to the Lakers of the 1980s.
“On the court, you could argue that it was much like Kareem/Magic, it was a center guard-driven dynasty with two dynamic players and a lot of role players,” Pearlman explained. “Also, they had a celebrity coach, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley. But I would say totally different times. The Shaq/Kobe era was much, much more me, me, me basketball. And I love Shaq and I love Kobe, obviously, but it was more about, ‘Why aren’t I getting my minutes? Why aren’t I getting the ball? Why aren’t I getting this endorsement?’ Guys not talking to each other. Much more conflict in the Shaq/Kobe era. Magic and Kareem had their little beefs, but it wasn’t like that. It was much different.”
But could that book or any of Pearlman’s books be turned into a series like Winning Time? “Are you making me an offer?” Pearlman quipped. “Truly, it’s one of the great experiences in my life. And I would love for it to happen again, but it’s such a long shot. It’s such a long shot. I just caught lightning with the right people with the right story at the right time period.”
“Adam McKay showing an interest, HBO showing an interest, Adrian Brody and John C. Riley and Rob Morgan, all these guys being interested in it,” he continued. “There was a moment … honestly, early on, there was a moment when a friend of mine sent me an article and it said, ‘Sally Field to star in book based on Lakers, blah, blah, blah.’ And I was like, ‘Sally Field is starring in a show based on a book I wrote?’ It is the craziest thing ever. So if it never happens to me again, I had this glorious moment. I cannot complain.”
