Let’s rewind a bit. I didn’t talk about how good Winning Time season one was. For some reason, it made some of the actual people portrayed angry even though it felt like it humanized them more than they might know, even those old enough to have experienced Magic Johnson’s rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers in real-time. For those that don’t know, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty is an HBO drama based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman. The first season was about Magic Johnson’s rookie year and Dr. Jerry Buss’ first year owning the franchise. That season of the NBA is legendary and started the shift from a sport no one cared about in the US to the wonderful spectacle we know today. Please, note I find spoilers for this show a weird concept because you can legit spoil yourself by watching a clip of Stephen A. Smith ranting about something from ESPN. All this stuff is history that’s easily findable. So after The Lakers won, the team must deal with success and how to keep it going. With Larry Bird and Boston Celtics looming over Dr. Buss and Magic, Head Coach Paul Westhead worries about leading the team to repeat independently while ostracizing his assistant Coach Pat Riley. Season 2 of the series tells the story of renewed rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics to the forefront.
Quincy Isaiah is still perfect as Ervin Magic Johnson – he has that charisma and the smile to play Magic. The show is very much held on his shoulders as playing a very young Magic Johnson still figuring out how to deal with the fame and the money and now the weight of being the star of the Lakers even though Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) is still very much the captain of the team and dominant on the court. Solomon Hughes is back as Abdul-Jabbar; after having such a fantastic amount to do in the first season, he has less to do with the fewer episodes. His performance as the legend is still great; I just wish he had more to do. John C. Reilly, as Dr. Buss, is a bit more tamed down in what the character does but still has the charm down. While his drive to beat the Celtics is a significant focus in the basketball storyline, his main story is about his family and his want for essentially real love. But let me get to my favorite part – ADRIAN BRODY AS GAWD PAT RILEY! The way this show builds to seeing him the way we know him. I want to see Brody play Riley all the time. To me, he captures that idea of what we know of him and helps to humanize him even more. We get to see the change from what he was before to the slick-backed hair and suit that became iconic in the sport.
Also, Jason Segel shines this season as Paul Westhead, a completely insecure character, and Segal plays it perfectly. He does great work with his eyes, and the hair and makeup on him add to building that character. Hadley Robinson has an interesting role as Jeanie Buss. Jeanie is the one character I feel the show ultimately writes from the perspective of 20/20 hindsight of where the real Jeanie Buss is now and where she was as a young woman working under her father in the organization. Robinson does get to do more this season than in the first, as the character has to also deal with her brothers, played by Thomas Mann and McCabe Slye. Jason Clarke continues his turn as the great Jerry West and humanizes him more than he can ever realize. The personification of Lakerdom and his forever detest of the Boston Celtics is perfectly played by Clarke. I’d like to give some other kudos to Tamera Tomakili as Cookie, Magic’s main love interest, and future wife (this is not a spoiler – real-life folks), and DeVaughn Nixon playing his father Norm. Nixon is delightful as Magic’s on-team rival vs. the big rival that is Larry Bird. Nixon on the screen is attention-grabbing each time, putting a great spotlight on this great player.
And since I brought him up, we have to talk about Sean Patrick Small as Larry Bird. He towers over this season like Frieza in Dragonball Z’s Frieza saga. This man, to me, is so good at playing Bird on screen that it feels like you’re watching him from old footage. He got Bird’s energy, and he will make you hate the Celtics, I swear. I’m glad he actually gets to do more and become more of a character this season. I feel the same about Michael Chiklis as Red Auerbach, the former head coach and head executive of the Boston Celtics – the damn power source of the team. Chiklis brought it here as just the reason to hate the Celtics, and the person just looked down and stepped on the Lakers’ neck. He’s in the show just enough to not take away, but he is also a good rival for Reilly’s Buss. I’m going to stop now because I could go on and on just rambling about how good this show is as a drama and fictionalization of real people. It’s care to craft this as a faux documentary and still change how the show looks from handheld video or film stock to even the way NBA looked on CBS in the 1980s. Wrapping what we know from history into a compelling dramatic narrative is hard, and I don’t feel it gets enough credit. Winning Time is my favorite show on HBO, and I’m beyond happy it’s back and the second season is fantastic television.
Score: A
RIOTUS 