Winning Time: Winning show about Showtime

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bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

the_american_dream posted:

The pushback has started

Think piece article by Kareem on how much he dislikes the show and Jerry West is demanding an apology and retraction even though he�s coming off cool as hell to me

To expand on this, West sounds pretty upset about it.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33769604/jerry-west-demands-retraction-apology-portrayal-hbo-series-winning

ESPN posted:

...
West's lawyers allege that the series creators acted with "legal malice" because many scenes in the series showing West's purported rage did not appear in Pearlman's book and did not happen. The letter includes statements from former players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes, as well as Lakers employees such as Claire Rothman, Charlene Kenney, Bob Steiner and Mitch Kupchak who worked with West during the time period covered in the show, denying that they ever saw him commit any of the rage-filled acts or drink alcohol in the office, as depicted in the series.

"Instead of exploring his issues with compassion as a way to better understand the man, they turn him into a Wile E. Coyote cartoon to be laughed at," Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement. "He never broke golf clubs, he didn't throw his trophy through the window. Sure, those actions make dramatic moments, but they reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character."

Rothman, who ran operations at the Great Western Forum for over 20 years and is portrayed by Gaby Hoffmann in the series, said, "Jerry treated me and everyone else in the Lakers organization with dignity and respect. I never saw Jerry break or throw anything in anger or rage nor did I hear anyone ever say he did such things."

Kupchak, now the Charlotte Hornets' general manager, played for the Lakers from 1981 to 1986 and then worked alongside West in the Lakers' front office from 1986 to 2000.

"During my time with the Lakers as a player and in the front office, Jerry was always professional, even-keeled and soft-spoken," Kupchak said. "He was always positive and encouraging with me. I also found Jerry to be honest and sincere. I never saw or heard Jerry lose his temper with anyone. I also never saw or heard Jerry go on an angry rant or tirade, nor did I ever see or hear Jerry scream or yell at anyone. That was not his personality. Jerry is soft-spoken and does not like confrontation. He always keeps his composure and remains calm even when he has a disagreement with someone. Last, I've never heard or seen Jerry ever break or throw anything in anger."

West's lawyers said he is due a retraction, an apology and damages from HBO and the show's producers because "the show goes out of its way to denigrate Jerry West despite his accomplishments as an executive."

...

Sounds like McKay went pretty overboard with the Jerry West depiction in the show. It makes for great television but I can understand why West would be pissed about it. It is notable that the show departs significantly from the source material book on this.

But John C. Reilly's Jerry Buss is loving fantastic!

bawfuls fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Apr 20, 2022

# ¿ Apr 20, 2022 20:01

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 09:16

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

Jerry West is in that clip for about 3 seconds. Sure he looks intensely focused on the game, but that's a far cry from throwing poo poo through a window and screaming at coworkers in an office.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2022 20:58

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

Oh yeah Chick Hearn is a tremendous rear end in a top hat in this show

# ¿ Apr 21, 2022 16:11

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

I could have done with out the latest installment of Jerry Buss needing to gently caress everything that moves

# ¿ Apr 25, 2022 19:39

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

nooneofconsequence posted:

Buss's mom died before he even bought the Lakers.

from what I've read nearly all the details of Sally Field's character are made up for the show. His mother raised him alone under tough circumstances but otherwise it's fiction.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2022 23:25

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

sexpig by night posted:

Buss' 'genuinely really dumb and broken guy trying to keep going on pure passion and showmanship' vibe

What? Buss isn't supposed to be genuinely dumb. He did complete a chemistry PhD before he was 25 I think he was reasonably intelligent. I haven't gotten that vibe from the show either.

# ¿ May 3, 2022 07:13

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

sexpig by night posted:

he has no clue what he's doing at basically every stage of this and is just riding 'I've got a lot of money (on paper)', he can be smart on one thing and dumb in another.

yeah I wouldn't describe that as 'oh there's just nothing behind your eyes is there'

And broadly speaking his vision for the Lakers was a successful one which is why they were such an iconic team in the decade following his purchase of the franchise.

The idea that "he has no clue what he's doing at basically every stage of this" seems a bit hyperbolic. He has a vision of where he wants to go (which proved wildly successful in the end!) but is very much white-knuckling it on the way through.

bawfuls fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 3, 2022

# ¿ May 3, 2022 18:57

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

cast Shaq as himself

# ¿ May 11, 2022 18:19

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

I�d expect the next season of the show to cover the next two seasons of basketball

# ¿ May 21, 2022 19:36

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 09:16

bawfuls: Oct 28, 2009

Jose Oquendo posted:

It's wild watching Adrian Brody acting circles around Jason Segal.

Thematically appropriate as Pat Riley was the better coach

# ¿ Aug 14, 2023 18:07

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