Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s

Out of conflict, strife, and sheer determination, if we’re fortunate, comes greatness. Amongst our finest collections of art, music, and film, we often witness unparalleled beauty emerge from uncompromised will and pressure, like a diamond out of coal or a dynasty out of thin air. This happens in sports as well, for what is sport if not entertainment. Nowhere, and at no time, was this more evident than in Los Angeles back in the early 1980s. At long last, HBO has released its limited series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” directed by Adam McKay. As of right now, four episodes have been released. It is unclear how long the series will run but this fan says, the more the merrier! The series is based upon the 2014 publication entitled “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s,” written by Jeff Pearlman. It traces the bizarre and unlikely circumstances that led to the creation of one of the greatest teams in sports history, one that not only changed the NBA but professional sports as we know them. Aware the series was greenlighted, I waited months for its release. I now count down the days to Sunday when each next episode is aired. After hearing the book was even more captivating, I chose to read it while viewing the series. I can confirm that both the series, and the book, are unputdownable. The series traces the determination of one man, the late Dr. Jerry Buss, as he is set upon buying the Los Angeles Lakers and turning them into a championship franchise, using his own personal flair and vision. Buss was unlike any character in a town full of them, a fresh, rebellious face amongst NBA owners. Philandering yet not misogynistic, egotistical yet generous to a fault, Buss put the pieces in place and became the financial force behind the Lakers dynasty. He bought the team at a time when the league went unwatched, yet he saw something others didn’t: potential. Buss is played brilliantly by John C. Reilly. So brilliantly, in fact, that it led to a riff between director Adam McKay and comedian/actor Will Ferrell, who desperately wanted the role. Reilly, however, was the man for the job. His performance is so strong, he convinces you he’s Buss, with the all too familiar combover, the buttoned-down shirts and the win-at-any-cost attitude. Buss came along at the ideal time for another man, about to turn pro, would change the sport as we know it. As you’ll find out by watching the series, reading the book (or as I recommend, both), Buss was dead set on drafting Magic Johnson, even though the Lakers already had a point guard in Norm Nixon. Both book and series elaborate on the strife between Johnson and Nixon as they battled for the same position, until the choice became clear, even to Nixon. McKay (and Pearlman) develop other unforgettable, integral characters, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pat Riley (played by Adrian Brody), Paul Westhead (played by Jason Segel), Buss’ daughter Jeanie (who now owns the team), I could go on but no spoilers here. Okay, a few. You’ll watch (or read) stories previously untold of dead bodies found in trunks of cars, life-threatening bicycle accidents, Fonzarelli-like polaroid albums of scantily clad women and copious amounts of career-threatening cocaine. A self-professed basketball historian, Pearlman (and the series) uncover things even I didn’t know: Jerry West’s erratic temper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sour attitude for all things he didn’t trust and Pat Riley’s deep-rooted depression as he looked to psychologically rebound from being the most famous guy on an all-white Kentucky team that lost to Texas Western, the first college team to ever start five black players. The book is beautifully written, as it’s a beautiful story to tell. Similarly, the series is beautifully acted and directed. The forgotten man in all this, who perhaps inspired Pearlman to write the book, and McKay to recreate it in series form, was Jack McKinney, who Pearlman points out most basketball outsiders had never heard of. McKinney was the mastermind behind the fastbreak offense. Although he wasn’t flashy (Buss initially opposed the McKinney hire), his offense was. No isolation, constant movement, no winding down of the shot clock, basketball in one fluid motion. The team would be better conditioned than any other and their offense would dare you to stop it. Magic Johnson, portrayed eerily and just as charismatically by Quincy Isaiah, was the man designed to run the point and play the part, despite the irony of his last name. After this role, it will be hard to see Isaiah in anything else and not think Magic Johnson. Thanks to Buss, Magic, and several other real-life characters in both the book and series, the franchise, and the NBA, was forever changed. Sports became entertainment and the league went prime time. Thanks in large part to Magic, and his forever-linked rival Larry Bird, the NBA salvaged its image and became must-see TV. They became household names and the most recognizable athletes in the world. I am smack dab in the middle of both the series and the book and thoroughly enjoying both. Even the most ardent basketball purist will enjoy the series, renamed from Showtime (the book’s name and team’s persona) to Winning Time (as Showtime is the name of HBO’s long-time rival). McKay, as usual, is brilliant. The series is gritty, sexy, edgy, informative, and filmed in a way that takes you back in time to unravel one of the greatest sports stories we never knew. Watch Winning Time. Read Showtime. And if you have the inclination, do so simultaneously in surround sound for full effect. Its Magic is infectious.

So read this last year after HBO's Winning Time came out, and after the Lakers and other disowned their portrayal, most vehemently Jerry West, I wanted to get to the source and I loved this read, he clearly has talked to a lot of the people involved, and has gone into real depth that rarely leaves the locker room when it's happening. One thing this enlightened me on is why Kareem doesn't get a lot of respect, and has a tough reputation, this book answers that with many stories about him being a aloof, a jerk, and clueless. He treated fans so bad his teammates got sick of it. He resents basketball and his fame and takes it personally that if he wasn't good at basketball no one would really like him, which is true. I've always known he's smart, but his reading and aloofness now comes off as a defense mechanism because he's socially awkward like Kobe does many years later. In this case I seriously wonder if Kareem is on the spectrum. But they have some good stories about a lot of players in this era, and being that I just missed out on this era, I started to watch just as Magic retired I've always wanted to know more about this version of the NBA and this book gives it.

I was not a Lakers fan in the 80's, but I did root for them against the Celtics. Growing up as a teenager during their dynasty I appreciated their greatness. Magic was in a world of his own and was simply amazing to watch. This book does an awesome job of providing an in depth history of their dynasty. I learned so many things while reading this book. I knew sex and cocaine were rampant during that era, but had no idea to what degree. I was surprised that the Lakers wives were that passive about the way in which their husbands had sex with so many different women. Very interesting to say the least. I didn't know the depths of jealously that Norm Nixon had for Johnson. I really enjoyed reading those stories and just how much the team grew tired of Kareem. I've never been a fan of Kareem and reading this book confirms how much of an arrogant and self-centered dude he was during his playing days. The reason why I didn't give it 5 stars is because I thought the author could have gone into more detail about Johnson's retirement. I know the book was focused on the Showtime era and how the stories about Johnson having HIV is discussed in many other books, but I felt as though that chapter was very rushed as if the author had to meet a deadline. That chapter didn't flow as eloquently as the other chapters in the book. If there was an option for 4.5 stars that's really what I would have given the book. Regardless, I thought it was one of the best books that I've read. The book definitely provided a nice getaway from the Covid-19 hysteria.

Very good read, bought a similar book about the Celtics in the 80's. Great piecing the two organizations together and how they wanted to beat each other, but had a totally different personality. Highly recommend both books.

I've been an NBA fan since i was a kid. Jordan was at his peak and helped me fall in love with the game. Since then I've tried to catch up on the history of the game and some of the best teams/players. I'm not a Lakers fan at all (blame Kobe) but this book is great! I already knew some history of the showtime Lakers, but this was a really fun read filled with great anecdotes and a nice prospective of the ups and downs of a legendary team. Highly recommend if you are a basketball fan.

Not worth the money, the series is far better.

Amazing inside look at the team of the 80's, thoroughly enjoyed it! Many player interviews done recently some 25 years or longer later made it quite interesting reading.

Watching the Lakers In the 80s in a foreign country meant I never had access to all the juice! Thanks Mr. Pearlman!

A great portrait of a highly amazing age of sport changes. It was just too bad the TV series didn't cover all the book content. For people who don't live in the U.S. and could only follow the league through a frail open TV broadcast and some under dated magazines, it is greatly revealing how things work inside the teams and how (understandably) not everything what really happens is swhon in the news media.