Lakers Legend Magic Johnson on ‘Winning Time’ Cancellation: ‘You Just Can’t Tell That Story’

Fans of prestige television series and NBA drama series may have been disappointed by HBO’s cancellation of Winning time — but Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson wasn’t one of them.

The five-time NBA champion, whose years as the face of the Showtime-era Lakers were the focus of the Adam McKay-produced series, recently said The Hollywood Reporter that he “never watched” the series because “no one in the world can tell the story of the Lakers.”

He added: “The story of Showtime? No one! Dr. (Jerry) Buss was way ahead of his time as owner. Our team? Amazing! The Laker Girls with Paula Abdul? Amazing! No one can tell that history.”

Johnson, who was played by newcomer Quincy Isaiah in Winning timeadded that his former teammates and associates had also not seen the show, which ran for two seasons and had the subtitle The rise of the Lakers dynasty. “None of us watched it because it was fiction,” he said. “You just can’t tell that story. But hey, it’s their responsibility.”

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images; Warrick Page/HBO Magic Johnson; Quincy Isaiah on “Winning Time”

Johnson, who played for the Lakers from 1979 to 1991 and again in 1996, previously criticized the series in an interview with Variety. “How are you going to do it? You can’t do it,” he said. “So I don’t know what this thing is (Winning time) is that I haven’t watched it, I’m not going to watch it. And all the guys said the same thing. Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), everyone. You can not do that. »

Before the series premiered last year, McKay correctly predicted the former Lakers’ dissatisfaction with the project in an interview with EW. “We know a lot of them are not happy,” he said. “For the first half of the show, I don’t think I’ll be able to get Laker tickets. But I hope they all hang on to the show because we’re really trying to respectfully tell them the story.”

It’s worth noting that Johnson was initially involved in the development of the series, based on the book by Jeff Pearlman. Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers. Series co-creator Jim Hecht recalled in a recent THR guest column that production company Overbrook contacted Johnson about the project. “The next thing I knew, I was in a meeting with my childhood idol and he said, ‘Yeah, I want to do this, this way, with you guys.'” , wrote Hecht. “So, I dove in and spent the next six months developing a grip.”

Alas, Hecht said Johnson “backed off” after the first day of hosting the show. “I never heard from him directly, but I was told it was about money,” he added.

Among others to criticize Winning time For the historical inaccuracies, Jerry West, another Lakers icon, demanded a retraction of the series for its “baseless portrayal” of him (played by Jason Clarke).

On the other hand, Lakers president and majority owner Jeanie Buss (played on Winning time by Hadley Robinson) became a fan of the series and even appeared on its companion podcast. Her newly married husband, Jay Mohr, also made an appearance in season 2.

Register for Weekly Entertainment free daily newsletter to get the latest TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars and much more.

Related content: