HBO really took a massive swing with Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar. When you think about the Showtime era, you probably picture Magic Johnson’s smile or Kareem’s skyhook, but this show—officially titled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty—decided to look at the grime underneath the floorboards of the Forum. It’s loud. It’s grainy. It’s intentionally messy.
Honestly, the show feels like a fever dream. If you were expecting a dry, play-by-play historical reenactment, you probably turned it off after ten minutes. It’s a polarizing piece of television that tried to do for basketball what Succession did for corporate media: make the behind-the-scenes ego trips more entertaining than the actual product. Adam McKay’s fingerprints are all over this thing, using that fourth-wall-breaking style to explain complex NBA salary cap rules or the sheer audacity of Jerry Buss buying a team with a check that barely cleared.
What Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar gets right about the 1979 vibe
The late 70s were a weird time for the NBA. The league was basically broke. Nobody cared. Finals games were being shown on tape delay late at night. Then came Jerry Buss. John C. Reilly plays Buss not just as a businessman, but as a guy who genuinely believed that basketball should be a party. He didn't just want to win; he wanted to entertain. That’s the core of Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar. It captures that transition from "sports as a hobby" to "sports as a global entertainment engine."
You see it in the way the show uses film stock. One second it’s crisp digital, the next it’s 16mm grainy film that looks like a home movie from 1982. It’s jarring. It’s also brilliant because it mimics how we remember that era—fragments of highlights and blurry memories.
The casting of Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson was a gamble that paid off. He has the grin. He has the charisma. But the show doesn't treat him like a saint. It shows the friction between his rookie ego and the veterans who just wanted to get their paycheck and go home. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, played by Solomon Hughes, is portrayed as a cerebral, guarded, and often frustrated man. It’s a nuanced take that moved away from the "stoic giant" trope, even if the real Kareem wasn't exactly a fan of how he was depicted.
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The controversy and the Jerry West problem
We have to talk about Jerry West. The show portrays him as a trophy-throwing, glass-shattering maniac who hated everything and everyone. The real Jerry West—the man who is literally the NBA logo—was deeply offended. His lawyers even got involved.
They argued that the show’s version of West was a "baseless and malicious characterization." Look, if you’re a fan of the man, it’s hard to watch. But in the context of the show’s narrative, he serves as the perfect foil to Buss’s optimism. It’s the classic clash of the "basketball purist" who suffers through every loss versus the "showman" who just wants the crowd to cheer. Is it historically accurate? Not really. Is it compelling TV? Absolutely.
That’s the tightrope Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar walks. It uses real names and real scores, but it turns the volume up to eleven on the personalities. It’s historical fiction with a heavy emphasis on the fiction part when it comes to the internal dialogue.
Why the show was canceled despite the hype
It’s still a bit of a sore spot for fans. Season 2 ended abruptly. We went from the 1980 championship in Season 1 to a rushed montage covering several years in the Season 2 finale. HBO pulled the plug right after the Season 2 finale aired, which featured the Lakers losing to the Celtics in 1984.
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Why? Ratings.
Streaming is a numbers game. Despite the critical acclaim and the social media buzz, the production costs were astronomical. Period pieces are expensive. You have to recreate the Boston Garden, the Forum, and the 80s aesthetic perfectly. When the viewership didn't hit the "Succession-level" heights HBO wanted, they cut it. It’s a shame, honestly. We never got to see the 1985 redemption or the late-80s dominance.
The ending felt like a gut punch. Seeing Jerry Buss sitting on the floor of the Forum in the dark after a loss felt like a series finale, even if it wasn't supposed to be. It left a lot of the story on the table. Fans wanted to see the arrival of James Worthy properly handled. They wanted the full Bird vs. Magic peak. Instead, we got a "where are they now" text crawl.
The legacy of the Showtime Lakers on screen
Even with the cancellation, Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar changed how we look at sports media. It paved the way for more stylized, R-rated looks at sports history. It moved away from the "hagiography" style of The Last Dance where the athletes often have final cut over the footage.
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This show wasn't authorized by the Lakers. They didn't want it made. Jeanie Buss and Magic Johnson both voiced their displeasure. That’s actually what makes it feel more authentic in a weird way. It isn't a PR puff piece. It shows the drug use of the era, the infidelity, the backstabbing, and the sheer chaos of a front office that was making it up as they went along.
Actionable insights for fans of the era
If you've finished the show and feel like there's a hole in your life, you don't have to stop at the HBO series. To get the "real" story and compare it to the dramatization, here is what you should actually do:
- Read "Showtime" by Jeff Pearlman. This is the source material for the show. It is incredibly well-researched and actually clarifies where the show took "creative liberties" (like the Jerry West temper tantrums).
- Watch "Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers" on Hulu. This is the Buss family’s response. It’s a docuseries that features interviews with the real players. It’s less "gritty" but offers the factual counter-narrative.
- Check out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Substack. He wrote extensively about his thoughts on the show. It’s a fascinating look at how an icon feels when they see a version of themselves on screen that they don't recognize.
- Revisit the 1984 NBA Finals highlights. Now that you've seen the dramatized version of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, go back and watch the actual footage of Kevin McHale clotheslining Kurt Rambis. It’s one of the few things the show didn't have to exaggerate—it really was that violent.
Lakers: Tiempo de Ganar might be over, but the era it depicts remains the most influential period in basketball history. It was the moment the NBA became "cool." Whether you loved the show's frantic energy or hated its historical inaccuracies, you can't deny it made people talk about the Lakers again in a way that wasn't just about their current record. It was a love letter to a messy, flashy, and transformative time in Los Angeles.