The story of one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time: “Lakers: time to win”

John C. Reilly is Jerry Buss, who decides to buy the lackluster Lakers and bet it all on a rookie named Earvin Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah).

In 2020 the documentary was released The Last Dancea series that told the last season of the chicago bulls and the reign of Michael Jordan. In parallel, another project linked to the NBA: the story of the golden decade of Los Angeles Lakers. The name of said fictional series ended up being Lakers: time to win (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) and it was released two years later than the Chicago Bulls documentary, in hbo max.

“Lakers: time to win” (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) tells the great transformation of the Los Angeles basketball team.

The series tells how the Los Angeles Lakers explosively became one of the most important dynasties in the sport in the 1980s, and how their fame managed to transcend the entire world.

A golden age that has come to an end, as the series cunningly announces at the beginning. But what he narrates mainly is the route that the businessman takes jerry buss (John C Reilly), who decides to buy the mediocre Lakers and risk it for a rookie named Earvin Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah).

The Los Angeles Lakers explosively transformed into one of the sport's greatest dynasties in the 1980s. (HBOMax)
The Los Angeles Lakers explosively transformed into one of the sport’s greatest dynasties in the 1980s. (HBOMax)

There is the tormented and never happy coach Jerry West (Jason Clarke) and the person in charge of closing the crazy numbers of the adventure, Clarie Rothman (Gaby Hoffman). In addition to the stars of basketball and entertainment, there are also, little by little, those who will become great sports figures, in front of and behind the cameras. see a Pat Riley (Adrian Brody) unsuccessful and in the last to be presented is very impressive.

The series is based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s written by Jeff Pearlman, author specializing in sports issues. The creators of the series are Max Borenstein and Jim Hechtbut the artistic result seems to have fallen on Adam McKaythe executive producer and director of the pilot episode.

Adam McKay ("Anchorman", "Don't Look Up") is the creator of this new series about the Los Angeles Lakers. (HBOMax)
Adam McKay (“Anchorman,” “Don’t Look Up”) is the creator of this new series about the Los Angeles Lakers. (HBOMax)

Famous for his comedies like Anchorman (2004), Talladega Nights (2008), Step Brothers (2008) and Anchorman 2 (2013), McKay became a political director in recent years with The Big Short (2015), Vice (2018) and Don’t Look Up (2021). It is precisely the style of these last three films that appears even more intensely in Lakers: time to win.

The aesthetics of the series is particularly notable, a bit to the use that McKay has been working on for years. The accelerated editing and the multiplicity of formats give the story a particular texture. Emulating the supports of the eighties, the transition from Super 8 to VHS, the video clip and advertising, the whole story jumps frantically to show the speed of that time and the rise of the form of game that was called Showtime.

Joining Reilly and Isaiah are Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann and Adrien Brody, among others. (HBOMax)
Joining Reilly and Isaiah are Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann and Adrien Brody, among others. (HBOMax)

As an extra aesthetic risk, we must add the significant resource of the characters talking to the camera. Not one but many, which breaks the fourth wall much more than is usually done. It is an important challenge, because the spectator enters and leaves the drama, alternately distances himself and connects. The frantic madness of success, money and victory is shown as much as the ego of all the participants: the series is not satisfied with explaining through the script, but also with the very way in which it is filmed. Take it or leave it, it’s not for everyone.

Lakers: time to win has poetic licenses, correctly warned at the beginning so that no one claims some alterations of the real story. The handful of main characters that he chooses to portray make up an interesting framework that describes all aspects, sporting and economic, of basketball. But it also accompanies the moment in which a revolution came to sports and a show concept was born that would end up taking over the NBA, and from there it spread to other sports.

The hiring of John C. Reilly for the title role of the series caused the rupture between McKay and Will Farrell. (HBOMax)
The hiring of John C. Reilly for the title role of the series caused the rupture between McKay and Will Farrell. (HBOMax)

The HBO Max series is, in its own way, a look at the world of entertainment. A look at power, the struggle of egos, ruthless competition.

curiously Lakers: time to win has brought an unexpected negative consequence. After 25 years of working together and having a great friendship, producer and director McKay fell out with Will Ferrell.

The accelerated editing and the multiplicity of formats give the series a particular texture, which emulates the supports and formats of the eighties. (HBOMax)
The accelerated editing and the multiplicity of formats give the series a particular texture, which emulates the supports and formats of the eighties. (HBOMax)

The actor dreamed of playing Jerry Buss in the series and — at least, in words — McKay had approved of his role when everything was just a project. But then he changed his mind and chose a friend of theirs, Reilly. McKay did not notify Ferrell, who decided to break off the partnership and friendship. Though McKay initially thought it was a passing thing, he later admitted that he believed the actor would never speak to him again.

Beyond the fact that it may not be a production for everyone or that it is visually overwhelming, sport continues to be a huge source of inspiration to talk about different topics. McKay has his own agenda and interests and, in his own way and with varying results, is able to work multiple layers into the same story. Lakers: time to win It is another series that starts from the world of basketball and at the same time manages to go further. It surely won’t be the last.

KEEP READING:

We wish to say thanks to the writer of this post for this incredible content

The story of one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time: “Lakers: time to win”