The HBO series “Winning Time,” which is a fictionalized account of the Showtime-era Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, came to a premature end on Sunday with its season two finale.
That final episode shows the Lakers taking on their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, in the 1984 NBA Finals and losing in seven games after choking in a couple of contests and not being able to deal with Boston’s roughhouse tactics. It has likely left fans wanting a lot more, especially since L.A.’s greatest triumphs, and therefore the peak of the Showtime era, came after the 1984 finals.
Buy Lakers TicketsBut current Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, the daughter of then-owner Dr. Jerry Buss, likes the way she was portrayed in the show by Hadley Robinson. She admitted as much during “The Winning Time Podcast” (h/t Lakers Nation).
“I mean, it’s humbling, very humbling and I get a kick out of people who say, ‘she’s not even blonde!’ I’m like, ‘neither am I!’ You have to compare her [Robinson] to Jeanie in the ’80s as opposed to Jeanie today. But, I think she did a terrific job, I think that people who are interested are understanding how I got to be where I am today. Because being the first woman in the NBA to win a championship, maybe there are some people who never heard my name before. Well if you want to understand what my background and how I evolved into where I am today, you get my early history and what my dad saw in me that made him feel confident that he could put the team in my control and that there would be no promises, because even Dr. Buss made mistakes along the way. He knew what I would bring to the job and what he instilled in me and that’s why I am here today.”
The series finale ended with some foreshadowing of the younger Buss eventually inheriting the franchise and continuing its winning tradition. She did exactly that in real life when the Lakers won the world championship in 2020 over the Miami Heat, and they could very well get her another ring this coming season.
