Jerry, Kareem and Magic are angry.
However, we’ll never know exactly what they’re so pissed about. Are you upset by a TV show that’s fast and loose about actual or fictional events? Or are they irritated that it reveals some truths in a social media era from a time when secrets were far easier to keep?
The truth is always somewhere in the middle.
On Tuesday, former Laker star Jerry West demanded an apology and retraction for “an unprovoked and malicious attackabout the character portrayed by actor Jason Clarke on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. The logo is angry that he is portrayed as a deranged lunatic.
“The portrayal of NBA icon and LA Lakers legend Jerry West in ‘Winning Time’ is fiction pretended to be fact – a deliberately mischaracterization that has caused great grief to Jerry and his family.” wrote West’s attorney.
The funny thing is that West’s character on the show would do just that.
Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar considers it all “deliberately dishonest,” as he writes in his recent op-ed about the series.
“Each character is reduced to a single bold trait, as if the writers feared something more complex would test the viewer’s understanding,” he explained. “Jerry Buss is an egomaniac entrepreneur, Jerry West is a nutcase coach, Magic Johnson is a sexual simpleton, I’m a pompous asshole. They are caricatures, not characters. Theme park portraits that accentuate a physical feature to enhance your appearance—but never touch the essence.”
The man who had one of the The worst take on the situation between Will Smith and Chris Rock, and who constantly pins LeBron James for no reason, is upset and so is his former point guard. Magic Johnson doesn’t turn on either.
“So I don’t know what this stuff is [‘Winning Time’] is, I haven’t seen it, I won’t see it. And all the boys said the same thing. Kareem, everyone. you can’t do it” explained Johnson.
“I mean, I get where they’re from because it’s a story about their lives.” said Quincy Isaiah, who perfectly nails his role as Johnson. “Well, it’s tough. But I really feel like we did a really good job of showing people and showing a full version of who we at least think they are. There is no malice behind it.”
Ironically, the request came from Jerry West that same week, on the Magic Johnsons series “they call me magic‘ is being released as it will explore the impact he has had on the court, business and culture in a docuseries that Variety ‘ardently advertised.”
Well, that’s not convenient.
