by Aaron Schweitzer, Editor
I have never been much of a basketball fan, but I quite enjoyed the first season of Winning Time on HBO. I grew up in the late ‘90s near Chicago, so I was entirely enveloped in the Michael Jordan culture. But like most Chicago sports fans, we relished in the glory days knowing that good times are few and far between. My peak basketball years would have been with the Kobe/Shaq era, but I am a Bulls fan, and about as casual as fans come at that, meaning I’ll listen to what people have to say about the team, watch if they have a decent playoff run or if the game is on a tv at a restaurant I’m at, but I almost never seek out a game on my own free will. That’s why I thought The Last Dance was landmark filmmaking in the sports genre. It manages to pay homage and respect to players while they are still alive and relevant, remind the fans of the euphoric high they had, and cement the story in history for people who weren’t around to witness it. I was all into Winning Time because it felt like it was going for the same goal with the Magic/Bird era, but with a lot of flair.
If you liked the first season, I think it is safe to say that you would like Season Two as well. Quincy Isaiah continues to be charming and electric portraying Magic Johnson, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is still my favorite performance in the show, John C. Reilly continues to bring that innovative sexy swag from the era, Sean Patrick Small’s Larry Bird is an intimidating threat lurking at a distance (until the finale), and all of the secondary actors crush their roles. The story manages to stay gripping for someone who didn’t know the outcome, and it hits all the emotional beats it is going for, both on the court and off. There’s a particular scene involving vinyl that stood out as my favorite from the show.
Winning Time feels exactly how I want it to feel: like I’m watching the SparkNotes version, but through my own eyes. The basketball feels as real as any archive footage, and the actors lose themselves in their role so much it is really hard to see them as actors anymore. It really feels like we’re uncovering a ton of footage from behind closed doors after almost 50 years. The show continues to be shot and edited with grain, cigarette burns, and bruised film, while still having the kinetic storytelling of today’s standards. It is perhaps the best example of how to make something today, but make it feel as if it could have been made when it takes place. It sets the tone and really runs with it.
After finishing Winning Time Season Two (and effectively the entirety of the show unless something changes), I feel like a massive gap in basketball history was unlocked for me, but I also feel like there is so much story left for the show to tell, and it is remarkably frustrating for it to end here. When I started it, I knew of Kareem, Magic, and Bird, but I didn’t know they all played even in the same era. I definitely didn’t know about the rivalry between the two teams. I, of course, had heard of Pat Riley, but I did not know the extent of the coaching challenges in the early Lakers years. Winning Time is the best example of entertainment that also informs about an era and isn’t afraid to get into the grit of it all.
Aside from the abrupt cancellation of the show, I really only have two small gripes with it. The first is the Adam McKay of it all. I know that may sound like a super negative, but I quite like his style of historical satire, especially in the editing room. If you don’t like it, that is one thing, but my problem is that it is entirely inconsistent in when it chooses to have those moments. There is a moment in the finale after the final game where a freeze frame and a text box that said something to the effect of, “Yeah, this actually happened.” It pulled me out of the moment because we hadn’t seen something like that in multiple episodes. I do really like the style, but I wish it was more consistent throughout the season (Season One has this problem as well). It feels disjointed in tone and comedy.
The last note is one that I have been mulling over the last week. Season One covers the sale of the Lakers, drafting Magic, and his rookie year, leading to the championship. Season Two, with three fewer episodes, covers the next four seasons of basketball! While, granted, Magic was injured most of one of those seasons, it all feels so rushed, and like they just wanted to get to the ‘84 Finals as quickly as possible. The Lakers win their second championship in the middle of the Season Two, and it feels like a footnote. The show tries to cover so much ground that it barely wraps up a storyline and moves on to the next. It is like a kid who is playing with a toy, but then spots a new toy and disregards the first, never to be played with again. There are several threads, like the second championship, that are told, but aren’t given enough time, so they don’t feel significant enough for me to care about. There is an early thread about Magic’s promiscuity that feels like it will go on for the whole season, but it is barely wrapped up, and is entirely forgotten about by the end of Episode 2.
I am not entirely sure where the plan to end Winning Time initially was be, but it is clear that no one wanted it to end here. Whether it would be the next year where the Celtics and Lakers meet again, Magic’s abrupt retirement, covering the Kobe years, up to Buss’ death, or maybe even covering up to the current LeBron James years, there feels like so much more story to tell, and it is beyond infuriating to see this version end here. That’s not a negative to the show, it is actually a positive to me because I actually care that we won’t see more.
HBO has a big problem. It has been the undisputed king of television for the last 20 years, but if they can’t market and produce a show going with this subject matter and as much critical success as it has, it really feels like we’re about to have a new champion. If I was the head of AppleTV+, I’d be gunning for that title, because it really feels like the HBO we’ve known and loved is gone.
Rating: Low Side of Loved It
Winning Time is currently streaming on Max
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