I think Solomon Hughes did a pretty solid job, especially for a novice actor, portraying the enigmatic Kareem Abdul -Jabbar in Episode 5 of Winning Ways (which was basically dedicated to Solomon/Kareem)




Solomon replicates the "Skyhook."

I agree. Solomon was solid but not great--impressive for his lack of acting experience. What a weird series this has proven to be. Entertaining but very weird. Sally Field is fantastic in her part playing Buss's mother.

MSaviolives said:

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I agree. Solomon was solid but not great--impressive for his lack of acting experience. What a weird series this has proven to be. Entertaining but very weird. Sally Field is fantastic in her part playing Buss's mother.

---

Agreed on the weirdness and Sally Field. The over-heavy 70s/80s tropes indicative of someone trying to fill up hours of programming without enough content. But the grainy/poor video is getting annoying. It wasn't HD, but it wasn't that bad 40 yrs ago. Again, I'm guessing the person behind these production decisions was maybe 4 yrs old when the events happened and probably believe that the universe was black and white prior to the 60s.

But the story is fun and the walk down memory lane is a kick!!

I missed the first episode, so now I'm waiting to go back and watch it all from the beginning, when I can. I'm not super-compelled to start it though, as it seems like it's too much about the owners and I'm not sure I give a crap about them. Even if it were all about the players, I usually feel that something like this is better handled by a documentary, rather than some writers stretching the truth where they see fit, in an attempt to make it "better". The great sports stories don't need to be embellished.

Where can this be seen?

oskidunker said:

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Where can this be seen?

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HBO

BeachedBear said:

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MSaviolives said:

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I agree. Solomon was solid but not great--impressive for his lack of acting experience. What a weird series this has proven to be. Entertaining but very weird. Sally Field is fantastic in her part playing Buss's mother.

---

Agreed on the weirdness and Sally Field. The over-heavy 70s/80s tropes indicative of someone trying to fill up hours of programming without enough content. But the grainy/poor video is getting annoying. It wasn't HD, but it wasn't that bad 40 yrs ago. Again, I'm guessing the person behind these production decisions was maybe 4 yrs old when the events happened and probably believe that the universe was black and white prior to the 60s.

But the story is fun and the walk down memory lane is a kick!!

---

After graduating from Cal and returning to L.A., a group of friends and I had Laker season tickets ("student discount") from 1985 to 1988. It was crazy. Our actual seats were in the upper part of the lower bowl, but before one game we were partying in the parking lot and met some young ladies who had seats right behind the basket but "never sat in them" and asked us to sit them as a favor so no one would see that they were empty. They needed the tickets but didn't sit in the seats because they spent the entire game in the Laker Club selling coke and turning tricks.

I'm thinking Dr. Buss didn't get laid enough.



…but he did give women executives opportunity.

MSaviolives said:

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I agree. Solomon was solid but not great--impressive for his lack of acting experience. What a weird series this has proven to be. Entertaining but very weird. Sally Field is fantastic in her part playing Buss's mother.

---

Yes, I agree with the "entertaining but very weird!" But yeah, it's fun to see Hughes doing a nice job...

Watching the series now.
I thought this would be crap.
I'm laughing while clapping.


Highly recommended!

Someone told me Pat Riley entered a halftime Pat Riley Look-Alike contest as a joke, and came in 3rd. Have not been able to corroborate this claim, however.

In real life John C. Reilly and Quincy Isaiah are close to the same height:



As Buss and Magic:

I'm not surprised to see he's that short.
There are scenes that have me thinking they should have had him lose some weight.

He's got the magic eyes, and they've done a good enough job of making him look tall, but they can't entirely mask the fact that he's no Solomon Hughes.

This series is honestly hard to turn away from.

Phil Knight just showed up and offered Magic "$100,000 in stock options, that's 18 cents per share". Gotta be the biggest missed opportunity imaginable.

Then Buss has to negotiate with Great Western Bank on his loan, which he can't pay while his mother ithe accountant is losing it.

Richard Prior shows up, as does a crack dealer and Iman, current Mrs Spencer Haywood and future Mrs David Bowie.

That's all in a short span of episode 5.

Now I know how The Forum got to be known as the Great Western Forum, which I'm guessing kicked off a trend that leads to every arena and stadium's name, not to mention This In Game Stat Brought To You By ________ (highest bidder).

They just calculated the missed opportunity of magic choosing Converse for $100k per year over Nike:

$5.2B

concordtom said:

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They just calculated the missed opportunity of magic choosing Converse for $100k per year over Nike:

$5.2B

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That doesn't even include the additional value Magic would have added if he agreed.

calumnus said:

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concordtom said:

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They just calculated the missed opportunity of magic choosing Converse for $100k per year over Nike:

$5.2B

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That doesn't even include the additional value Magic would have added if he agreed.

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Or, maybe Jordan signs with Puma, and IT becomes the dominant brand, leaving Magic with less.
One never can say exactly.
However, it's pretty amazing to see that sequence where Magic turned down ownership interest in favor of the salary knowing who Phil Knight is and what Nike became.

This was great to watch.
Solomon is already 43? Damn. I remember watching him. How old am I????

Jerry West demands retraction for portrayal in HBO's 'Winning Time'


https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/lakers/2022/04/19/jerry-west-demands-retraction-winning-time-portrayal-hbo/7378010001/

Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

…and all this time my only upset has been the unfair light they have cast Cookie's other suitor in. Poor fellar. I'd sue.

I haven't been this angry since the actress that played George Clooney's wife in The Descendants didn't get a nod from the Oscars. That gal could really emote!


*Although in fairness to the Academy, she really did chew the scenery a couple of times in the hospital scenes.

MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

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I don't doubt it one bit.
Every time I've seen him on camera he is completely NOT like that character.

But I will say, and I think the show's writer/director/producer will agree, IT'S HELL OF FUNNY!!!!!

That's why they call it ENTERTAINMENT.
Acceptable? No?
Definitely on an edge. I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit emerges and he wins. But it's still HELL OF FUNNY!

Here's what I want to know. Did he really go bang some stranger after winning his one and only title? After sitting alone at a bar, 3 hours after the game, and meeting her because she was there for a wake? Like, that's some real accusatory s**t ! Who did he tell THAT story to???

MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

When I lived in DC in the early 90's, my step brother lived out past Fairfax, and I'd drive out to see him now and then. Paul Westhead was the coach at George Mason.

I think I must have been on Braddock Rd. I didn't have a fancy car, but I knew how to zip through traffic. So did the Mustang shooting around cars behind me in my rear view mirror as we bypassed all the losers putting along on the 2 or 3 lane road. "Who the F is this guy, thinking he's gonna take me?," I thought. Eventually, we got stopped at a light and he and I took the front of two lanes. I glanced over for a second before the light turned green.

"Oh, wow, that's Paul Westhead, and he's heading back to campus." Of course, I was a fan because of his LMU run and gun days. Who can forget?!

No way was the guy in that car the same as in the TV show!!!!
His car was much faster than mine, and when the light turned green, that was the last I saw of him.

(Another time in thick traffic at Tyson's Corner, Dexter Manley overtook my '82 Jetta Diesel, but he was pissed in doing so because I didn't want to yield my spot to his hyper aggresiveness. He gave me a scowl as he passed me at 15 mph in his black Lamborghini Countach. F*** You, Dexter. Nobody's going anywhere in this s***!!) Ha ha ha...

mbBear said:

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MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

---

Totally.
And I TOTALLY want to ask the script writers those questions.
Where were they getting their info from?
How on earth can you go out and portray them that way?

I'd love to see them address those things on camera!!!

bearister said:

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…and all this time my only upset has been the unfair light they have cast Cookie's other suitor in. Poor fellar. I'd sue.

I haven't been this angry since the actress that played George Clooney's wife in The Descendants didn't get a nod from the Oscars. That gal could really emote!


*Although in fairness to the Academy, she really did chew the scenery a couple of times in the hospital scenes.

---

Hey, come on now. Don't knock it - that was a good film.

And Patti Hastie DID have some acting roles, especially right before she went flying thru the air and hit her head!

I loved the movie. Some of Clooney's best work and AR's faux bestie stole the movie along with the kid that played her boyfriend. Great soundtrack as well. I have viewed it at least 4 or 5 times.

The main writer, Max Borenstein, wrote the King Kong and the Godzilla movies that came out 2017-2020. No sports related movies. (I liked the King Kong movie.

concordtom said:

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mbBear said:

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MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

---

Totally.
And I TOTALLY want to ask the script writers those questions.
Where were they getting their info from?
How on earth can you go out and portray them that way?

I'd love to see them address those things on camera!!!

---

Yeah, I don't think this is a fine line...as others have said, it's entertainment, not Journalism. I don't think they would claim to have gotten that info from anywhere, they just did what was good for the entertainment value...

mbBear said:

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concordtom said:

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mbBear said:

---

MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

---

Totally.
And I TOTALLY want to ask the script writers those questions.
Where were they getting their info from?
How on earth can you go out and portray them that way?

I'd love to see them address those things on camera!!!

---

Yeah, I don't think this is a fine line...as others have said, it's entertainment, not Journalism. I don't think they would claim to have gotten that info from anywhere, they just did what was good for the entertainment value...

---

Agreed - I mean look at the casting - this is SUPPOSED to be funny, nostalgic and entertaining.

bearister said:

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I loved the movie. Some of Clooney's best work and AR's faux bestie stole the movie along with the kid that played her boyfriend. Great soundtrack as well. I have viewed it at least 4 or 5 times.

---

Gabby Pahinui, just a legend in Hawaiian music and the Hawaiian renaissance. I knew his son Cyril, a great star in his own right, a little bit.

And for me the other star is Kaua'i.

BeachedBear said:

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mbBear said:

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concordtom said:

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mbBear said:

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MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

---

Totally.
And I TOTALLY want to ask the script writers those questions.
Where were they getting their info from?
How on earth can you go out and portray them that way?

I'd love to see them address those things on camera!!!

---

Yeah, I don't think this is a fine line...as others have said, it's entertainment, not Journalism. I don't think they would claim to have gotten that info from anywhere, they just did what was good for the entertainment value...

---

Agreed - I mean look at the casting - this is SUPPOSED to be funny, nostalgic and entertaining.

---

But if you take too many liberties, can people sue?

concordtom said:

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BeachedBear said:

---

mbBear said:

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concordtom said:

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mbBear said:

---

MSaviolives said:

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Winning Time's portrayal of West is ridiculous. It is the worst part of the show. I don't blame West for being PO'd. Same with Westhead--they have him portrayed as a complete deer-in-the-headlights head case, which seems unlikely since he had prior college experience at LaSalle, and then later with Loyola Marymount, Denver, etc.

---

Yes, your post is exactly how I feel! If you were going to take liberties with West, why not make him "bigger than life" because of his history with the Lakers, his frustration with losing to the Celtics etc...okay, not as fun as the other stuff? I guess, but if it's so far off the mark, then it just doesn't make sense...
And I agree about Westhead too! If you were going to take liberties there, why not make him too "college," "too rah rah" etc, or okay, some intimidation factor...but he had already done too much with basketball for the deer in the headlights thing to make sense.
I get the entertainment factor...but I would think credibility would matter.

---

Totally.
And I TOTALLY want to ask the script writers those questions.
Where were they getting their info from?
How on earth can you go out and portray them that way?

I'd love to see them address those things on camera!!!

---

Yeah, I don't think this is a fine line...as others have said, it's entertainment, not Journalism. I don't think they would claim to have gotten that info from anywhere, they just did what was good for the entertainment value...

---

Agreed - I mean look at the casting - this is SUPPOSED to be funny, nostalgic and entertaining.

---

But if you take too many liberties, can people sue?

---

Sure - people can sue, but that doesn't mean they will win. I mean look at SNL or the Daily Show or Last Night Next Week or Fox or CNN or any other comedy programming. They do much worse personal attacks. I'll defer to our legal bears, but I think to win a suit, the liberties need to result in some sort of damage or reflect inaccuracy. no? Just because West doesn't like it, might not be enough.