‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’ Canceled: HBO Ends Basketball Drama After Two Seasons

Courtesy HBO

In “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” John C. Reilly and Quincy Isaiah



CNN

The Lakers won five championships in the 1980s, but an HBO series dedicated to that run will have no three-peat. “Time to Win: The Rise of a Lakers Dynasty” The show is ending its run with the network after two seasons.

HBO confirmed that the show’s second-season finale, which premiered on September 17, will be the series finale, adding a closing arc that provides more context on key players and front-office personnel including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jerry West. . (Like CNN, HBO is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Ratings for the show dropped in its seven-episode second season, which for years focused on the Lakers’ rivalry with the Boston Celtics. Until recently, Jeff Pearlman, the author of the book the show is based on, has been using social media to lobby for a third season, expressing optimism that it’s still possible while citing ratings as a concern.

“Winning Time” sparked some controversy with its first season Abdul-Jabbar and the West Both criticize the program’s accuracy. West tried to retract and apologize through his lawyer, and Abdul-Jabbar called the show “dishonest” and said the depictions were “crude stick-figure representations” of real people.

HBO supported the series, which was extensively scrutinized, while noting that there was enough premise that fact-based programs are “partly fictionalized for dramatic purposes”.

“Winning Time” featured a large ensemble cast, including John C. Reilly, Quincy Isaiah as Johnson, Adrian Brady as former coach Pat Riley, and Solomon Hughes as Abdul-Jabbar. The first season received an Emmy nomination for cinematography.

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HBO recently canceled another high-profile drama,

“statue”
After one season.

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