Good news, bball fans! We now take you courtside for season two of Winning Time: The Rise of the LA Lakers Dynasty, which hits Binge on August 7, with new episodes dropping weekly.
A behind-the-scenes sports drama, Winning Time follows the (sometimes quite liberally) dramatised rise and rise and rise of the LA Lakers basketball team, who all but dominated the NBA in the 1980s—a period now known as the Showtime Era. Executive produced by Don’t Look Up and The Big Short director Adam McKay, who also directs the pilot episode, it centres on court legend Earving “Magic” Johnson (Quincy Isaiah), with the first episode kicking off with his 1991 HIV diagnosis before flashing back to the 1979-1980 NBA season, thus providing us with some temporal bookends for the unfolding drama.
Comprised of seven episodes, season two is set to follow the Lakers from 1980 to 1984, under new owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly), as they aim for a championship win against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, including head coach Red Auerbach (Michael Chiklis) and star player Larry Bird (Sean Patrick Small).
Rounding out the ensemble cast this season are Adrien Brody, Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Jason Segel, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Solomon Hughes, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, McCabe Slye, Thomas Mann, and Gillian Jacobs.
Winning Time has attracted no small amount of criticism from some of its subjects, with both Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar calling the series out for historical inaccuracy. So bear that in mind and maybe make it past of a deeper dive into the Lakers instead of your go-to point of reference. Still, having said that, if you want all areas access to one of the most exciting eras in basketball history, this is your best ticket.
