Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson have spoken out publicly against the series. What is it that has disappointed them.

The long-awaited HBO series about the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty building in the NBA in the 1980s, entitled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, premiered in the US a few weeks ago and received generally positive reviews.

Just as pleased with the result of the TV series, however, do not seem to be the real basketball stars of the Lakers of that time, who argued that HBO never asked for their opinion on how their characters should be presented in TV program.
Jerry West's fierce reaction

One of the first to turn against the HBO series was Jerry West, played by Jason Clarke. The Lakers veteran basketball player sent a letter through his legal representative to the TV station and the series' producer, Adam McKay, demanding an apology and an apology for what has already been said in the series about him.

As revealed in the letter brought to light by ESPN, "Winning Time falsely portrays Jerry West as a drunken, irritable and agile guy who bears no resemblance to the real thing."

In fact, in the letter, he asks HBO, at the beginning and end of each episode, to point out that Jerry West's character is a product of fiction and does not reflect reality. Otherwise, "he will even go to the Supreme Court" to find his right.

The lawyer for the veteran basketball player, who appears in the NBA logo, also stated: "The depiction of the Lakers legend in Winning Time is more in the context of the imaginary than the real.

"This is a deliberate false image that has caused great anxiety and stress to Jerry and his family." Also on his side are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Jamaal Wilkes, who point out that Jerry West's behavior in the series had nothing to do with reality.
The Lakers stars do not want to see the series

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, played by Solomon Hughes in Winning Time, said in a post on Substack that he was "not interested in watching the show". He expressed his disgust with it, as, according to him, it is based on inaccurate depictions and a "shallow and lazy writing".

Magic Johnson, on the other hand, played by Quincy Isaiah, also noted that he is not interested in watching the HBO series. "First of all, you can not make history for the Lakers without the Lakers. The real Lakers. You must have them with you. You can not just copy them, "he said in an interview with Variety, noting that no one from the series approached him or his former teammates to join the series.

The answer to all these accusations was given by the television station, through a letter published in The Hollywood Reporter. In it, the TV station claims that this is dramatized content based on real events.

He also claims that Winning Time is not presented as a documentary, but is based on an extensive and well-documented research from authoritative sources. Finally, he noted that the plot of the series is left to the creative decisions of the cast and the creators of the television program.