Former Los Angeles Lakers player Byron Scott has no hard feelings about HBO’s cancellation of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and claims that he, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never discussed the show as friends and former teammates.
Scott, who was a crucial figure in three NBA championships in the Lakers dynasty, hadn’t yet appeared on the show, as his storyline was slated for the upcoming season. However, the former guard was not an avid watcher of the popular biographical series to begin with, due to liberties that were taken with the story.
When asked if he was upset about the show’s cancellation, Byron said, “Nah, I’m good,” explaining, “I wasn’t a big fan of the show because I know a lot of it was fabricated in certain ways just to make it more interesting for the fans, which is cool, that’s TV. That’s Hollywood. That’s what they do.”
While six-time NBA champions Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar have spoken out against the show’s portrayal of the “Showtime” Lakers, Scott said the three have never discussed it with one another.
“I haven’t talked to Magic about it, didn’t talk to Kareem about it,” he said. “When we’re together, we never even talk about it.” In fact, the former Lakers head coach says the show was only ever mentioned by the players’ wives. “If it makes the convo, it’s because the wives would bring it up.”
Last year, Johnson called out the show’s creators for not including actual players from the era in the storytelling process. “You can’t do a story about the Lakers without the Lakers,” he said. “The real Lakers. You gotta have the guys.”
The 64-year-old billionaire business owner was not willing to give the show a chance and said that other players shared his sentiments. “So I don’t know what this stuff is, I haven’t watched it, I’m not gonna watch it. And all the guys said the same thing. Kareem, everybody. You can’t do it.”
While former Lakers greats have had mixed reactions about the show’s cancellations, fans of the series see it as yet another premature ending in the streaming era.
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