Winning Time captures the Showtime Lakers spirit -- but it blows it with Jerry West

Los Angeles Times

"It nails Jerry Buss’ boldness, Magic Johnson’s smile, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s aloofness," says longtime Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke in the aftermath of West demanding a retraction over Jason Clarke's portrayal in the HBO drama. "The 10-episode series, which mangles facts and embellishes personalities, nonetheless captures the Showtime spirit and actually gets some of it right. But it gets one thing very wrong. It blows it with Jerry West. It mindlessly stomps all over The Logo. It needlessly chokes on the portrayal of Mr. Clutch. It takes the most revered living basketball figure in this city and recklessly paints him in such darkness that he’s unrecognizable. Actor Jason Clarke may look and sound like West — the casting for the entire show is pretty amazing — but make no mistake. That is not Jerry West. West is a passionately tortured and often profane competitor, but, in my dealings with him over the last 30 years, he has never been the raging lunatic that the series depicts. He would never throw a championship trophy through an office window — his Forum office had no windows. He would never break clubs in a temper tantrum on a golf course — in public he was always, well, Mr. Clutch. And there is no way he would be curled up on the floor in his underwear moaning over the fact that the Lakers drafted Johnson instead of Sidney Moncrief. This is a guy smart enough to trade for Kobe Bryant, remember? This is a guy cool enough to sign Shaquille O’Neal, remember? When he didn’t get his way, this is not a guy who moped, this is a guy who adjusted."

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