HBO’s hit seriesWinning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynastyreturns for its second season this August. A trailer, that you can watch below, has just dropped. Season two will pick up with the 1980 NBA finals, where the Los Angeles Lakers were triumphant over the Philadelphia 76ers. The trailer teases the early stages of the rivalry between Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Boston Celtics icon Larry Bird. As Pat Riley, Adrien Brody also plays into the rivalry, noting that the Lakers championships wins mean nothing “cause it wasn’t against them,” referencing the Celtics. John C. Reilly (as Jerry Buss) can also be heard saying: “This is survival of the fittest. It’s not about basketball, it’s about winning.”
Reilly returns as Buss, who acquired the Lakers in 1979, along with Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes, who portray Lakers superstars Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, respectively. Sean Patrick Small joins the second season as Larry Bird. The ensemble cast also includesBrody, Jason Clarke, Gaby Hoffmann, Jason Segel, Hadley Robinson, DeVaughn Nixon, Tamera Tomakili, Brett Cullen, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Spencer Garrett, Molly Gordon, Joey Brooks, Delante Desouza, Jimel Atkins, Austin Aaron, McCabe Slye, Thomas Mann, Gillian Jacobs, Michael Chiklis, and Rob Morgan.
The HBO series is executive produced by Adam McKay and Kevin Messick for Hyperobject Industries, Scott Stephens, Rodney Barnes, Jason Shuman, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Based on Jeff Pearlman’s bookShowtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, Winning Timeis created by Jim Hecht and Max Borenstein. Borenstein also serves as show runner and executive producer.
The second season, which continues to explore the lives of key Lakers figures, both on and off the court, premieres August 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
Related:Winning Time Star Defends the Series After Magic Johnson Criticism
Winning Time Faces Backlash
AlthoughWinning Timehas enjoyed a predominantly positive reception from audiences and critics, the series has received some backlash.Jerry West, who Jason Clarke portrays in the series, publicly claimedthatWinning Timehad made those involved look “like cartoon characters” and had “belittled something good.” Abdul-Jabbar echoed West’s sentiments stating:
“It’s a shame the way they treat Jerry West, who has openly discussed his struggle with mental health, especially depression. Instead of exploring his issues with compassion as a way to better understand the man, they turn him into a Wile E. Coyote cartoon to be laughed at. He never broke golf clubs, he didn’t throw his trophy through the window. Sure, those actions make dramatic moments, but they reek of facile exploitation of the man rather than exploration of character.”
HBO responded to the criticism, noting thatWinning Timewas never presented as a documentary but as a fictionalized drama based on actual events:
“HBO has a long history of producing compelling content drawn from actual facts and events that are fictionalized in part for dramatic purposes.Winning Timeis not a documentary and has not been presented as such. However, the series and its depictions are based on extensive factual research and reliable sourcing, and HBO stands resolutely behind our talented creators and cast who have brought a dramatization of this epic chapter in basketball history to the screen,” HBO said in a statement.
