“Winning Time,” the fictionalized account of the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, debuted last year to rave reviews from some fans and criticisms from members of those Showtime Lakers who felt the series was too much of a caricature.
The series ended abruptly last Sunday with episode seven of season two, which depicted L.A. losing the 1984 NBA championship to its hated rivals, the Boston Celtics. It seemed like an inappropriate way to end the program, especially since the Showtime Lakers hadn’t even hit their stride at that point of the decade.
It is generally believed the series wasn’t picked up for a third season because of low viewership. But in an interview with Arash Markazi, Jim Hecht and Max Borenstein, the co-creators of “Winning Time,” feel the series could return at some point in the future.
Hecht said that, at the very least, it was supposed to tell the story of Showtime until 1991, when the era ended with Magic Johnson’s retirement after he had tested HIV-positive.
Via The Messenger:
“We obviously wanted to go to 1991 but there’s more story to be told even after that,” Hecht said. “You have one series about ‘Showtime’ and then things pick up five years later in 1996 when Jerry West signs Shaquille O’Neal and trades for Kobe Bryant. It could even go all the way to today with Jeanie as the owner and winning a title with LeBron James. I don’t think that it’s completely over.”
Borenstein also cited the revival of a popular sitcom from the 1990s as proof that the curtain may not have permanently closed on “Winning Time.”
“I don’t think the doors ever get closed on anything,” Borenstein said. “It’s very clear that there was something special about Winning Time. This is a story that has so much to be mined that’s beyond just what people thought they knew. Who knows when or if we will have that opportunity to continue it, but we live in a world where Frasier is about to get a new season after 20 years so you never know.”
The story of the Showtime Lakers is an important one to be fully told, not just because those teams evolved into arguably the greatest the NBA ever saw, but also because of the lessons to be learned in terms of successful relationships and how to achieve greatness.
A return of the series, even if it is many years from now, would likely be welcomed with lots of excitement by fans of the Purple and Gold.