'It’s rare to see the construction of a myth at the same time as its implosion,' writes zakcheneyrice, comparing the present-day Lakers to the team captured in 'Winning Time'
LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Photo: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images Russell Westbrook looks irritated, even by his ornery standards. It’s Tuesday and he’s stewing over the Los Angeles Lakers’ 128-110 drubbing by the Dallas Mavericks — their most decisive loss of the season so far. He’s at a postgame press conference in a dad hat and matching vest and reporters are grilling him about the franchise’s two-year slide since its last championship.
It’s rare to see the construction of a myth at the same time as its implosion. Told over a 12-year span bookended by the 1979 off-season and Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s 1991 announcement that he’d contracted HIV, McKay’s series is a genial ode to the 1980s “Showtime” era, when the Lakers were at the cultural epicenter of the sports world. It’s protagonist is Dr.
Love would be a foreign concept to today’s Lakers. “I don’t even want to bring my kids to the game,” Westbrook said earlier this month about the harassment he’s been getting from fans. This is a player who’s known for his prickly relationship with spectators — he was shoved by a child during a game against the Denver Nuggets and got in such an ugly verbal altercation with a Utah Jazz fan that the guy was banned for life from home contests in Salt Lake City, both during the same season.
There’s plenty of blame to go around, from bad play-calling to frequent injuries. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka deserves a lot of it for tinkering with a winning roster then overreacting to its disappointing finish last season by letting guard Alex Caruso walk in free agency, despite being one of the best backcourt defenders in the league. He then caved too willingly to James and co-star Anthony Davis when they were angling to nab Westbrook.
Like her dad, the younger Buss is a sunbeam cutting through the swamp. Her naive enthusiasm complements his collegial charm, and together they’re a potent antidote to the dominant culture in sports: a world of lecherous zillionaires, ruthless middle managers, and their bitter underlings in windowless offices who’ve forgotten, if they ever knew it, that basketball is supposed to be fun.
This turmoil in the family was set in motion, remarkably, in the name of protecting another family. “I like to say that my dad had his children, but the Lakers were the baby,” added Jeanie. “And my dad put the baby in my arms to take care of.”
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