Jeanie Buss Praises ‘Winning Time’ Actors For Portrayals Of Magic Johnson & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The Los Angeles Lakers have a storied history dating back several decades, and arguably their most exciting era is being captured right now on HBO’s ‘Winning Time.’

‘Winning Time’ is exploring the 1980s ‘Showtime’ Lakers teams that featured Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Dr. Jerry Buss as well as a host of supporting and ancillary characters. Season 1 ended with Los Angeles capturing the 1980 NBA Championship over the Philadelphia 76ers and Season 2 has looked at the middle of the decade.

Johnson was riding high after leading the team to a title with Abdul-Jabbar hurt, but the two would need each other in order to capture another championship in 1982. They would then struggle to find their footing the next two seasons, especially with the rise of their arch-rivals the Boston Celtics.

Jeanie Buss has been faithfully watching the second season and praised actors Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes for their portrayals of Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar, respectively, via the Winning Time Podcast:

“Oh, absolutely. There’s one scene where Quincy winks at the camera and I’m like, ‘I’ve seen that wink a hundred times.’ I know that he’s got it down and that that he he he captures that essence of Magic just playing with joy.And that’s a hard part to cast and he does a terrific job.

“And then, of course, Solomon, what a challenging role to take on Kareem. There’s so many layers of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and who he is and what he’s meant to society and to capture him in this part of his life. I think he does a terrific job as well.”

Isaiah and Hughes have done excellent work capturing the personalities of the Lakers legends, though unfortunately they won’t get a chance to reprise their roles as HBO did confirm that there won’t be a Season 3. There were concerns the show wouldn’t be renewed and that reality has come to fruition.

However, that shouldn’t take away from the quality of the acting as the cast hit their stride in the second season. It’s too bad fans won’t get a chance to see the rest of the decade play out as there were more titles to be had.

John C. Reilly thought Jeanie Buss was going to kick him out of Crypto.com Arena

Aside from Isaiah and Hughes, John C. Reilly has also gotten praise from Jeanie about his portrayal of her father Dr. Jerry Buss. When discussing Reilly, Jeanie recounted a funny story where the actor thought she was kicking him out of Crypto.com Arena when they crossed paths.