Lakers shows that fans must watch after ‘Winning Time’ gets canceled

‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’ captured the imagination of Los Angeles Lakers fans who wanted to re-live the best era in franchise history. Season one of the show, which is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book ‘Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s’ debuted in March of 2022 and was met with rave reviews.

HBO quickly green-lit a second season of the show after the initial response. Season 2 debuted in August of 2023 and truthfully, was fighting an uphill battle before the season even started. There were criticisms of season one of the show from those actually involved with the Lakers. Jerry West especially did not like his characterization on the show and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar agreed, calling the show “deliberately dishonest” and “drearily dull”.

Add in a writers and actors strike in Hollywood and the show could not be properly promoted. The second season was not met with as much fanfare as the first, prompting HBO to cancel the show and not renew it for a third season.

Now what are Lakers fans supposed to watch?

Lakers shows to watch after ‘Winning Time’ gets canceled:

Legacy: The true story of the LA Lakers

‘Legacy’ almost felt like a response to the dramatized ‘Winning Time’ show that HBO produced. ‘Legacy’ is a 10-part series that explores the history of the Lakers from a documentary point of view, not a dramatized point of view.

The show is available to watch on Hulu and was received fairly well, earning an 82% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

They Call Me Magic

Lakers legend Magic Johnson opened up to filmmakers for a 2022 documentary series on Apple TV+. ‘They Call Me Magic’ is a four-part series that explores Magic’s entire life, from his days before the Lakers to his days as a businessman after the Lakers.

Each episode is around an hour long, giving Lakers fans four hours of content to fill the void that ‘Winning Time’ left behind.

Shaq

After the success of ‘Winning Time’ in 2022, the aptly-named documentary about Shaquille O’Neal, ‘Shaq’, may have gotten a bit buried on Max.

This four-part series explores Shaq’s early life, post-playing career and of course, his time with the Lakers. Fans who just finished ‘Winning Time’ on Max can click on over to watch a story about the most dominant big man in NBA history.

Kareem: Minority of One

A bit dated compared to the other shows available, ‘Kareem: Minority of One’ is a 2015 documentary that is currently available to stream on Max.

This is not a multi-part series that will occupy several hours of Lakers fans’ time but it is a good hour-and-a-half watch about the former top scorer of all time.