As a franchise rich with history, success, and culture, the Los Angeles Lakers have plenty of stories to tell.
The release of “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers” aims to tell some of those untold tales as they take viewers through the Buss era.
In a conversation with Dan Woike of the LA Times, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss reacted to the project and explained why it’s an important tool for fans to understand the Purple and Gold.
“I want the truth to be known,” said Buss. “I want everybody to have an opportunity to tell their experience. Because I know, from my point of view, what I saw and experienced,” Jeanie Buss said. “But I really have enjoyed listening to what it was like for former players being on this team. I even learned a lot through this process. And I want Laker fans, who know the wins and the losses, I want them to see the other side, the toll of losing, the toll of winning. … It’s not all just about championships and highlight film. It’s about the people who lived the story and their truth.”
This isn’t the first time a show/documentary has been made about the Lakers. In fact, multiple different viewing experiences have emerged over the years.
In this case, though, Jeanie is confident that her team will be represented with accuracy — and so is ‘Legacy’ director Antoine Fuqua.
“You have to remember [there’s] a lot of misinformation as well, there’s TV shows and other things out there that are not correct,” Fuqua said. “So to hear from the people who actually lived it, the people that ran and run the organization, the players who’ve been through it, their stories. You know, people forget, all these people are human beings, with family and a lot of emotion, a lot of pressure. … There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.”
With so much turmoil and grief within the Lakers organization, it makes sense that they would relish looking backward to better times.
In those days, the Lakers were defined by their success and culture, not by the noise they created in the media. Hopefully, the team will return back to those standards in the near future.
