Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were one of the greatest duos to ever play the game of basketball. They three-peated together, and there’s no question that their partnership with the Los Angeles Lakers was a perfect pairing in terms of basketball.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been heavily mentioned in popular culture recently due to the show “Winning Time”, which is currently available for streaming on the HBO Max platform. The show talks about the rise of the Showtime Lakers but is regarded as a dramatization of events. There have been many who have criticized the show, including Jerry West, who threatened to involve the Supreme Court over his portrayal in the show.
“The series made us all [the Lakers] look like cartoon characters,” West told Dwyre. “They belittled something good. If I have to, I will take this all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Shaquille O’Neal was recently interviewed by Rory Carroll of Reuters. One of the topics that came up was the show. O’Neal admitted that he doesn’t like how Jerry West is portrayed in that show, but added that he’d welcome a second season that focused on him and Kobe Bryant.
O’Neal said he is a fan of the popular and controversial HBO show “Winning Time,” a scripted series on the rise of the Showtime era Lakers in the 1980s.
“I like it but I don’t like how they depict my good friend Jerry West. But other than that I think it’s very interesting.”
West, the Lakers former general manager, is depicted in early episodes as having a hot temper and the Hall of Famer has asked for an apology and even threatened legal action against the show’s creators.
“Jerry was always kind and compassionate to me. I’ve never seen him have those meltdowns. So I think that portrayal of Mr West was probably false,” said O’Neal.
Despite that, he said he would welcome a second season focused on the Shaq and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers, who won three straight championships starting in 2000.
“Let’s do it,” he said.
“I’m the type where you can say or do whatever you want, no problem. I understand the entertainment world,” added O’Neal, who won an Academy Award last month as a producer on “The Queen of Basketball,” a short subject documentary on the life of pioneering star Lusia Harris.
There is no doubt that it would be interesting to see a dramatization of the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant era in Los Angeles. The two were also interesting people off the court, so it definitely would make for good TV.
It remains to be seen if HBO does end up creating a season of “Winning Time” based on Shaquille O’Neal’s time in Los Angeles. However, based on the success of their current show about the Showtime Lakers, it would definitely be a good opportunity for them.
