Winning Time Episode 10 True Story: What Really Happened & What Changed
Warning! SPOILERS for Winning Time season 1, episode 10.
HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty episode 10 takes the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Finals, and here's what the season 1 finale gets right and wrong about the true story. The evolution of the Lakers during the 1979-1980 NBA season as shown in Winning Time was all about trying to win a championship. New owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) and rookie Earvin 'Magic' Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) made it their mission early on to be the last team standing. After Winning Time episode 9 showed the team clinch a spot in the NBA Finals, the season 1 finale focused extensively on the final few games of the Lakers' matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The events of Winning Time episode 10 fast forwards to Game 5 of the 1980 NBA Finals. With the series tied 2-2, the Lakers are on their way to a big win in Los Angeles before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes) hurts his ankle. This changes the complexion of Game 5 and the rest of the NBA Finals for the Lakers, forcing Magic Johnson to step up in a big way. At the same time that the team is trying to win its first NBA Championship since 1972, Winning Time episode 10 shows Paul Westhead (Jason Segel) and Jack McKinney (Terry Letts) seemingly mend fences over what happened with the Lakers' coaching position. Meanwhile, Jerry Buss is still grieving the loss of his mother, and Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris) continues his drug-fueled quest to kill the Lakers.
Related: Winning Time Sets Up The Epic 1980s Lakers/Celtics Rivalry
Unsurprisingly, the entirety of Winning Time season 1's story comes into play during the finale. And since the 2022 original HBO show is an adaptation of real-life events, Winning Time's true story is
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