Crinkled-up Paper Ignites Lakers to 1980 Title
Riley knew the exact right time when to motivate Magic
An NBA official walks into the Los Angeles Lakers’ lockerroom in Philadelphia at halftime of Game Six of the NBA Finals.
The Lakers lead the series, 3–2. The score is tied 60–60.
He hands assistant coach Pat Riley (Adrien Brody) a piece of paper which contains the exact tallies for the Rookie of The Year voting, which Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) lost to Larry Bird (Sean Patrick Small).
Riley glances at it, crinkles it up, and tosses it in the trash can.
A crinkled-up piece of paper.
Swish!
Lots of one-on-one conflicts
Although HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Laker Dynasty’s season-finale “The Promised Land,” is about the Laker capturing the coveted 1980 NBA championship trophy, it’s also about so much more.
It’s really about conflict. Each of the main characters deals with some interior and/or exterior conflict, which is mostly left unresolved after season one, leaving the door wide open for plenty of intrigues in season two.
The show opens with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Huges) in Game Five attempting his patented sky hook, but then — in slow motion — lands awkwardly, severely spraining his ankle and cries out in pain: “aaaaaaaahhh.”
An untimely huge sprained ankle.
In the training room, it’s obvious how bad the ankle is sprained, but both Riley and Kareem insist on tapping it up as they sense the game is slipping away
Kareem’s girlfriend (Sarah Ramos) pleads against it: “You sacrificed way too much to basketball already. You don’t have to do this.”
‘I want this bad’
Kareem doesn’t agree.
“Not this time. I want this,” and then yells, “I WANT THIS.”
Kareem plays like a man possessed upon returning and the Lakers cruise to the win and take a 3–2 lead in the series.
Later Kareem and Magic meet privately after the game.
“Buck, I’m done,” Abdul-Jabbar tells Magic. “Remember that smiling-faced kid — high-fiving — and hugging me for the first time. You told me if we keep winning there’d be 81 more (hugs).”
The passing of the torch, er, jersey
Abdul-Jabbar hands him his jersey, “You owe me one more.”
Yeah, but how?
The Lakers are now centerless without Kareem and earlier lost power forward Spencer Haywood (Wood Harris) due to substance abuse. And the 76ers are loaded with six-foot-eleven twin towers Caldwell Jones and Darryl “Chocolate Thunder” Dawkins, daring anyone to enter their forbidden forest in the paint.
Magic knows he’s the answer and arrogantly enters the team plane, promising he’ll lead the short-staffed Lakers to the promised land.
“They may be bigger, but they can’t keep up with my speed. And I’m no pip squeak either. They won’t be able to stop me when I’m spinning and dazzling them in the lane.”
Put me in coach, I wanna be center
Head coach Paul Westhead (Jason Segel) pulls out his notes from former head coach and best friend Jack McKinney (Tracy Letts). Westhead’s mentor has also highlighted and circled Magic to the play center.
Westhead reluctantly agrees to the shorter scheme.
Meanwhile, Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) is meeting with his hard-working and Forum-employed daughter Jeanie (Hadley Robinson). It appears Buss is ready to ask Jeanie to come aboard as the organization’s treasurer.
Nope.
Instead, Buss asked his daughter to give her brothers, Johnny and Jim, a tour of the facility and see which would be a better fit for the organization.
Oh, boy (pardon the pun).
Viewers can sense the disappointment on Jeanie’s face. And the blatant sexism.
Getting drunk in plain sight
Later, viewers also sense the stupidity when the Buss boys act like a couple of Marx Brother idiots during game six, drinking more than a few beers and standing and taunting Philly fans.
Beer cups always evident in their hands.
Game Six starts and Magic is putting on a clinic in basketball. Behind the back passes. Rebounds between the twin towers. Slam dunks. And even a Kareem Sky Hook.
But Magic starts to wear down and tire, and throws an errant pass in the last few minutes that’s stolen and the 76ers take their first lead. Magic — hardly able to breathe — calls timeout.
That’s when Riley chooses to reveal the contents of the wrinkled-up paper,
Unwrinkled in time
“Sixty-three to three,” Riley tells Magic before he takes the court. “Larry Bird beat you in the Rookie of the Year voting by a score of sixty-three to three.”
And that more than lights a fire and refuels Magic as the Lakers easily finish off the Sixers.
But not even a glittery trophy can resolve matters.
David Stern (Andy Hirsch) pulls Magic aside and tells him how they want to switch the MVP vote since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is home injured and how he put on an amazing show.
We’re left wondering what Magic decides until the MVP trophy is presented,
One Magic moment
“I could have done this without Kareem,” Magic says. “But he couldn’t be here and I had to take over. And I was glad to do it because Magic is a winner.”
An awkward encounter with Magic and Kareem ensues at the airport when the team arrives.
But Magic isn’t the only one Kareem has a conflict with.
Kareem visits former teammate Spencer Haywood, seen earlier smoking a crack pie in his bathtub, and tells him congratulations on winning — since he was a part of the title.
Haywood doesn’t hold back.
Battle of the big men
“Fuck you,” Haywood said. “Are you kidding me? You kicked me to the curb. I ain’t shit to you.”
Kareem tries to reel in the drugged-up Haywood by pointing to a picture of Haywood’s daughter on the wall.
“Look at her,” Kareem says. “It’s your daughter. She’s beautiful. You have so much to live for. Be a champion for your daughter.”
Oh, those metaphoric items
A crinkled-up piece of paper. An untimely sprained ankle. A №33 Lakers jersey. Many cups of beer. An NBA MVP trophy, and a meth pipe.
Oh, and, of course, a 1980 NBA championship trophy.
That listed Jack McKinney as the Lakers’ head coach, Paul Westhead as the assistant coach, and completely left off Pat Riley’s name altogether.
An inaccurate and misleading championship trophy filled with even more controversy and conflict.
Bring on season two.
Thanks for reading my story.
Tagging the basketball bunch: Ning Choi, Sreese, MarkfromBoston 🌻Ukraine, Gerald Sturgill, Scot Butwell, Sreese, Klara Jane Holloway, Lu Skerdoo, Kirby Workes.
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