Lakers: Magic Johnson Defends Jerry West Amid "Winning Time" Drama

Magic Johnson has something to say after Jerry West demanded an apology from HBO.

The HBO series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" has caused some to not be very happy about how they are being portrayed. Former NBA Player, and former head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jerry West, demanded a retraction and apology from HBO for how he was represented in the television series. 

According to Ramona Shelburne from ESPN, West demanded an apology in a letter that ESPN was able to get access to. The letter apparently stated that "Winning Time falsely and cruelly portrays Mr. West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic,"

Then days later, HBO did respond to the demands of Jerry West and said that they did their research and reiterated that the show is a dramatization of what actually happened.

However as the controversy has continued, Magic Johnson stepped into the conversation on Twitter where he urged everyone to read an article written by Bill Plaschke from the LA Times. The article is called "HBO’s ‘Winning Time’ gets some things right…but really blows it with outrageously wrong depiction of Jerry West." 

Magic Johnson also added how much Jerry West means to the Lakers organization.

NBA Championships, trading for Kobe, & working with Dr. Buss to bring Shaq to LA. Jerry helped develop us on the court as basketball players & off the court as men, a reason he remains close to a lot of former Lakers today, including me. The article is a must read!

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 24, 2022

Unlike his Hall-of-Fame teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic didn't openly criticize the show himself. Instead, Magic is promoting an article that pushes for West's article to be cancelled.

No matter what anyone thinks about the Hall of Famer, Jerry West made history with the Lakers and no one can deny that. Magic Johnson made it very clear, that the Lakers could not have done it without him.