ONCE A KINGDOM is built, the hardest part becomes everyone knowing their roles. Any indecision, entitlement, or restlessness can corrode the foundation, making a collapse inevitable. That’s how Julius Caesar ended up with knives in his body, and Succession ended with the Roy children puncturing each other with the vilest insults (and eye gouges). At the end of Season 1 of HBO’s mockumentary drama Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers, the Los Angeles Lakers were the new kings of the NBA after winning the title in the 1980 NBA Finals. In Season 2, everyone wants a bigger role in the kingdom.
The first season of Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht’s quirky adaptation of Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s was a fast-paced wrecking ball through NBA history, leaving legacies in its wake. Earvin “Magic” Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) was reduced to a wide-eyed womanizer with generational basketball talent and a marketable smile while Jerry West (Jason Clarke) was portrayed as a belligerent hothead who yelled more than he thought. There were orgies, children being told to “fuck off,” and more sex. By the end of the season, it was a story of triumph with co-coaches Pat Riley (Adrien Brody) and Paul Westhead (Jason Segal) leading the team through the trenches to the trophy, and Lakers owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) proving rival Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach (Michael Chiklis) wrong. Now, cue the Succession theme song.
Now that the dust and cocaine residue has settled, Season 2 returns to reexamine the pecking order in Lakers land. Riley and Westhead both led the Lakers to NBA supremacy, but who’s going to be the head coach next season? Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (Solomon Hughes) is the captain of the ship, but rookie Magic took the team over the finish line in his absence. Dr. Buss’s daughter Jeanie (Hadley Robinson) integrated herself into the family business more than her brothers Jim (McCabe Slye) and Johnny (Thomas Mann) did in Season 1. Will that continue in Season 2, or will the successor to the Lakers throne be up in the air?
These questions only scratch the hardwood surface of the drama Winning Time has prepared in its noticeably darker second season. And here’s how you’ll be able to make sure you don’t miss a second.
When is the next episode of Winning Time coming out?
Episodes of Winning Time air on HBO every Sunday at 9 P.M. ET. The Season 2 premiere is now out, so the next episode will be released on August 13.
How many episodes of Winning Time are left?
This season of Winning Time will only have seven episodes, a 30% drop from Season 1’s 10-episode slate. That means there are six episodes left in Winning Time Season 2. The next episode airs on August 13.
Here’s the complete release schedule for Winning Time Season 2:
Episodes air on HBO every Sunday
Episode 1, “One Ring Don’t Make a Dynasty”: Now streaming as of August 6
Episode 2, “The Magic Is Back”: Premiering on August 13
Episode 3, “The Second Coming”: Premiering on August 20
Episode 4, “The New World”: Premiering on August 27
Episode 5, “The Hamburger Hamlet”: Premiering on September 3
Episode 6, “’BEAT L.A.’”: Premiering on September 10
Episode 7, “What Is and What Should Never Be”: Premiering on September 17
Senior Editor
Keith Nelson is a writer by fate and journalist by passion, who has connected dots to form the bigger picture for Men’s Health, Vibe Magazine, LEVEL MAG, REVOLT TV, Complex, Grammys.com, Red Bull, Okayplayer, and Mic, to name a few.
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