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a14 people & arts
Thursday 7 april 2022
'Winning Time' shows authentic human side of Laker legends

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. talk about."
LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Field said she was im-
C. Reilly remembered be- pressed by how the series
ing enthralled watching shows the maturation of
"Showtime" basketball with Jeanie Buss, the current
Magic Johnson's no-look controlling owner and pres-
passes and Kareem Ab- ident of the Lakers.
dul-Jabbar's patented sky- "Young Jeanie wasn't even
hook, but the actor never allowed to be in the room
really knew the backstory and at the table yet, but
behind the Los Angeles was inserting her young
Lakers dynasty. ideas," Field said. "(Jeanie)
Reilly quickly found out af- was right about bringing
ter stepping into his role as dance into it, Hollywood,
late Laker owner Jerry Buss glamour, movie stars on
in the HBO series "Winning the court and sitting them
Time: The Rise of the Lakers there right on the edge,
Dynasty," which airs Sun- and even bringing rock mu-
days. The 10-episode series sic in during the downtimes.
follows the professional and They brought concerts in
personal lives of the team and used the arena. I don't
donning purple and gold think that had been done
in the 1980s and how the This image released by HBO shows Brett Cullen, portraying Bill Sharman, left, and John C. Reilly, before."
franchise became one of portraying Jerry Buss, standing, in a scene from the series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Isaiah said he really wanted
the most revered in profes- Dynasty." to hit the mark in making
sional sports. Associated Press Johnson appear like a nor-
"That was the vehicle mal human being, instead
through which the en- Pat Riley. The story is based ing the script and doing Field, a longtime Lakers fan, of just the NBA legend, HIV
tire (basketball) world on the book "Showtime: more research on Buss, he said she agreed to par- advocate and successful
was changed," said Reilly Magic, Kareem, Riley and learned about him being ticipate in the show before businessman.
about the Lakers, which the Los Angeles Lakers Dy- a chemist, mathematician reading the script. The ac- "I think that's the joy that
was bought by Buss in 1979. nasty of the 1980s" by Jeff and just an overall mysteri- tor said the series helped I get in trying to figure out
"From the world of bas- Pearlman. ous person. her reminisce about the how to do it in a way that
ketball, it was a different Sunday's show marked the "It's like unpeeling the layers moments when the Lakers makes him a person, you
thing once Jerry bought midway point of its run, fo- of an onion getting to know merged its basketball world know, makes him a human,"
the team. He innovated cusing on Abdul-Jabbar's this guy," Reilly said. "There with Hollywood. he said. "And it doesn't
so many things, and he religious journey. The fifth are the public facts of what "I am such a big basketball give off this like maybe you
changed the entire world episode also touches on he did, when he bought the fan, but then the show was could see that he's going to
of showbiz. When you think Jeanie Buss' recruitment of team, how much he paid, about so much more than become an icon, but he's
of Kobe, Shaq, Magic, the Laker Girls — including what he had to do to ac- that," said Field, who would not one yet. Just like play-
these guys came to L.A. young dancer Paula Abdul complish that, the big set- attend games with her two ing it from there and trust-
and became worldwide — and Jerry Buss wanting backs they went through sons. "It really takes a look ing the people around me
players. I don't know if that to improve the look of the that first year. But after that at so much. You know, the and allowing myself to be
happens for every team." franchise. first year, he became a culture in the '70s in LA. in the moment and be au-
The series stars Reilly along Before portraying Buss, private guy. He would get Black culture, business cul- thentic."
with Quincy Isaiah as John- Reilly had heard about his like one interview per year ture, a bunch of dysfunc- DeVaughn Nixon grew up
son, Jason Clarke as Jerry reputation as a self-made or like a local reporter to tional families and what being a Laker watching his
West, Solomon Hughes as millionaire who became talk about the team. Oth- it is to take these talented father, Norm Nixon, play
Abdul-Jabbar, Sally Field known in Los Angeles for er than that, it was just this athletes out of their homes the guard position on the
as Jerry's mother, Jessie his flamboyant demeanor kind of mysterious image of and just plop them down in team. He said the series
Buss, Hadley Robinson as and for bringing Hollywood this guy who was just really the middle of the world, es- will continue to show how
the young Jeanie Buss and entertainment into the NBA enjoying his life and dating sentially, and what it does the Lakers changed sport's
Adrien Brody, who plays landscape. But after read- a lot." to them. So it has a lot to marketability.q

Lost and found in Ocean Vuong's 'Time Is a Mother'

By AMANCAI BIRABEN ness as he unfolds the logic Though grounded in the shots of the people of his
Associated Press of loss. loss of his mother, Vuong home nation Vietnam in-
Life's aftermath ebbs and In "Snow Theory," the poet branches out to trace oth- sinuate the proximity be-
flows throughout Ocean lies in his mother's outline in er instances of departure. tween their life and death;
Vuong's poetry collection the snow, "something be- Loss is a peaceful release, the oversized outfits his
"Time Is a Mother." An ode ing destroyed in a blizzard." a sudden shift. His friend's relatives wear reminiscent
to his mother's passing, Vu- In "Beautiful Short Loser," he top surgery that makes of a country that no lon-
ong orbits the contours of wears her wedding dress them more whole, the fish ger exists; his uncle's suicide
grief, embedding them into backwards in the street as with the narrator's face be- conveyed as a purposeful
clausal configurations and he plays air guitar. "Dear fore it swims away, a loaf of death.
juxtaposed tones. These Rose" recounts the violence rye bread rising out of itself. Retrogression, lists and
structures are reflected in that has shaped his moth- Loss is fleeting transition. notes structure some of Vu-
This cover image released by Vuong's themes of time er's life while uncovering Loss is a violent transition, ong's words, but the poet's
Penguin Press shows "Time is a and place, parent and the way language comes too. A dreamed car crash linguistic ferocity illuminates
Mother" by Ocean Vuong.
Associated Press child, nation and individu- alive through visceral expe- reveals Vuong's desire to his mother's spirit from the
al, and strength and weak- rience. be closer to his father; still rays of memory.q