Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Season 2.Season 2 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty has found an unlikely villain in Paul Westhead (Jason Segel). Though much of the season has been spent focusing on the more direct antagonists of the Boston Celtic, especially when it comes to manager Red Auerbach (Michael Chiklis) and star athlete Larry Bird (Sean Patrick Small), the Los Angeles Lakers are having bigger issues internally. Amid the life crises of Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) and the family strife in the life of Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly), the coaching staff drama of the Lakers team is causing some unintended consequences on the legendary team.
All these issues are traced back to Paul Westhead, his recent brazen attitude, and his contentious new playing style called “The System” — at least, that’s how the hit series frames the events, but Winning Time has been criticized by some of its subjects for romanticizing history, particularly by NBA legend Jerry West. This begs the question of just how accurate Paul Westhead‘s descent into crazed overconfidence is as depicted in Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Season 2. We’ll also quickly mention that the following piece will be discussing events that take place after Winning Time Season 2’s fourth episode, so be wary of potential spoilers.
Paul Westhead Goes From Zero to Hero to Zero Again in ‘Winning Time’
Paul Westhead was first introduced early on in Season 1 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, shortly after Jerry West (Jason Clarke) opts not to coach the Los Angeles Lakers following Jerry Buss’ purchase of the team. The frantic search to find a new head coach has now officially started, and the Lakers staff find a rising star in Jack McKinney (Tracy Letts), whose brilliant brain appears to be a perfect fit for the NBA team. Upon accepting the position, McKinney chose Paul Westhead as his assistant coach, who at the time was making a living as a high school English teacher.
Things are progressing smoothly as McKinney begins to employ his unorthodox methods until disaster strikes. Right when the season is nearing its start, McKinney gets involved in a near-fatal bicycle accident, leaving him hospitalized for several months. This leaves a woefully under-prepared Westhead as the interim head coach, not fully knowing how he can pick up the pieces left behind by his mentor. He finds an unlikely savior in former Lakers player Pat Riley (Adrien Brody), who becomes a remarkably valuable force in building Westhead’s confidence and coaching ability. With Riley’s help, Westhead leads the Lakers to a victory in a 1980 NBA Championship, officially kickstarting the legendary Lakers Dynasty.
Season 2 of Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty showcases what happens after the Lakers’ historic victory, but it’s not going the way that the team and staff were likely hoping for. The following season has been rife with ups and downs, and the team is not adapting well to Westhead’s new system that he has named, well… “The System.” Even worse, the fame and glory Westhead achieved by being the head coach of a championship-winning team has started to go to his head. He’s begun making bizarre and uncalled-for executive decisions without consulting his peers and has heavily relegated the advice of his assistant coach Pat Riley, even going as far as to hire another assistant coach along with Riley.
Westhead is getting dangerously close to discovering his own Achilles heel when he pisses off the one person who he shouldn’t piss off — Magic Johnson. The tension between Westhead and Johnson continues to grow and grow. Johnson doesn’t like The System, and Westhead doesn’t like their highest-paid athlete’s disrespect of his authority. After a less-than-pleasant conversation in a custodian’s closet, Magic Johnson makes the bold decision to claim he wants to be traded to another team, which is ultimately going to raise more than a few problems for the once-respected head coach.
Magic Johnson and Paul Westhead Did Not Get Along in Real Life
Going into the real history of the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s very true that Westhead and The System were not popular among the basketball team. That goes double for Magic Johnson, who is widely believed to be the main reason for Paul Westhead’s downfall as the Lakers’ head coach. The fourth episode of Winning Time Season 2 points out that Johnson was paid a whopping total of $25 million a year for his tenure on the Lakers, which was significantly more than any of his teammates. That hefty price tag obviously gave Johnson more than a little bit of leeway with Jerry Buss and the rest of the Lakers staff, and he really put that to the test when Johnson publicly announced that he desired to be traded to a different team.
This stunning move came after a five-game winning streak for the Lakers, and the staff of the celebrated team entered full panic mode. It didn’t take long for them to discover that the key to retaining their star athlete was to get rid of their contentious head coach. It became clear that the team only had enough space for either Johnson or Westhead, and in the end, the staff went with Westhead. The Lakers reportedly fired the coach not even 24 hours after Johnson expressed his desire to be traded. In an ironic twist, Westhead’s colleague and frequent coaching rival, Pat Riley, would be named as Westhead’s replacement.
So, it is safe to say that the 1980s Lakers, or at least several prominent members of its team and staff, were not fond of Westhead and his methods. However, there isn’t really enough evidence to prove nor deny that Westhead’s coaching style and attitude after winning the 1980 NBA Championship was as vitriolic as Winning Time suggests they were. Paul Westhead himself has not commented on his portrayal in the show apart from giving a generous endorsement of Jason Segel on his Twitter page.
