Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by HBO and Getty Images
“My dream really was to have the Lakers and Los Angeles identified as one and the same,” Jerry Buss said to ESPN in 2010. “When you think New York, you think Yankees. I wanted that to be the case here as well. That when you think L.A., you think Lakers. I believe I’ve accomplished that.” It’s no exaggeration to say basketball games were revolutionized by late Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who envisioned an immersive, commercialized experience for the sport. Adam McKay’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, a.k.a. the final straw in his longtime business partnership with Will Ferrell, follows Buss’s journey creating the Lakers’ Showtime dynasty of…
