Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Rips 'Winning Time' For Being "Crude, Dishonest"

HBO

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty premiered on HBO in early March.
The series charts the rise of the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently ripped the “dishonest” series for being “dull.”

While Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty may be the latest mega-hit for HBO, it doesn’t seem to be resonating with legendary figures of the Los Angeles Lakers organization, as Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has become the latest L.A. great to speak out against the series.

In his latest Substack blog post, Abdul-Jabbar blasted the “deliberately dishonest” and “drearily dull” series for being “boring” and writhe with “bland characterization.” Abdul-Jabbar also made clear that his issues with the series were not over how he’s specifically being portrayed.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rips HBO’s new series Winning Time for being boring

“There is only one immutable sin in writing: Don’t Be Boring! Winning Time commits that sin over and over,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote. “I’ll start with the bland characterization. The characters are crude stick-figure representations that resemble real people, the way Lego Han Solo resembles Harrison Ford. Each character is reduced to a single bold trait, as if the writers were afraid anything more complex would tax the viewers’ comprehension.”

Kareem isn’t the only Lakers legend who isn’t all too thrilled by Winning Time, as Hall of Famer Magic Johnson also previously said that he was “not looking forward to” the new HBO series, which has already been renewed for a second season.

Executive produced by Don’t Look Up and Anchorman director Adam McKay, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty stars John C. Reilly as Jerry Buss, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead, Julianne Nicholson as Cranny McKinney, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more.