HBO’s new show about the Los Angeles Lakers has become appointment viewing, especially for basketball fans with an affinity for storytelling.
The season has had many memorable moments thus far, including brilliant portrayals of Lakers legends by John C. Reilly (Dr. Jerry Buss), Solomon Hughes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Quincy Isaiah (Magic Johnson), Adrien Brody (Pat Riley), and plenty more.
But one of the season’s best moments came in the show’s fifth episode, which depicted the opener of the 1979-80 season. This marked the first game Magic Johnson played in his NBA career. Johnson faced the Clippers, who played in San Diego at the time.
The Clippers’ leading scorer in that game was World B. Free, who had a 46-point performance. However, another player on that team was a 25-year-old forward named Joe “Jellybean” Bryant — the father of the late Kobe Bryant.
Bryant was guarding Magic Johnson, and Lakers announcer, Chick Hearn, was on the call. Hearn noted that Bryant’s son, Kobe Bean, was in the crowd. The show made a joke about Kobe’s competitive edge and love for the game, suggesting that, even then, he wanted to get on the floor.
Kobe was born in August 1978, so he would have been a little over one year old at Johnson’s professional debut. While it is unclear whether or not Kobe was actually at the game, it doesn’t matter much.
This is a show about the rise of the Lakers dynasty, so it made sense to tip their hats to Kobe, who represented the pinnacle of those accomplishments.
If you are curious about what that game looked like in real life, you can watch this clip shared by Jeff Pearlman (whose book serves as the source material for this show).
Although this isn’t a docuseries, and Bryant’s presence at the Lakers game is unconfirmed, it is fun to see how the show mirrors real-life events.
If you want to see more of Bryant in a similar light, the good news is awaiting. The Hollywood Reporter says HBO has “quietly optioned” Pearlman’s follow-up Lakers book on Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for another show.
Until then, you can watch new episodes of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty every Sunday at 9pmET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.