NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Winning Time season 2 episode 5, "The Hamburger Hamlet."
Following Magic Johnson's (Quincy Isaiah) impromptu trade declaration, the aftermath was pure chaos. His future, along with Paul Westhead's (Jason Segel), was in limbo until Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) finally weighed in and dismissed the Lakers coach. This in turn caused the NBA's most-likeable guard to be the brunt of boos and off-putting remarks.
With Westhead gone, there was immediately some confusion as to who would take over the coaching duties between Jerry West (Jason Clarke) and Pat Riley (Adrien Brody), with the latter ultimately getting the job.
Was everything shown really what happened? Here's what we found out.
Did Magic Johnson get Paul Westhead fired?
The fiction
After Johnson made it public knowledge that he rather be traded than play for the Lakers under Westhead, Buss found himself in a no-win situation. Either the Laker owner traded his star player or he'd be forced to get another head coach. Westhead initially carried himself under the belief that Buss wouldn't fire him.
When the team arrived back in Los Angeles following the infamous Salt Lake City game, Johnson sat down with Buss in his office. Buss tried to persuade Magic to publicly retract his statement about wanting to leave LA and to chalk it up to momentary frustration, which Johnson refused to do, causing the first blowup between Johnson and Buss.
In the end, Buss opted to choose his young guard over Westhead and fired him.
The fact
The biggest thing to clear up here is that Westhead being fired does not squarely rest on Johnson's shoulders. The Los Angeles Times cites the reason Buss fired Westhead was due to the disappearance of "showtime." The article further states:
"The players say Westhead installed a complicated offense that killed the fast break and forced the ball inside to Kareem every time. They say Westhead insisted on calling every play from the bench, further slowing the action. They say Westhead grew tense and withdrawn, quick-tempered, that he rejected all input from the players."
Furthermore, according to The Washington Post, Westhead was at odds with members of the Lakers' executive staff. In fact, as it pertains to Westhead's leadership style, the piece mentions:
"Many people who follow the Lakers or work at the Forum say that Westhead had become withdrawn, almost a recluse, and so defensive about his newly devised style of play that he wouldn't even discuss it with general manager Bill Sharman or special consultant Jerry West."
Now did Johnson have a big problem with Westhead's coaching style? Yes. As referenced in Sports Illustrated, Johnson didn't keep it a secret he wasn't a fan of playing for Westhead, and did call Buss to tell him that.
Subsequently, after that conversation, Buss wound up going to Sharman and West and proposed the idea of firing Westhead. However, Sharman and West thought Westhead deserved some time to turn things around. The coach didn't get much time, because Magic eventually told the press in Salt Lake City he wanted to be traded. Buss fired Westhead shortly thereafter.
With all that said, while it's easy to see how Johnson may have placed a sense of urgency on replacing Westhead, he by no means was the sole reason the coach was fired.
Did the NBA fans turn on Magic Johnson because of Paul Westhead's firing?
The fiction
Johnson was thrilled to have Westhead out of the Lakers organization, but NBA fans weren't happy with the guard. They viewed Johnson as an "entitled brat" who got a nice guy and coach fired. In the first game after Westhead was replaced with Riley, Johnson was greeted with boos from fans, something he wasn't used to. He only managed to shake off their disdain when Norman Nixon (DeVaughn Nixon) gave a very brief pep talk.
The fact
As reported in The Washington Post, during Johnson's first game back at the Forum following Westhead's dismissal, the LA home crowd did actually boo the young guard. In fact, in the next game away in Seattle, NBA fans booed him there as well. Eventually, the boos again turned into cheers.
From a Lakers organization perspective, it doesn't sound like there was any animosity toward Johnson. His then-teammate, Mitch Kupchak, was quoted in The Washington Post stating, "Nobody here is mad at Magic. We all knew what was going on. I think some of us were surprised he went so public with his complaints, but he just said what some of the others were thinking."
How did Pat Riley become the Lakers' head coach?
The fiction
In Westhead's absence, Buss, West and Bill Sharman (Brett Cullen) were scrambling to figure out the Lakers' coaching dilemma. That's when Buss turned to West. The latter was immediately resistant to the idea of coaching the Lakers again, but he wound up agreeing to the idea.
Meanwhile, Riley was stewing in an office unsure what his job status was with the organization. After being summoned by Sharman and West, Riley met them thinking he was on his way to be fired by Buss. To Riley's surprise, Sharman and West took Riley to a press conference Buss was having to announce West's new role.
At the press conference, Buss stammered his way to announcing that West was the new "offensive captain" and Riley was staying on. The press was confused as to what that meant about the coaching job. One person who wasn't confused was West who whispered to Riley that Riley is the head coach. The new coach went on to lead the Lakers to the NBA finals.
The fact
There was confusion initially around who was replacing Westhead as head coach. As stated in another Sports Illustrated article, at a press conference, Buss announced to the world that Riley and West would be co-coaches, but heavily implied that West would be leading things. However, West made it clear he would be working for Riley in a supportive coaching role. All in all, West would only assist Riley with coaching duties for two weeks before vacating the bench.
Winning Time season 2 airs new episodes live on Sunday on HBO at 9 pm ET/PT. Season 2 episodes are also available to stream on Max.
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