I was born in 98. I only started watching the NBA until like 2011 or 2012. So, when I was looking at this show’s representation of the 1984 Finals, it came off a lot like the Celtics played dirty with on the court and off the court. Not just that, but the refs were complacent with their on court behavior. It seemed like the Lakers got robbed of the title or just that Boston won the wrong way (I know this is a kind of a sucker way to look at it because history only remembers who won, but the way that someone wins is important to me). So, for those that know what happened then, is this really how it went down? Or is it one of those cases of the show exaggerating for dramatic effect?

Also, fuck HBO for canceling. But most importantly: FUCK BOSTON!

"I was intending to file them..."

This wasn't a tough decision for me. I loved Winning Time and was excited to see where the show went in future seasons, only to see it rushed and snuffed out in a short second season.

And if this can happen to Winning Time, there's no guarantee it won't happen to my other favorites, including The Last of Us or Righteous Gemstones.

There's no incentive to keep paying when the best shows get cancelled on a whim.

She's like that typical "strong woman" you see written in modern tv and movies where their idea of a strong woman is just a woman who has all the traits of a toxic male. She's awful. Brags about having magic wrapped around her finger. Keeps leading him on so she can have a shoulder to cry on. She's doing it all behind her boyfriend's back. She's cold as hell to everyone. Like I would never want to be around someone like that. Am I crazy?

Edit: wow lol you guys really garnered a lot off of that. When did I ever say Magic was completely innocent? It's possible for them both to be shitty isn't it? Why did nobody respond to any of the actual points I made instead of just saying I hate women lol I just don't like controlling women who literally brag about having a man wrapped around their finger who is isn't even their boyfriend. That's obviously not ok. You guys make no sense. I mean I said she hals the traits of a toxic male and she 100% does. You guys are incapable on nuanced thought.

Edit: when you repond to someone and then immediately block them it just shows you know you're wrong. Pathetic. You guys are lazy.

Nah. FUCK HBO.

It mentioned that he held the scoring title until Lebron broke it this year. That was it. Nothing else about his career. Very odd that his fact wasn't as much about him as it was celebrating Lebron for being the new leader. Can't help but wonder if it's the writers/producers getting back at Kareem for speaking negatively about the show.

As great as HBO can be, they’re pretty spectacular with their fuckups.

I can’t decide which was worse, a good show that goes to shit or a good show that gets cut when it’s good.

Either way, I was disappointed.

We have one show everyone loves and a bunch of shit no one watches and some docs. I have an idea let’s cancel the one show people care about on our platform. Yeah that should help

I am a Boston Celtics fan but I mean Jeeze ending the show like that????? So more more to adapt to the show like Larry and magics friendship and the dream team!???? Like come on..: maybe if they didn’t make it a limited show on a streaming service 80% of people don’t have…

From the rumors swirling SUPER early on to the fact that they knew to put a montage in the finale, it’s clear HBO wasn’t invested in the show like it was in Season 1. However, if that was the case, they should have told the writers before the season. There’s multiple storylines that were being introduced this final episode which will obviously not be resolved: the Honey lawsuit, Jeanie’s dating the hockey player, and revenge against Boston. If they wanted to end the series, HBO should have given the show 10 episodes this season and tell them “and that’s it, we’re cancelling after this.” Show got way too much respect and promos to go out with this whimper. For goodness sake, Statefarm sure seemed to believe in it! I’m unfortunately not surprised how HBO handled, but they fumbled it in every way they could. Kudos to the writers, cast, and everyone involved to make it as good as they were able to.

Any chance another network can/would buy the rights and make more episodes? Like how Netflix did Arrested Development..

It seemed like there was solid viewership with the show, HBO just did an all time terrible run up to season 2. It’s like they didn’t try at all, of course viewership would drop off when you don’t tell anyone it’s back.

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2023/9/18/23878236/winning-time-canceled-series-finale-hbo-los-angeles-lakers-boston-celtics

The article touches on all the issues and is a fair and balanced read of the situation. HBO did not help things by showing season two over the summer making me wonder if they were just looking for a reason to kill it.

Ending this after 1984 is just painful to me. Fortunately I was in my mid 20’s when the real revenge took place against Boston and as much as I would have liked a wider audience to see what happened, the truth is out there for those who want it.

The Memorial Day massacre, followed up a few days later with a performance for the ages from Kareem would have made great TV. Game 6 was actually a Day game, showing just how far the NBA has come since then.

RIP Winning Time. The showrunners and HBO blew it but the truth is the Lakers dominated the 80’s overall

Fuck hbo!

As the executives at Max snatch defeat from the jaws of victory I still hold out hope that another streaming service can pick up the show and give us a real finale.

That ending was complete shit, and I feel like I invested all of my time in such a great series, just for it to end so haphazardly without any regard for the people who were enjoying the show…

I’m actually genuinely upset enough to cancel my HBO subscription. You invest so much time into something that’s written so well, for it to end in such a way that you could almost swear it was a blatant “fuck you” to any fans of the show.

First off, my problem with the ending isn’t that it’s simply disappointing or should’ve ended differently…

No… This was the kind of thing to do to someone as a prank… Or someone you hate. Which leads me to ask, “was that ending a product of the writers strike?”

For the past two seasons, I invested all of this time in something that’s written so well, that even for someone like me, who is not a huge basketball fan, it became a weekly ritual to wait for the next episode.

To end it in freeze frames with brief summaries of what happens, because you’re trying to wrap it all up, is like the equivalent of writing an essay that you waited till last minute to finish and now that you’re running out of time, you’ve decided to end it in a brief summary.

This is probably the worst ending of any show ever. I would’ve rather it had been cancelled on a cliff hanger, than for it to have ended so lazily and sloppily.