Sports Poets Society

https://theathletic.com/3172381/2022/03/09/a-total-mischaracterization-portrayal-of-jerry-west-in-hbos-winning-time-sparks-criticism/ By Bill Oram Mar 9, 2022 Gary Vitti spent two days last year as an actor and in-house expert on the set of “Winning Time.” That was enough. When those two days ended, producers offered to hire the longtime Lakers athletic trainer for another three days of work on the HBO series that chronicles the 1980s Lakers dynasty. He declined. “I said I don’t want to be a part of this,” Vitti told The Athletic. He said he left about $15,000 on the table by walking away from the project, a move that helps underscore the angst over the series among people who were part of the Showtime Lakers era. “Winning Time,” which will have a 10-episode run, debuted on Sunday and was seen by approximately 900,000 viewers across all HBO platforms. It is a dramatized account, but one that is based on author Jeff Pearlman’s 2014 bestseller “Showtime,” a heavily-researched work of n