Summary
Episode 4 is hands down one of the greatest pieces of television we have seen this year. Unreal look at the fall of one of the sport’s greatest dynasties.
This review of the Hulu documentary series Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers season 1, episode 4 contains spoilers.
Access the reviews, news, and recaps for Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers.
Last week on Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, we saw a background on how Jerry Buss became a mogul icon that led to him buying the team. Then, after winning the NBA championship, Pat Riley said they would repeat, putting pressure on the team. However, after winning back to back, they couldn’t overcome injuries to three-peat. So, will the dynasty come to a close? Let’s dive in.
Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers season 1, episode 4 review
We open with the announcement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s retirement. Kareem talked about how he didn’t feel he could produce at the level he set standards for any longer. West spoke about how replacing Kareem was going to be hard to do. So many others talked about Kareem’s impact on fellow members in the league and people off the court.
With Kareem gone, everyone believed the start of the Showtime squad would slowly fall apart. However, the 89/90 season kicked off for the first time without Kareem being a part of the team. Jeanie spoke about how Jerry worried they wouldn’t be able to sustain the success. During the draft, everyone agreed that they should take Cliff Robinson. But, instead, Jerry West threw a curve ball and took Vlade Divac.
Divac was the team’s new face, and life had flipped upside down. First, teams were afraid to draft Divac because it was such a foreign figure. Next, we see that Divac stormed the Lakers by dominating the court. He came in and worked his tail off to become a part of Showtime. It was pretty comical to see him go from nothing to being part of the biggest show on the planet.
Amid all the craziness on the court, Jerry Buss was on the verge of buying the Dallas Cowboys. Buss believed he was about to buy the team without selling the Lakers. However, an article came out against Buss about him being a playboy, which ultimately cost him buying the Cowboys.
You can’t help but be engulfed in all of this drama from these teams. Post-Kareem wasn’t going to be easy, but witnessing the downfall because Pat Riley let the glory go to his head was one thing, but hearing from his mouth that he let it all get to his head and knew that he had become an issue was another. It was some of the more fascinating conversations we’ve had in this series to date. You can’t help but appreciate his words, but that whole behind-the-scenes look is wildly entertaining for us, the viewer.
Honestly, Legacy: The Story of the LA Lakers has some better drama in the show than you see on most dramatic television shows airing right now. I can’t believe how hooked I am on this series, and it has equally as much to do with it being about the Lakers as it does with the behind-the-scenes drama that went on during this time. The end of this episode with Magic listening to Jerry Buss talk about their relationship after finding out he contracted HIV was truly heartbreaking. It will have you in tears.
Overall, episode four might have been the best episode to date. With Kareem gone to Magic retiring to the drama that unfolded with Pat Riley, we got some incredible look at the downfall of the Showtime Lakers.
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