"Was The Treatment of Coach Paul Westhead a Big Reason Why HBO's Winning Time Was Not Renewed?"

So, What do you think? Was Coach Westhead being treated fairly? There were lots of complaints about his treatment. For those who do not know, HBO "Winning Time" chronicles the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980's. According to many critics, Coach Westhead, Jerry West and others were not treated well. In this extended and updated interview, Coach Paul Westhead talks about what REALLY happened with Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem, Pat Riley, Spencer Haywood and Jerry Buss. 2:00- "Just getting the job was the easiest thing I did" 3:00- "The team was new under Jerry Buss and they just got Magic Johnson" 4:15= "I had no problem working with the players" 4:32-"I passed Kareem the ball thirty times from the corner and he hit all of them" 5:25-"There is a triangle: Coach-player and in the middle management and agent" 7:09 "I became the acting Coach out of default" after Jack McKinney's bike injury 7:55- "I talked Jerry Buss into hiring Pat Riley as an Assistant" 8:22- "I had players like Spencer Haywood saying I was promised a starting job" 10:25: "In his second year Magic Johnson had knee surgery.....and fourth and fifth round draft picks were moving past him...he hadn't recovered yet and was angry" 12:30- Magic Johnson was in a bad place....and the day I was fired we had one five straight games..." 14:30 - I" can't imagine Jerry Buss going to a liquor store and buying a bottle of liquor and lying on the floor and yelling I won the team" 16:25- "Jason Segal is a funny guy--I did not consider myself funny--but whatever happens in the show it won't go well for me" 18:05- ""It took me 28 years to win the next championship---enjoy the championship you won because you don't know when you will get the next one" 18:50- "I was just invited to Kareem's 75th birthday" 19:30- "After I left the Lakers I did not have much interaction with Magic...but two years ago he called me." 22:20- "Jerry West was a quiet sort who stayed to himself---I did not see him act in an out of control fashion" 24:15- "Pat Riley in the early eighties first showed how video can help you coach" 27:45- I coached Kobe Bryant's father 28:25 - "I always let my players evolve" 29:15- "I had issues with some of my pro players pushing them.....and i made them to conform to a system that if they did not like they got rid of me" 31:31- The death of hank gathers "you never really get over it--it remains with you 33:09- "The winning is better than the losing...and man did I have a good run" A few follow ups as we update this in late April. Coach Westhead was interviewed on the Glen Macnow/Ray Didinger show on WIP (Audacy App) Philadelphia and he said that "this is Hollywood and I can't expect a realistic portrayal". As you might expect, he has handled the entire experience with class. He made an interesting point that "I was never thrown in the shower by Pat Riley" and I did teach English in college but did not walk around quoting Shakespeare. "There was never a press conference where I quoted Shakespeare". Overall, it is clear that he is comfortable with his achievements and not greatly impacted by his portrayal. He plans to continue watching the series. Many people have asked questions and I have tried to answer most. As for turning him down to play basketball for LaSalle when he was coach---during one of his seasons at LaSalle several players were dropped mid-season. I was a varsity tennis player and I used to train for tennis season playing lots of basketball. I am quite confident I would have seen the practice floor and not the famous Palestra hardwood. I made an executive decision to try to get an "A" in Organic Chemistry. Big picture--a great decision. Thanks to everyone for watching this video. Looking forward to many fun interviews ahead! ‪@DrBrianMcDonough‬