Winning Time” shows how Paul Westhead’s demise as the Lakers’ head coach was caused by his inability to take advice from coaches and players.
Westhead had a brief and fruitless tenure as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls after being fired by the Lakers; he was replaced one season prior to Michael Jordan’s debut.
Westhead continued to have success as a college and professional coach after being fired by the Lakers, and he even assisted Loyola Marymount University in becoming a contender in the NCAA National Tournament.
The story of Paul Westhead’s (Jason Segel ascent and decline as the Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach is told in HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of The Lakers Dynasty. Westhead led the Lakers to an unexpected NBA Title in 1980, but after a lackluster 7-4 start to the season, he was finally let go at the start of the 1981–82 campaign.
The locker room dynamics that ultimately resulted in Westhead’s firing are depicted in Winning Time, with a major emphasis on Magic Johnson’s (Quincy Isaiah) dissatisfaction with the ideological coach as the primary cause of his dismissal by owner Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly).
Episode 5 of Winning Time, season 2, provides a comprehensive overview of Westhead’s seeming resistance toHis dismissal as head coach of the Lakers was caused by criticism from his players or coaching staff. After a five-game winning streak and Magic’s public criticism, which led to his request for a trade, the real-life Westhead was actually fired. But Buss and other Lakers players disclosed that while Westhead’s abrupt exit was shocking, there were bad feelings about him as a coach shared by more people than just Magic. Before Magic’s concerns became public, Westhead’s termination was already being considered, according to the Washington Post in 1981.
Following his firing by the Lakers, Westhead became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls for the 1982–83 NBA season. However, he was compelled to watch from the sidelines as Riley won an NBA Title with his previous team in 1982.
As the team’s leader, Westhead failed to get things going and ended his one and only season with a record of 28–54, which was the second-worst in the Bulls’ franchise history and the fifth-worst in the NBA that year.
Westhead reportedly felt the same way about the Bulls’ style of play as he did about Los Angeles. In 1983, he was let go just one season before Michael Jordan made his NBA debut.
The Bulls continued to pay Westhead for the 1983–84 campaign. even though Kevin Loughrey took over for him. Loughrey was the former Atlanta Hawks head coach who had guided Dominique Wilkins’ squad to two consecutive postseason appearances.
