The 2022 Primetime Emmy nominations are officially in, with HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty coming away with one nomination.
The controversial show about Magic Johnson’s first season with the Los Angeles Lakers has been nominated for Outstanding Cinematography. The official Twitter account for the HBO show tweeted out the following on Tuesday after the nominations were announced.
Game on. #WinningTime is #Emmy nominated for Outstanding Cinematography. pic.twitter.com/s5gbNAu6Gj
— Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (@winningtimehbo) July 12, 2022
Before and during season one of Winning Time, which debuted on HBO in May, the show was criticized for portraying the beginning of the Showtime era of the Lakers. Many criticized the portrayals of Lakers legend Jerry West among many other prominent figures in the show. Still, despite all the criticism, the show was considered a success and renewed for another season.
The unfortunate part of the show receiving only one nomination is the fact the brilliant performances of two of the main characters were overlooked entirely. John C. Reily’s portrayal of Dr. Jerry Buss was brilliant and arguably deserving of an Emmy nomination. The same could be said of Quincy Isaiah’s portrayal of Magic Johnson.
Despite the apparent snubs, the show will return for another and may very well stick around for a lot longer than that. There’s speculation that the show could eventually lead into the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal era of the Purple and Gold, which would be interesting.
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