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The company’s verticals include basketball, NFL and one Barnes is most proud of -- boxing. “Brian was able to take that IP and wrestle that away and bring that from Showtime to All The Smoke,” said Barnes. “The possibilities in the boxing space are endless.”
Matt Barnes: "Kobe says, 'Anyone crazy enough to mess with me is crazy enough to play with me. Do you want to be a Laker?' I was at UCLA when Shaq and Kobe were winning championships. I grew up in Northern California, but Showtime was my team, so I'm like, absolutely. Three days after that call, I’m in L.A., and I signed the contract. Kobe was like that. He went and got Ron Artest the year before because Ron tried to choke him in the playoffs. Then he came and got me because I almost threw the ball in his face. Kobe said, 'I don’t want to mess with you guys anymore. I want you to mess with me.' That was Kobe—competitive, smart, and always one step ahead."
Michael Cooper: "The biggest win was in 1980 because we were just playing basketball. We were playing the Philadelphia 76ers, and that team... Jerry Buss had bought the Lakers, and he wanted us to entertain the entertainers. And so what it was, was all about Showtime. So when we were playing Showtime, not once did we talk about winning a championship through that season. The fifth game of that championship season against the Sixers, Kareem twisted his ankle. We’re going to Philadelphia to play without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and that was the first time that I really realized what basketball meant because we were all scared. And all of a sudden, Magic gets on the plane and he goes, 'You know what? What are y’all sad about? Have no fear, Magic Johnson’s here.' And we went to Philly, and we won. And that was the biggest win because that set off a chain, or that taste, of what championship basketball was about."
Redick, 40, already looks the part, with his black, coiffed hair and put-together appearance drawing comparisons within the organization to former "Showtime" coach Pat Riley. And he sounds the part, too. As a clear and confident communicator, Redick navigates the interview with ease until the newly minted coach is asked a simple yet essential question: Why did you take this job? "Um," Redick, after pausing a beat, responds. "That's probably the best question."
Michael Cooper on Luka Doncic: 'He's lazy, doesn't hustle back on defense'
Doncic’s most recent criticism came from former Lakers player and current radio broadcaster Michael Cooper. He praised Doncic’s ability to score the ball, but had some interesting critiques of both his physical stature and his game, via his Showtime podcast: “Luka [Dončić] gives you that triple-double almost about every night, but he’s too slow for me. If he wasn’t a scorer, I would cut him. I give him credit for that, but to me, he’s lazy. Doesn’t hustle back on defense.”
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West acknowledged the heat faced for making the trade, but was confident everyone would be “eating their words in a few years.” “He said, ‘... Let me tell you something. We are going to win more championships with you than we would have ever won with Norm,’” Scott recalled. Scott went on to win three championships with the Lakers during the ‘80s, his sweet shooting stroke a big part of Showtime. “When I left his office that day, all I could think was, ‘I’m never going to let this man down,’” Scott said. “This man believed in me when nobody else did. And it’s true. “So, like I told people for years. I got two dads — my dad and my basketball dad. Jerry is my basketball dad. So, it was a tough day this morning.”
Rambis, of course would relent, he’d join the Lakers and change his entire life by becoming a beloved member of Showtime and a NBA lifer. Following West’s death Tuesday at 86, Rambis remembered the iconic former Lakers star and executive. “His drive, his competitiveness, his obsession with winning, I mean, you felt that,” Rambis told The Times. “You felt that kind of good competitive pressure that he put on himself and the osmosis, in a lot of ways, of how he carried himself and things that he said. And, you know, the anxiety that he went through watching games and how relieved he was when you won, all of that culminated in helping the Lakers develop this competitive winning culture.”
Luka Doncic on Dallas: 'I feel great here'
On Mavs Media Day, NBA reporter Rachel Nichols spoke with Doncic in a 1-on-1 interview for "Headliners with Rachel Nichols" on Showtime and Paramount+ about his future with the organization. He asked if he'd ever consider requesting a trade from the Mavs if he didn't feel there was a strong outlook to win a title. "I'm not sure," Doncic said. "I feel great here. They drafted me. I felt at home since Day 1, so I'm really happy where I'm at, and I think we made some great moves this offseason. But, yeah, I'm happy here."
On the heels of Sept. 17’s season two finale of HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, fans were shocked to learn that the series had been canceled. Others, like Magic Johnson, were unfazed. “Well, I never watched it because nobody in this world can tell the Lakers story [like it needed to be told]. The Showtime story? Nobody! Dr. Buss was way ahead of his time as an owner. Our team? Unbelievable! The Laker girls with Paula Abdul? Unbelievable! Nobody can tell that story,” the NBA great told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday night when asked about it on the red carpet at the Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS. “So, none of us watched it because it was fictional. You just can’t tell that story. But, hey, that’s on them.”
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HBO cancels 'Winning Time'
After ordering a pilot tentatively titled “Showtime” in 2019, HBO announced in late 2021 that its Los Angeles Lakers-inspired series would be known as “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and debut in March of the following year. (It dropped the “Showtime” name due to a certain competing premium cable network.) Unfortunately for fans, Sunday’s Season 2 finale also serves as the series finale — HBO has announced that the show has been canceled. The show, a dramatized retelling of the rise of the 1980s “Showtime” era of the Lakers, was renewed for a second season a month after its debut. The show is based on Jeff Pearlman’s book “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.”
Tyson Chandler only needed to see Devin Booker play in a pickup game going into the Phoenix Suns' 2015-16 season to draw a glowing conclusion about the then-18-year-old rookie out of Kentucky. “I remember afterwards, (former Suns general manager Ryan McDonough) was like, ‘What do you think?’ said Chandler in an interview on Showtime’s “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. “I was like, ‘I’m going to be honest with you. The best player you got on your roster is that kid you drafted, Devin Booker.’”
Kevin Garnett on LeBron James and Kevin Durant: 'Can they play off the ball once?'
Ahead of the newest episode of Ticket & The Truth that’s dropping Monday, Showtime released a clip of Garnett and Paul Pierce discussing the two all-time greats and Garnett thinks their time as ball-demanding stars on the floor should come to an end. “LeBron and KD—it’s time for them to be spot up,” Garnett told Pierce. “We done gave the ball to them for, like, ages. This is 20 years where I gave them the ball, telling them … can they play off the ball once? Can they go in the corner and now someone make a play, make it for them to get a free shot?”
Spurs considered an offer sheet for Austin Reaves at $21 million annually
Scotto: Lakers guard Austin Reaves recently told All The Smoke on Showtime that the Rockets and Spurs were possibilities before he re-signed with the Lakers. The Spurs considered offering Reaves a restricted free agency sheet worth $21 million per season, league sources told HoopsHype. Ultimately, however, the Spurs were scared off by the widespread belief that the Lakers would match any offer sheet for Reaves and chose to preserve cap space as a salary dump destination for future draft pick compensation. The Rockets were also closely monitoring Reaves’ situation because they were prepared to make a big offer sheet if Fred VanVleet didn’t sign with them, sources said.
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