Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sounds Off on HBO’s Winning Time

“My response to the show has nothing to do with how I’m portrayed,” Kareem said. “I’m 75, folks, and have been dealing with positive and negative descriptions of me for 55 years and I long ago accepted that it’s just part of the celebrity gig. There’s very little that anyone can say about me—whether it’s true or false—that will affect my life.”

May we all aspire to be as zen as Kareem.

He’s not the only Lakers legend who has spoken out against Winning Time, either. 

“First of all, you can’t do a story about the Lakers without the Lakers,” Magic Johnson told Variety in an April 5 interview. “The real Lakers. You gotta have the guys.”  

Magic, who is the focal point of Winning Time‘s first season and was the catalyst for the Lakers’ success in the ’80s, said he refuses to watch the show because nobody from the squad itself was asked to participate. 

Heed their warnings or make up your own mind when Winning Time airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.