Lakers: "Legacy" Week 4 - The Curtain Closes On Showtime

Following a lively third episode that covered the peak of your Los Angeles Lakers' Showtime Era, director Antoine Fuqua's thorough new Hulu 10-part miniseries "Legacy: The True Story of The L.A. Lakers" examines the end of the road for one of the all-time NBA runs during a fairly dour episode four.

We kick things off with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's decision to retire following the 1988-89 season and the Lakers' near-three-peat.

In the hopes of addressing their new need at the five, team president Jerry West opted to overrule all of his scouts and select 7'1" Serbian center Vlade Divac over 6'10" power forward Cliff Robinson with the No. 26 pick in the 1989 draft.

Fuqua then treats us to the requisite late '80s highlight reel of Divac's on-court awesomeness with L.A., accompanied by Prince's "Partyman" (director Jason Hehir also did this in "The Last Dance" Bulls documentary series two years ago-- but this song rules so, honestly, no notes). Obviously nobody can quite replace Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (though the 41-year-old was no longer his All-Star self in this final season), but Divac was quite the draft sleeper. A 2001 All-Star while with the Kings, Divac would go on to enjoy a 16-year Hall of Fame career including stops with the Charlotte Hornets (as the asset that L.A. traded for the rights to draft Kobe Bryant), and, most memorably, as a Lakers antagonist with the Sacramento Kings. Divac wrapped things up with a return stint to the Lakers during the ill-fated Rudy Tomjanovich season in 2004-05. making the Hall had a lot to do with his international bona fides.

Robinson, who passed away in 2020, wound up being selected at No. 36 out of the University of Connecticut by the Portland Trail Blazers, with whom he would head directly to the NBA Finals in his rookie season. During an 18-year career, he would go on to become the league's Sixth Man of the Year in 1993, a one-time All-Star in 1994, and a two-time All-Defensive Second Teamer while with the Suns and Pistons. If these two late first-round/early second-round prospects serve as any indication, the Lakers front office was clearly on-point with their scouting in this era.

Apparently around this post-Kareem era, Jerry Buss put in a bid to buy "America's team," the Dallas Cowboys. The NFL's Board of Governors ultimately rejected Buss as an owner when news of the deal leaked and certain Dallas residents balked at his playboy lifestyle. Instead, Jerry Jones bought the team. So... maybe the people of Dallas just didn't like playboys with mustaches?

Anyway, it's hard to muster up a ton of sympathy for someone not being allowed to buy the Dallas Cowboys when one is stressing out over credit card payments every month. It certainly seems like "merely" owning the Lakers has served them just fine. The Buss siblings discussed their falling out around this era as well. After the Lazers folded, Jim Buss became a thoroughbred racing horse trainer. Johnny Buss became a Formula 3 race car competitor. We get to know some of the younger Dr. Buss heirs born in the '80s, each bequeathed with first name that starts with "J."

We also dive into the personal life of Pat Riley and the bloating of his own ego during the Showtime run, which Riley concedes was the case during this era. Riley and Jerry West apparently had been best friends as players.

Among the post-Kareem Lakers being interviewed in the present tense of the show, only Michael Cooper acknowledges that the roster had begun to tune out the hard-driving missives of their head coach. Riley was eventually let go following the team's 1990 Western Conference Semifinals upset five-game loss against the fifth-seeded Phoenix Suns, led by All-Stars Tom Chambers and Kevin Johnson.

Dr. Buss replaced Riley with Mike Dunleavy Sr. A.C. Green and Byron Scott were not fans of Dunleavy's adjustments on the court, which involved a slower, more methodical half-court approach and utilized Magic Johnson in the paint more. This was a stark change from the freer, speedier Showtime style. Los Angeles rode a 58-24 regular season record into the 1991 Finals, where they got obliterated by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and their Chicago Bulls in five games.

Things end on a sad note, as the episode documents Johnson's discovery that he was HIV positive, as well his sudden retirement.

This week's episode served as yet another comprehensive investigation on one of the best eras of one of the NBA's mightiest franchises. Presumably, episode five will cover the start of the next one...

Here's a full trailer for the series: