Despite feigning little interest in the politics of basketball, streaming columnist NICK OVERALL kept watching “Winning Time” even when it got messy.

EVEN non-basketball fans are likely to know something about the Los Angeles Lakers.

The dynastic NBA side has won 17 championships, holds the record for the longest winning streak (33 games) in the competition’s history and has been home to a string of household names including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson.

But how did the franchise, now worth something along the lines of $5 billion, come to be one of the most famous sporting sides of all time?

If the question interests you, Binge has slam-dunked a new sports drama hit with a series that winds the clock back to the ‘80s to chronicle the professional and the personal lives of those who helped usher in the reign of the team.

“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” opens stone cold with Magic Johnson’s HIV diagnosis that triggered his immediate retirement in 1991.

While it sets a tone for a more drama-heavy affair, a flashy opening that follows pulls viewers back to 1979 where they’ll quickly find the show styles itself in a comedic polish.

John C Reilly of “Step Brothers” fame throws himself headfirst into the role of Jerry Buss, who was a real estate mogul, chemist, philanthropist, Playboy club owner, film producer, inventor and majority owner of the Lakers who was instrumental in establishing the brand recognition it has today.

As one can imagine, the role gives Reilly much to play with. He combines lavish arrogance with a decadent charm that seamlessly zips between funny and serious. It’s effortlessly entertaining stuff.

Adam McKay comes on side as executive producer to inject the show with his unbridled approach to storytelling that, while not always landing its shots, is undeniably magnetic.

The proof is in the pudding with McKay’s recent Netflix hit “Don’t Look Up”, which dropped a spate of A-grade actors in a fictional world that knows it’s on an apocalyptic collision course with a meteor.

He also directed “Vice” (on SBS On Demand), a pitch-black comedy biopic set on the brink of the Iraq War where Christian Bale mesmerically transformed himself into US vice-president Dick Cheney. There was also “The Big Short” (Netflix), which told the little-known story of four finance experts who predicted the GFC and made a fortune out of it.

“Winning Time” takes McKay’s signature moves found across these films and sticks them together. There are characters talking to the camera, flashy jump cuts that make for entertainingly erratic editing and a derision of minute details in favour of the big picture stuff. 

Considering McKay more often than not tackles true stories, some can find his approach grating. Love it or hate it though, it gets people paying attention. As a viewer who wouldn’t consider themselves overly interested in the politics of basketball, his outlandish influence on “Winning Time” kept me watching even when it gets messy.

Adding to the panache is a grainy visual style which replicates the 8mm (Super 8) film stock that was widely used throughout the ‘80s. It’s a nice touch – visually striking at the start but easy to get used to.

Those interested should also understand there’s not actually a whole lot of basketball itself here. This is very much behind-the-scenes business, an examination of what happened off the court rather than on.

Regardless, there’s certainly an audience for the subject matter. The huge success of Netflix’s 2020 documentary hit “The Last Dance”, which told of the rise of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, certainly attests to that.

And while “The Last Dance” recounted its story in a slower, more sincere style, in “Winning Time” viewers get history that moves at a pace resembling Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Netflix), albeit without quite as much finesse. 

In other words, this is pure fun telly, and another welcome addition to the all-star line-up of streaming content centered on basketball. We might leave “Space Jam 2” on the bench with that one though.