Here's how the cast of 'Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty' compares to the real-life people they're portraying

Jerry Buss was the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. On the court, the team won 10 championships during his tenure, including five in his first nine years owning the club.

Maybe more importantly to the history of the team and the NBA, Buss wanted Lakers games to be more than just a sport. He wanted to turn the team into a bigger form of entertainment, and he wanted games at the Forum to be an event. To do this, he attracted some of the biggest stars in Hollywood to sit courtside during the games.

Magic Johnson was the heart and soul of the team that would become known as "The Showtime Lakers" with their uptempo style and flashy play. Johnson was the first player drafted by the Lakers after Buss bought the team, immediately leading them to a championship in his rookie year. 

Michael Jordan later credited Johnson with changing the NBA with his colorful personality and no-look passes in the 1980s. 

Johnson revealed in 2022 that the producers of "Winning Time" did not consult with him or any of his teammates from the era.

Jerry West was a star on the Lakers as a player in the 1960s and 1970s, playing on the team's first and only championship after moving to LA and before Buss bought the team. 

During the period of "Winning Time," West served as the team's general manager. He also briefly served as an assistant coach for 12 games after Pat Riley replaced Paul Westhead as head coach midway through the 1981-82 season. 

The real West was one of the figures who criticized the portrayal of certain people and events in "Winning Time." He even demanded an apology and a retraction at one point.

Jeanie Buss was the daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss. She was about 18 when her dad bought the Lakers. He later purchased a Team Tennis team, and Jeanie served as the team's general manager when she was 19. During the 1980s and 1990s, she rose through the ranks, serving as the president of the Lakers' arena, The Great Western Forum.She later became president and controlling owner of the Lakers after her father died.

Pat Riley, a former Lakers player, served as an assistant coach during the first 2.5 years that Buss owned the team. After Paul Westhead was fired during the 1981-82 season, Riley took over and led the team to four championships and two other trips to the NBA Finals in the next seven seasons.

Riley, with his slicked-back hair, Hollywood suits, and cocky personality, became one of the key faces that defined the Showtime era of the Lakers. 

For most of the 1980s, the Lakers' chief nemesis was the Boston Celtics, forming one of the biggest rivalries in all sports. It was East Coast versus West Coast. It was an old-school franchise playing traditional basketball against an upstart team that many thought cared more about putting on a good show. 

The leader of the Celtics was Red Auerbach, the legendary coach who was serving as the team's general manager and later team president during the period of "Winning Time." He had coached the last great NBA dynasty before the Lakers, the 1960s Celtics.

While Auerbach was the leader of the Celtics and their biggest voice, the face of the franchise was Larry Bird. The "hick from French Lick (Indiana)" had built a rivalry with Magic Johnson in their college days, extending to the NBA as they were considered the two best players in the league at the time.

The Lakers and Celtics faced each other in the NBA Finals three times in the 1980s, and the two clubs combined to win eight championships in nine years.

Cookie Kelly, now known as Cookie Johnson, was Magic Johnson's on-again, off-again girlfriend and fianceé in the 1980s. They had met at Michigan State University in the 1970s, but when Johnson was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers, he went to LA without her.

In his recent docuseries, "They Call Me Magic," Johnson was open about how he struggled with two very different personalities. Earvin was a loving family guy. Magic was a Hollywood star who loved to party. 

The couple eventually married in 1991, and Cookie was at his side when first retired from the NBA following his HIV diagnosis. 

Westhead was a former college basketball coach who became the Lakers head coach when Jerry Buss purchased the team. Despite leading the team to an NBA championship in his first season at the helm, he was fired just 11 games into his third season and replaced by Pat Riley. 

Westhead and Magic Johnson clashed over the team's style of play, with the coach wanting to lean more on traditional basketball and the team's center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson wanted a faster pace to the game and eventually asked Buss to fire Westhead. Buss later acknowledged Johnson's demand but said he had decided to fire the coach before Johnson had approached him.

Abdul-Jabbar was the star and face of the Lakers before the arrival of Magic Johnson. During the Showtime era, the 7-foot-2 center was in his mid-30s and no longer as dominant as he was in his 20s, but he was still one of the better players in the NBA. 

When the much younger Johnson was offered a 25-year, $25 million contract in 1981 (about $84 million in today's dollars), it caused a riff with Abdul-Jabbar, the team's veteran star. Abdul-Jabbar spoke unfavorably about the situation, leading some to believe the Lakers would lose their star center.

Norm Nixon had been on the Lakers for two seasons before the arrival of Magic Johnson. Despite Nixon being an All-Star-caliber point guard, he was forced to share the role with Johnson. The move was unusual as Johnson was much taller (6-foot-9) than the traditional point guard at that time. 

Nixon was eventually traded following the second of the Showtime championships.

Chick Hearn was the television and radio voice of the Lakers for 41 years. At one point, he called a record 3,338 consecutive Lakers games from 1965 through 2001. He is credited with creating or popularizing some common basketball terms, such as ''slam dunk'' and ''air ball."

Nicholson was a regular at Lakers games for several decades, including the 1980s. As part of the Hollywood aura surrounding the team, Nicholson often interjected himself into the games, arguing with refs and opposing players, and even running onto the court in a fit of "rage," nearly getting ejected from a playoff game in 2003.

Claire Rothman was the president of the arena where the Lakers played, The Great Western Forum. She served as a mentor to Jeanie Buss, who later held the same position.