Interview: Max Borenstein on Creating and Writing the Immensely Compelling ‘Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty’

For my money, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty is easily one of the best shows on television right now. Even though I don’t care for the Los Angeles Lakers, their story, especially considering the place and time, is incredibly compelling. A lot of credit for that goes to creator and writer Max Borenstein, who has helped adapted Jeff Perlman‘s book. Now a hit HBO program, it hardly requires an interest in sports to become hooked. With the finale of season one going down tonight and a second season on the way, now is the perfect time to share my recent chat with Borenstein. Mild spoilers for the final episode are contained within, so beware, but also…it’s literally history. Either way, I’m just throwing that out there.

Below, you can hear my conversation with Borenstein. We talk Winning Time a lot, though I made sure to mention my appreciation of Worth as well. Even though he’s likely best known for helping to pen the Godzilla films (at least until now), his first script in Worth is deeply underrated. Mostly though, this is about how he made Winning Time the incredible success that it is. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to talk about where a writer adds fiction to fact, which always fascinates me. The show wraps up its first season this evening, so whether you want to watch before or after you listen to this discussion, there’s plenty of great tidbits here. The show is terrific, plain and simple.

Here now is my interview with Winning Time creator Max Borenstein. Enjoy:

Winning Time is available to watch on HBO or stream on HBO Max!