Brought to you by ... | 'Winning Time'

04/18/22 • 25 min

Sure, the best professional athletes pull in salaries to match. But to find the real money in sports, you need to look someplace else: endorsements.

In this episode of "Binge Sesh," hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox draw inspiration from Nike cofounder Phil Knight's pursuit of Magic Johnson in "Winning Time." With help from the HBO series' executive producer Rodney Barnes and industry insiders, we explore the origin, development and explosion of athlete endorsement deals, from a $6.6-million baseball card to social media "microinfluencers" and more.

For the podcast transcript, photos and links to much more, visit the episode page on latimes.com.

Sure, the best professional athletes pull in salaries to match. But to find the real money in sports, you need to look someplace else: endorsements.

For the podcast transcript, photos and links to much more, visit the episode page on latimes.com.

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A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum | 'Winning Time'

The Laker Girls. The Forum Club. Celebrities sitting courtside. The beating heart of Showtime-era Los Angeles was the "Fabulous Forum."

In this episode of "Binge Sesh," hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox dive into the history of the Lakers' longtime home. We look back on the Forum's construction in the 1960s, its heyday under Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Forum general manager Claire Rothman, and the team's move to the Staples Center to understand how a sports arena became the perfect symbol of 20th century L.A.

For the podcast transcript, photos and links to much more, visit the episode page on latimes.com.

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In this episode of "Binge Sesh," hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox examine recreational drug use in professional basketball in the Showtime era. Zooming in on the depiction of Spencer Haywood in HBO's "Winning Time" and zooming out to the U.S. government's war on drugs, we deconstruct the rhetoric — from politicians, the press, even players — that shaped perceptions of the NBA and explain how systemic racism turned a health crisis into a moral panic.

For the podcast transcript, production stills, real-life photos and links to much more, visit the episode page on latimes.com.