The "Celtics City" Documentary Might Have Had A Flat Ending, But It Was Still Masterfully Done And I Highly Recommend Watching It
Growing up in Worcester in the ‘90s, being a Celtics fan wasn’t about glory. Far from it actually.
It was about tradition, loyalty, and a stubborn belief/trust that the good times would return. Watching Celtics City, HBO’s masterful nine-part docuseries, I found myself repeatedly thinking, I thought I knew this team. Turns out, I didn’t know the half of it.
Directed by Lauren Stowell and executive-produced by Bill Simmons, Celtics City is a sprawling, poignant, and, at times, gut-wrenching docuseries of the most storied franchise in basketball history.
But it’s not just a retelling of banners and buzzer-beaters. It’s a candid and brutally honest exploration of race, identity, pain, and pride that hits harder than any playoff win or loss I can remember.
The underlying theme of Celtics City is clear from the first ten minutes- the past is always present. (Sidebar- the intro to this is fucking incredible. It goes on, and on, and on, montage style, but it encompasses basically everything Celtics/Boston under the sun. Whoever edited it (and set it to the music) deserves multiple Emmys or Oscars (not sure what this falls under), and I strongly encourage you to watch it)
Those 18 banners in the Garden don’t just hang, they loom. Over everybody that steps foot onto the parquet floor, friend or foe. And over the diehards who pack the stands. This isn’t a sanitized highlight reel. The series dives deep into the complexity of what it means to be a Celtic, and what it meant to be black in Boston, particularly during the peak of Bill Russell’s career.
I always knew Russell was a giant- 11 rings, first black head coach, civil rights hero, but watching his story unfold through the rawness of his daughter’s memories and the footage of Boston’s racial tensions made my jaw drop.
Again, I had no idea. (An underlying theme of this blog)
It’s hard to square a hometown of a team that pioneered diversity in the NBA with a city that, at times, refused to embrace it.
Growing up in Massachusetts, there's always this stigma that "Boston is racist."
I honestly never understood where that came from and it would piss me off whenever I'd hear Mike Wilbon or an opposing player make those kinds of comments.
It felt cheap. Made up. Overexaggerated to frame Boston as the villain.
I had no idea.
I knew things weren't great racially in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But wasn't it like that in the whole country? Especially down south?
I didn't realize the extent of which Bostonians made life miserable for black players and stars of a team that brought it so much joy.
Forget about the bussing issues, the race riots, and what not that extended beyond the basketball court.
I mean, somebody broke into Bill Russell's house and took a shit in his bed?
They vandalized his bar. Tormented his family with death threats. Didn't welcome him in certain parts of town.
Here's a guy who solidified Boston as the center of the basketball universe, who helped legitimize the game as a whole, and he felt threatened in his own hometown?
The racial history of the city isn’t skirted in this. It’s confronted.
When they show the footage of Ted Landsmark being assaulted with an American flag, or the fury during the busing crisis, it’s clear- this is not just a basketball story. Boston’s soul was on trial here.
Keep in mind, while this was all happening, the Celtics drafted the first black player, had the first black superstar (Russell), fielded the first all black starting 5, and appointed the first black head coach. All NBA milestones.
As a kid I always wondered why there was this unexplained "bad blood" between Russell and, who I thought at the time was the Celtics, but was actually the city of Boston.
Only a true giant of a man such as himself could have put all that animosity and hatred that had been directed towards him for decades aside, forgive, and move on.
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Getting to watch Russell not only be welcomed back into the Celtics family, but be revered and worshipped- not just in Boston, but by the entire league, was a beautiful thing to see him get to experience in the last years of his life.
Two things this documentary did an outstanding job of doing, that others sometimes miss the mark- it got unbelievable access. They had interviews, first hand accounts, family accounts, and fan accounts for just about everything. And second, and maybe most importantly, is it didn't come off as a cheesy "informercial" like the Patriots/Kraft produced Belichick Hit Piece that aired on Apple+ about the Patriots dynasty.
Something I read that Bill Simmons wanted to make sure of:
Moviemaker.com - “Once you get people involved, and people are involved in the IP, it can get screwed up and go sideways, and it can turn into an infomercial,” Simmons told the audience. “And I think for us, a big challenge was, ‘Are the Celtics going to actually let us tell the story?’ Because it’s got to be warts and all.”
He credited Celtics lead owner Wycliffe “Wyc” Grousbeck credit for being hands-off.
“When we were pushing them initially to do this, other people were pushing the same idea. And we were just like, ‘We’re going to do it the best. This will work with us. You’ve just got to trust us.'”
Grousbeck told MovieMaker that while his team did see some advance footage, he didn’t meddle: “I did see some of it but the fact is, we let them go. I never vetoed anything. That’s the truth,” he said at the premiere.
So credit to Simmons on that.
Keeping with the theme of having no clue about what I thought I knew about the history of the Boston Celtics- I thought I knew Len Bias was good. I didn’t know he was Michael Jordan good.
That line pretty much sums up what this series does best. It resets your understanding.
Whether it’s watching Bill Walton tell an all-time Auerbach story while casually jamming on the drums in space (more on this later), or realizing just how electric Robert Parish really was (Chatty Chief forever. Guy might have stole the show and won this entire documentary), this documentary is a treasure trove of personality, heartbreak, and revelations.
Without spoiling the best parts of it, because you seriously NEED to watch this, Larry Bird, obviously, is at the center of the storm.
The stories, from him and others, featured in this thing are just unreal. Like the one about him getting into a bar fight and dooming an NBA Finals, or the one about him and Jerry Garcia hanging out and chatting. They are the kind of surreal “only in Boston” lore that makes Celtics history feel like folk mythology.
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Kevin McHale’s post footwork was pure artistry. I had no clue just how incredible he was on both ends. He had low post moves like Hakeem before he destroyed his ankles.
The only version of McHale I got to witness was battered and beaten up at the end of his career.
Speaking of beaten up, I knew Larry Bird had back problems. But I had no idea just how bad it is for him, and Quinn Buckner’s reflection on Bird legit “killing his body” added a somber layer to the legend.
(Sidebar - I think we’re just so used to it by now, that we really take for granted how truly incredible a player Larry Bird was. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person with less, do more. His basketball IQ, and instincts I don’t think will ever be seen again. Going into big pressure games had to have felt the same back then as it did being a Patriots fan and knowing we had Tom Brady. (God are we spoiled.) He’s obviously always in the conversation of top ten players of all time, but watching the highlights, in context, and hearing the stories in this, had my jaw constantly on the floor.)
Paul Pierce opens up about the stabbing that changed him, about how all the losing hardened his personality.
Watching Antoine Walker call Paul Pierce from a wedding to help bring KG to Boston was hilarious and heartwarming. Also, something I had never heard before.
If I have a major criticism of the series, it's that for how well thought out and documented the first 7 episodes are, they really drop the ball on the last two.
Not that they're bad by any means. They just feel rushed and hurried as compared to everything else.
Maybe because of how frequest and heavy-handed all the 2024 championship flashbacks are throughout the entire series?
But even with that, there are moments that land. Like Jaylen Brown’s reflections on social justice and Celtics tradition.
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Tatum’s teary childhood moment watching the Lakers blow a 24-point lead and choking away the finals. And Derrick White’s unreal buzzer-beater against Miami. (Which I somehow completely forgot about.)
(And then there’s Rondo. My God I forgot how good he was.)
To land the plane on this, Celtics City doesn’t just tell the story of a basketball team. It tells the story of an entire city, a culture, anbd a complicated dynasty that has always aimed for the rafters but has never shied from the mess on the floor.
It’s a true masterclass in sports storytelling, and for those of us who’ve lived and breathed Celtics green through good times and bad, it’s deeply validating. And deeply moving.
This is a documentary that doesn’t just look back. It connects everything. Like that invisible thread from Russell to Tatum, from Jo Jo to Jaylen, from Red to Joe Mazzulla. Hats off to Simmons and all involved on showcasing the DNA of this franchise.
P.s.- Bill Plaschke can suck it.
P.p.s. - If you watch Celtics City for one reason and one reason only, make it to hear Bill Walton tell his story of Red Auerbach walking into his physical to clear his trade in episode 5. Laugh out loud funny. Walton might have been the greatest story teller of all time. (And you gotta see him play drums in space)
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— Rapid Fire, here are some of the notes I jotted down watching this that could potentially be SPOILERS—
- I always knew the name John Havlicek as being on the Celtics Mt. Rushmore, but I’d never really seen highlights of his, or knew just how much he impacted the team, and the game as a whole, in his era. Guy could play basketball. And he was tenacious. Same with Dave Cowens. A name I always knew, but didn’t understand why. This series changed all that for me. These guys were monumental. And there’s this reoccurring theme, that Jackie MacMullen did a great job emphasizing, in that the Celtics always had this “bridge” player who carried one regime or era, into the next. These guys who came in and were taught winning from one of the greats, and who were tasked to pass that on to the next “guy”. It finally clicked and made sense why the losses of Bias and Lewis dealt such harsh blows to the organization, and set them back like it did.
- “No more games” by Larry Wedgeworth and the Click was a fucking banger. Cant believe the Celtics had an official theme song back then and I’d literally never heard of it til this.
- speaking of bangers, also had no clue New kids on the Block recorded “Hanging Tough” hoping for it to be the theme song of the team and Celtics passed on it.
- Always knew what a scumbag Bill Laimbeer was, but man, what. a. cunt. Also, cannot believe when Parish clubbed him in the head there wasn’t even a tech called. Or ejection. The guy finished the game. If that happened today there would be arrests made and a congressional hearing.
- the best basketball team in the world holding practice, for years, at little old Brandeis University Gym will never not be ridiculous.
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- Danny Ainge talking about trading Bird and Mchale right in front of them to Auerbach is hilarious and so on brand
- I am so jealous of people who got to watch the NBA in the 1980’s.
- I had no idea Shaq nicknamed Paul Pierce “The Truth”. So fucking awesome. I wish they had less of Jerry West shitting on the Celtics and more of Shaq telling stories.
- Paul Pierce was very open and honest, was good to hear about why he changed personality wise and become more closed off from all the losing
- Doc was the luckiest coach of all time. He went from being the worst coach in the league, owner of an NBA record for straight losses, and on the verge of being fired, to having Danny pull a rabbit out of his ass landing Allen, which led to KG, which led to winning a championship.
- People forget, but Kobe quit on his team in that close out game at the Garden and refused to shoot. Worst body language I’ve ever seen. Such a shit bag move while getting blown out by 49. Jordan would never.
- Wyc genuinely seems like the fucking man. Was really glad to see this side of him and get to hear about his background and how much this team mattered to him before owning it.