I grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the Shadow of Boston in the 70s/80s. Needless to say, I was a huge Boston Celtics fan. Larry Bird was one of my idols as a kid. I wanted to be just like him. Except I was ‘5”8 tall. Not exactly NBA material. I could live vicariously through him and the rest of the players, Robert Parrish, Kevin McHale, Dennis “DJ” Johnson, Danny Ainge, and so many more. I lived to watch the Celtics play as a child. There wasn’t a whole lot else for me to do, so why not watch one of the best teams in NBA history?

The Boston Celtics had and still have some of the best players in the NBA. Some were the legends that made the league what it is today, like Bob Cousey, Bill Russell, John Havliceck, and Dave Cowens. Today’s fantastic players are Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White, just to name a few. Back in the 2000s, it was Kevin Garnet,  Paul Pierce, and Ray Alan. It didn’t matter what era the Celtics were in. They had some of the greats of the game at that time and legends of the game years later. My era was the Bird McHale and Parish era, though. These are the guys that made me the. fan, I am still today.

When It came to the Boston Celtics, there was one guy who was the architect of it all, and his name was Red Auerbach. He was brought in early on to create and mold the franchise in a certain image, and he did that terrifically. He found the players he wanted to fit into his team, and when he couldn’t draft them, he traded for them. He did what he had to do to field the best team possible. So they could be competitive versus the other teams in the league at a given time. He did whatever it took to win at any cost. His background as a military man helped him motivate and groom the players in his mold for many decades. He’s one of the greatest minds of the game of basketball period and a genuine Celtics Great.

When it came to the on and off court rivalries of the Celtics, there were a few. Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain played for multiple teams, but the two most notable were the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He and Bill Russell had a huge rivalry on the court, while Auerback found ways to keep the Celtics better than all of the other teams behind the scenes. In fact, they were so good they won 9 NBA Championships in the Cousey and Russell era, which didn’t make Chamberlain happy at all. These two teams were the Celtics main rivals for many years. These rivalries spanned decades as Jerry West, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Julius “Dr. J” Irving, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Pat Riley, and others came and went from these phenomenal rivalries. 

The best of all the Celtics and Lakers feeds was the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson feud that started when they were both in college at Indiana St. and Michigan St. respectively. They played in the 1979 National Championship, where Johnson and the Spartans got the better of Bird’s team. They both would later get drafted by the Celtic and Lakers, and the NBA would never be the same again. It was a fledgling league to the MLB, NHL, and NFL until these guys and their teams brought the game to a whole new level. The coaches and other players were part of it, but it was the Bird and Magic show. It was “Showtime” vs. the tough as nails Boston guys who represented a working class community. I loved growing up in this era of the game watching these teams first hand.

Like most documentaries, this series directed by Lauren Stowell uses quite a bit of archival footage from the past. It went all the way back to the 50s and 60s. There are so many shots of the old teams and players from the past. It brought me back to my childhood as a kid. The interviews and game footage were terrific. Everything looked amazing. I specifically loved when the docu-series delved into two of the most famous calls in NBA and sports history by legendary Celtics Announcer Johnny Most “Havlicek Stole the Ball” and “Bird Steals the Ball and Lay’s it Off to DJ”  I loved hearing Johnny Most voice calling the games. He was an iconic play by play man. 

There were quite a bit of talking heads as well in this series. Many of the Celtics legends and Bostan writers like Bob Ryan, Leigh Montville, Dan Shaunessey, Jackie McMullen, and Howard Btyant. As well as musicians like Bell Biv Defoe and Donnie Wahlberg of the New Kids on the Block.There were so many different celebrities from the league and beyond that chimed in on this team and its history. Historians have a great perspective on the events from all the decades that this team has existed. The history of the city and other big moments that occurred during these years made a huge impact on the players, coaches, and community. This film delves into all of it. 

There is a framing device at the forefront of this docu-series, though. With all the legendary players and teams, there is quite a bit to live up to if you’re part of the more recent squads. The framing device mainly involves Jaylen Brown, Joe Mazulla, and Jason Tatum. They talk about their own involvement in the team, their championship, which is the 18th in team history. One more than the Lakers, I might add. They show their love of the town, the history of the team, and why being part of this storied franchise means so much to them each personality. This device was a good way to encompass everything.

A few things the documentary does is not sugar coat everything. Even though there were a lot of good times in the teams history, there were also a lot of bad times on and off the court. The death of two of the potential cornerstones of the team in the 80s and 90s derailed the Celtics quite a bit. They couldn’t recover from those tragic deaths for many years. Even great coaches like Rick Patino could help the team recover from the bad times. In the 70s and 70s, it was racial unrest and segregation, but the players kept playing and winning during those years. Change in ownership didn’t make a difference either.  This team is too legendary not to get it figured out, and the bad times didn’t last forever on the court even though things off the court weren’t as good for America. 

Celtics City is a phenomenal docu-series that showed every aspect of this team and the city they played in. This series professes that the town of Boston is a Celtics town, not Red Sox , Patriots, or Bruins. I say they are part of the moniker known as title town. All the teams had their part to play in that. The Celtic were the first great franchise in Boston, but not the last. I understand the title of the series being Celtics City, though. I don’t have a problem with it. For a lot of fans of this team, that title remains the true title for them. The show as a whole was beyond my expectations, though. This was on the level of the greatest docu-series I’ve ever seen. Such as OJ: Made in America.

Celtics City is streaming on Max

5 stars

Dan Skip Allen