‘Celtics City' is an absorbing documentary about an extraordinary franchise
So it goes with arguably the greatest dynasty in American professional sports. A superb current Celtic can mention his admiration for a legendary Celtic and icon in the sports, and we wonder if it's the right legendary Celtic and icon in the sport.
Advertisement
I mention this at the opening tip here for this reason: One of the many,
many
things that the extraordinary new nine-part HBO docuseries, titled 'Celtics City,' gets right is those through lines from one era of the franchise to another, and one special player to another.
'Celtics City,' directed by Lauren Stowell, is told chronologically, with a new episode available for streaming on Max each Monday beginning March 3. (Bill Simmons is an executive producer, and this is clearly a project he was always meant to do.)
The brainchildren of HBO's "Celtics City" documentary (from left), Connor Schell, Bill Simmons, Lauren Stowell, and Aaron Cohen, attend the premiere last week on Feb. 21 in New York City.for HBO
Yet threads and juxtapositions and those through lines of Celtics history are deftly woven through each hour-long edition. Some are simple and charming — Tatum's appreciation for fellow St. Louis native Jo Jo White, and the contrasts of Dee Brown and Jaylen Brown in the dunk contest more than 30 years apart, and the comical difference between their spare former practice site at Hellenic College and their facility in Brighton now.
And some are genuinely deep, particularly Bill Russell's path as a champion of social justice, now followed by Jaylen Brown. 'As I have learned what Celtics tradition is, there were a lot of misconceptions about what they stood for,' says Brown. 'This organization has been a pioneer for the social justice movement in society. … It's part of the fabric of the [Celtics].'
Related
:
Advertisement
'Celtics City' tells the story of each era while simultaneously weaving together the eras, flawlessly. And it does so much more than that. Nothing Stowell, Simmons and fellow co-producer Connor Schell (who co-created ESPN's '30 for 30' film series with Simmons) have done here is cursory. And this is no infomercial, even with the Celtics partnering on the project.
The stories of frequent triumphs, rivalries that span generations, and aching tragedies are told in full. But the docuseries' title confirms an even greater ambition. 'Celtics City' explores, unsparingly when necessary, the Celtics' place in the landscape of Boston, its neighborhoods, the racial tensions though the generations, and the cruelties and indignities its Black players endured.
Stowell's lens is focused on a bigger story than basketball, without ever dismissing basketball.
More than 80 people were interviewed for the documentary, and archival footage is used selectively for those who have died, including Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, John Havlicek, and rival Wilt Chamberlain. Game footage from the early years of Russell and Bob Cousy is sharper than any I have ever seen from that era. It makes you appreciate how extraordinary they were.
Celtics legend Bob Cousy, now 96, was wheeled onto the floor of TD Garden when the Celtics raised banner No. 18 to the rafters back in October.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Cousy, now 96 years old, is interviewed at his Worcester home, and he might be the MVP of the entire docuseries. Cooz is sharp and funny and candid and just a little nostalgic, and he doesn't sound much different than he did broadcasting Celtics games a generation or two ago.
'All sports teams bond,' he says of being a Celtic, 'but not all teams have this.'
If Cousy isn't, to co-opt a hockey term, the first star of the doc, that's only because Robert Parish has tucked away his legendary stoicism and become downright engaging.
Advertisement
'I'm kind of an aloof, distant individual,' he explains. 'I don't allow people to get me to know me personally, so people don't know me as a person.'
Related
:
He is anything but aloof while riding in a car to an event, reminiscing about how much he loved Newbury Street during his playing days and its outside cafes that 'remind me of Europe.' Chatty Chief is something to behold.
I never know quite how much to reveal writing about something that has yet to air, so I'll hit a few quick bullet points here without giving everything away.
▪ Rick Pitino is interviewed, wearing a Nobull shirt, an obvious contrast with all the bull coming out of his mouth.
▪ The Reggie Lewis tragedy will break your heart all over again. 'He personified everything a Celtic should be,' said Red Auerbach when his No. 35 was retired posthumously.
▪ Paul Pierce opens up about the mental health struggles he faced after his Sept. 2000 stabbing.
▪ Many of the widows and grown children of deceased Celtics legends have a lovely and poignant bond.
▪ Longtime Celtics PR maven Jeff Twiss could write one heck of a book.
It's apparent, because of the scope and national reach of 'Celtics City,' that it's intended to appeal at least to some degree to fans of other franchises. Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke does the Celtics Hater routine to hammy effect, and author/cultural essayist Chuck Klosterman pops up to pontificate from time to time. Lakers legend James Worthy is an amusing interview subject on the '80s rivalry.
Will 'Celtics City' appeal to a broader audience? Perhaps there will be a good amount of envy-watching. For a New England audience, it's the best visual telling there has ever been of the beloved green-and-white's storied but imperfect history, and all of the remarkable through lines.
Advertisement
Current Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum wing coach Joe Mazzulla at the New York City premiere of HBO's "Celtics City."for HBO
'There's a DNA of Celtics basketball,' says current Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla in the doc, 'that has stood the test of time.'
'Celtics City,' and the people that put it together, understand that DNA. It, too, will stand the test of time.
Chad Finn can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
43 minutes ago
- New York Post
Americans roasted by Europeans over ‘primitive' eating habit: ‘Worse than nails down a chalkboard'
It's a fork-and-knife fight. A viral TikTok video showing an American woman attempting the 'European way' of eating has sparked an international food fight — and critics say her table manners are downright barbaric. TikTok user Amy Gordy @amygordy1 posted a now-viral video of herself trying out the so-called 'continental' dining style — the one where you don't play musical chairs with your utensils. Gordy, channeling her inner Emily Post, did her best to keep the fork in her left hand and the knife in her right — unlike the typical American technique of cutting food, dropping the knife, then switching fork hands like it's a culinary square dance. But her continental makeover quickly went off the rails. Viewers couldn't believe their eyes — or her grip. 'This has spun me out, I've never thought about how I use cutlery,' wrote one confused diner. Another viewer declared, after the clip was reposted on X (formerly Twitter): 'Americans are so primitive for world leaders!!! Hold your knife in your right hand! It's your dinner sword. Watching Americans eat is worse than nails down a blackboard.' The video — which racked up more than 2 million views and thousands of comments — didn't just spark etiquette outrage online. It also triggered a domestic dispute because Gordy's husband is heard saying in the background that his wife holding both utensils while he's talking to her is 'rude.' That had TikTok users clutching their pearls — and their cutlery. 'Him saying you're doing it wrong and that it's rude to hold your cutlery when speaking,' one user wrote in disbelief. Another piled on: 'Am I missing something??!? Eating properly is rude in America??' '… Dude sounds like a piece of work. People talk with utensils in their hands all the time, it's never been rude,' tweeted @thisisvertrying, who also reposted Gordy's original video. The clip clocked over 2 million views and thousands of comments — igniting a full-blown Euro vs. American cutlery clash online. sonyachny – Meanwhile, some critics nitpicked Gordy's fork-and-knife form, pointing out that she'd flipped her hands from the standard European setup. 'It's not the 'European Way,' it THE CORRECT WAY,' one commenter fumed. Others were more forgiving, insisting there's no 'correct' way to eat — as long as you're not launching mashed potatoes across the room. Still, for some Europeans, watching Americans carve up dinner like it's an Olympic event remains a horror show. 'I'm confused, so how do Americans use cutlery?' asked one commenter, apparently still recovering from the cultural whiplash. Knife to meet you, indeed. And while Gordy's utensil swap stirred the pot online, Brits like etiquette expert William Hanson would likely argue it's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dining faux pas. Hanson — dubbed Britain's leading etiquette coach — recently stunned viewers by insisting there's only one proper way to eat a banana: with a knife and fork. 'No, we don't pick it up and peel it like a primate,' he said in a now-viral Instagram tutorial. 'Instead, we use a knife and fork. First, going from one end, cut it off, then cut off the other end, turning your knife on its side. Then score down the skin, peel back and eat like so.' His fruit-fueled formality didn't end there. As previously reported by The Post, in a follow-up, Hanson demonstrated the 'correct' way to eat grapes — using scissors to snip a smaller bunch onto a plate, naturally. At least that one didn't require cutlery.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Man arrested and charged after storming the stage at a Katy Perry concert
A man has been arrested and charged after storming the stage at a Katy Perry concert. The American singer, 40, was perfroming at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney as part of her The Lifetimes World Tour on Monday when the incident occured. Footage circulated online captured the moment that Johnson Wen – known online as Pyjama Man – crashed her rendition of 2008 hit, Hot N Cold. Wen could be seen running up to her and grabbing her shoulder, while excitedly jumping up and down, before he was then escorted off stage. For her part Perry - who is engaged to 48-year-old British actor Orlando Bloom - looked furious. She then told the confused crowd: 'Well, there's never going to be another show like this, so just enjoy it, Sydney.' Adding: 'What the hell is going on?' According to 9News, he was arrested after the incident, and taken to Auburn Police Station. Wen was eventually charged with entering enclosed lands, as well as obstructing a person in the performance of their work or duty. After being granted conditional bail, he was issued with a six-month ban from entering the Sydney Olympic Park Precinct, and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on June 23. Speaking to the Australian news outlet afterwards, Wen claimed his stage invasion had been for fun and went on to recall how Perry had 'freaked out' when she saw him. 'I said, 'Let me get on stage with you', then she freaked out because she realised I wasn't a performer,' he explained. 'I was about to do like extra Fortnite moves but security got there too quick.' This isn't the first time that Wen has done something like this. He was previously banned from the Olympic Park for crashing the Weeknd's concert, and also invaded arenas at the Olympics, the Women's World Cup and the Cricket World Cup final. Wen has now vowed to mend his ways, adding: 'I'm planning to quit forever because you get in way too much trouble for it. Especially me, because I've done it so many times.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Co-Founder and Architect of Pop, Dead at 82
Brian Wilson, who as leader of the Beach Boys and a founder of California rock invented a massively successful pop sound full of harmonies and sunshine, has died at the age of 82. 'We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now,' his family wrote in a statement posted on social media. 'Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.' More from Rolling Stone Questlove, Clairo, Earthgang, and More Remember Sly Stone: He 'Was a Giant' Billy Jones, Baby's All Right Owner and Key Player in New York Music Scene, Dead at 45 Sly Stone, Family Stone Architect Who Fused Funk, Rock, and Soul, Dead at 82 Wilson's family did not provide a cause of death, but it was revealed in February 2024 that the Beach Boys legend was battling dementia. 'Brian Wilson, my friend, my classmate, my football teammate, my Beach Boy bandmate and my brother in spirit, I will always feel blessed that you were in our lives for as long as you were,' Al Jardine said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'I think the most comforting thought right now is that you are reunited with Carl and Dennis, singing those beautiful harmonies again. You were a humble giant who always made me laugh and we will celebrate your music forever. Brian, I'll really miss you…still I have the warmth of the sun within me tonight.' 'Brian gave so much to the world through his music, his spirit, and his strength. He was a sweet, gentle soul as well as fierce competitor,' Wilson's longtime manager Jean Sievers said in a statement to Rolling Stone. 'There will never ever be anyone like him again. God truly broke the mold when he created Brian Wilson. Besides being a creative genius, he was one the smartest and funniest people I've ever known. His message of love will live on through his music forever.' Wilson's legacy includes dozens of ubiquitous hit singles with the Beach Boys, including three Number One singles ('I Get Around,' 'Help Me, Rhonda,' and 'Good Vibrations'). In the 1960s, the Beach Boys were not only the most successful American band, but they also jockeyed for global preeminence with the Beatles. And on albums such as Pet Sounds, Wilson's lavish, orchestral production techniques dramatically expanded the sonic palette of rock & roll and showed how the recording studio could be an instrument by itself. Born on June 20, 1942, Brian Wilson grew up in Hawthorne, California, a modest town next to the Los Angeles Airport. Brian was the eldest of three brothers; his younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. Their father, Murry, was an aspiring songwriter and a tyrant. 'Although he saw himself as a loving father who guided his brood with a firm hand, he abused us psychologically and physically, creating wounds that never healed,' Wilson wrote in his 1991 autobiography, Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story. Wilson grew up playing sports and obsessing over music, teaching his brothers to harmonize with him. Music was his sustenance and his solace, he said: 'Early on, I learned that when I tuned the world out, I was able to tune in to a mysterious, God-given music. It was my gift, and it allowed me to interpret and understand emotions I couldn't articulate.' In 1961, Brian, Dennis, and Carl formed a band with their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine, managed by Murry Wilson; Brian played bass, took many of the lead vocals, and wrote the songs. Signed to Capitol Records and named the Beach Boys, they started to roll out hits like convertible Thunderbirds coming off an assembly line: 'Surfin' U.S.A.' (with music borrowed from Chuck Berry's 'Sweet Little Sixteen'), 'Surfer Girl,' 'Be True to Your School,' 'Fun, Fun, Fun.' Those Brian Wilson compositions all sounded like insanely catchy jingles for the California teenage lifestyle — surfboards, hamburger stands, pep rallies — but on the flip side of the good times was a real sense of melancholy. Sometimes that was apparent in the lyrics — the lonesome 'In My Room,' for example — and sometimes it was expressed nonverbally, with the Beach Boys' heartbreaking multipart harmonies. Wilson got more ambitious in his songwriting and experimented with new sounds — like the chunky surf guitar and falsetto lead on 'I Get Around.' But he buckled under the stress of touring, having a nervous breakdown on the road in Europe in 1964. He decided that while the other Beach Boys toured the world, he would stay home and work on perfecting new material in the studio: When the band came back to California, they would step in and lay down their tracks. The results included gorgeous singles such as 'California Girls' and the immortal 1966 album Pet Sounds. The album, which regularly ranks at or near the top of the best albums ever made (Rolling Stone named it Number Two in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time), was inspired by the Beatles' innovative work on Rubber Soul; in return, it inspired the Fab Four to new heights of experimentation on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Paul McCartney frequently cited Pet Sounds as a masterpiece, giving it particular credit for its innovative bass playing, and has called the aching 'God Only Knows' his favorite song of all time; 'God Only Knows' placed Number 11 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The album was orchestrated with instruments that included harpsichords, bicycle bells, and barking dogs. The culmination was 'Wouldn't It Be Nice,' with its lyrics yearning for an adult life and love. The other Beach Boys, particularly Mike Love, were not impressed by Pet Sounds, and Wilson considered releasing it as a solo record; as a Beach Boys album, it was only a middling success in the United States, although its influence was huge, and it was recognized as an instant classic in the U.K. Wilson followed up with the Beach Boys' finest single, 'Good Vibrations,' three-and-a-half thrilling minutes of electro-theremin and stacks of vocals, recorded over a period of six months in various studios at a cost that reportedly made it, at that point, the most expensive single in history. Wilson returned to the studio with plans to top himself: an album called Smile, which he told friends would be a 'teenage symphony to God.' Working with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, he started to assemble an elaborate collection of musical suites, intended to change the face of popular music, but the sessions fell apart, weighed down by the indifference of the other Beach Boys, Wilson's consumption of pot and LSD, and his growing mental instability. While recording 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow,' a piece of the 'Elements' suite about fire, Wilson handed out plastic firemen's helmets to the orchestra and actually lit a fire in the studio to inspire them. When he found out that a building near the studio had burned down, he thought he had caused the fire through his music, freaked out, and locked the tapes in a vault. Wilson spent most of the next decade in his Bel Air mansion, which included both a recording studio and a sandbox in the living room (he put his piano in it so he could feel sand between his toes when he played). 'He was a man so lonely and so abused and maligned, ostracized,' Van Dyke Parks told Rolling Stone in 2004. 'It was an outrage what he suffered.' The Beach Boys continued without Brian Wilson; even as their album sales evaporated, they remained a popular oldies-oriented touring act. Over the following decades, Wilson would periodically rejoin the band and sometimes even tour with them, despite the intra-band lawsuits over songwriting credits and money. Wilson hesitantly stepped back into the public eye and started releasing solo albums, beginning with the 1988 cult masterpiece Brian Wilson, which had an executive producer credit for Wilson's longtime therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy. From the outside, Landy — who was first hired by Brian's wife Marilyn in 1975 — seemed like a positive influence on Wilson. He played a pivotal role in getting Wilson to curb his excessive eating and drug intake in the late Seventies and early Eighties. But as the Eighties wore on, the therapist slowly seized control of nearly every aspect of Wilson's life. By the end of the decade, Wilson was forcibly secluded from his close friends, family, and bandmates. 'There was a total parallel between [Brian's father] Murry and Landy,' Wilson's second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, told the New York Post in 2015. 'Because Brian came from such dysfunction, it was hard for him to recognize how dysfunctional the situation with Landy was.' (Landy died in 2006.) It took a 1992 lawsuit filed by Wilson's family to finally remove Landy from his life forever. In the aftermath, Landy lost his license to practice therapy. Right around this same time, Wilson's daughters, Carnie and Wendy, formed two-thirds of Wilson Phillips, a vocal trio that sold 10 million copies of their 1990 debut album. Wilson performed with his daughters on I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, the soundtrack to a 1995 documentary about him. That same year he released Orange Crate Art, a collaboration with Van Dyke Parks. Smile's legend had only increased in the decades since it was abandoned; it was considered the great lost rock album and even inspired a time-travel novel (Lewis Shiner's Glimpses) where the protagonist persuades Wilson to complete the album. Although songs, including 'Heroes and Villains' and 'Surf's Up,' had made their way piecemeal onto Beach Boys albums, it was generally assumed that it was impossible to piece together the shards of Wilson's masterpiece. In 2004, however, against all odds, Wilson completed the album; in a five-star review, Rolling Stone said it was 'beautiful and funny, goofily grand.' (Wilson's Smile later landed on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.) Wilson had found his way to something that once seemed impossible: a happy ending. 'I'll tell you something I've learned,' he confided to Rolling Stone in 2004. 'It's hard work to be happy.' The album earned Wilson his first-ever Grammy Award, as the LP's 'Mrs. O'Leary's Cow' — the song that sparked Wilson's meltdown decades earlier — won Best Rock Instrumental Performance. In 2012, Wilson reunited with the Beach Boys for That's Why God Made the Radio, the band's first album together since 1996; the LP peaked at Number Three on the Billboard 200, their highest-slotting album since 1965. Wilson also embarked on a tour with the Beach Boys. Both the album and the tour marked the end of his Beach Boys tenure. Over the past decade, Wilson would release two more albums: 2015's No Pier Pressure, featuring guests like Kacey Musgraves and She & Him as well as Beach Boys bandmates like Al Jardine, David Marks, and Blondie Chaplin, and 2021's At My Piano, a collection of newly recorded instrumental versions of Beach Boys classics. That same year, Wilson was the focus of the documentary Long Promised Road, in which the singer reflected on his past and legacy. The soundtrack for that film also yielded what would be the final new song Wilson released, 'Right Where I Belong,' a collaboration with My Morning Jacket's Jim James. Wilson, along with the Beach Boys, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Upon his entry into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000, Paul McCartney — who delivered the induction speech — called Wilson 'one of the great American geniuses,' and thanked him 'sir, for making me cry.' Wilson also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 for his contribution to music. In February 2024, just weeks after the death of Brian's second wife and longtime manager, Melinda, Brian's family revealed that the singer was suffering from dementia, and a conservatorship was sought to secure his continued care. 'This decision was made to ensure that there will be no extreme changes to the household, and Brian and the children living at home will be taken care of and remain in the home where they are cared for,' the Wilson family statement said at the time. 'Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects as well as participate in any activities he chooses.' 'Being called a musical genius was a cross to bear,' Wilson told Rolling Stone in 1988. 'Genius is a big word. But if you have to live up to something, you might as well live up to that. Goddamn!' Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
