After back-to-back episodes defined by struggles on the court and horrible tragedy for the Celtics off of it, Episode VIII of HB0’s Celtics City documentary was likely much anticipated.
This penultimate segment of the nine-part doc, titled “Ubuntu,” covered a return to happier times and how Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers used the trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to resurrect not only the Celtics on the court but the mystique of the franchise as a whole.
It was a fun watch.
Here are 8 Takeaways from Episode VIII
Paul Pierce’s leather jacket felt like it changed the direction of the franchise — When Pierce was stabbed, at the time, it didn’t feel like it had nearly been another tragedy following the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis.
But if Pierce had died from the stab wounds, that’s exactly how it would have been perceived — as the third stunning death for a suddenly cursed franchise.
Instead, the thickness of Pierce’s leather jacket saved his life and altered the course of team history.
It kept feeling like the viewer was going to get a deep look at how the stabbing impacted Pierce’s mental health. And while they touched on it, they didn’t — of more likely Pierce didn’t — take it as deep as it could have been.
This could have been a standalone — Like a few of the episodes in this series, this could have been its own entity and would have been very good on its own. Something like: “Ubuntu: The Story of the 2007-08 Celtics.”
The filmmakers did a nice job of connecting it to the past and present, but even if they hadn’t, it would have worked.
Jayson Tatum describing himself as a little boy hating these Celtics is endearing — It’s not hard to picture him yelling at the refs through his St. Louis television.
Doc Rivers comes off as heroic. — Since leaving the Celtics, the lack of deep runs for Rivers’ Clippers, Sixers and Bucks teams has diminished his mystique as a coach.
But the 2007-08 season was the climax of the franchise’s reinvention. The culture in the locker room changed and the perception of the team outside the region was altered too.
Rivers had a lot to do with that. His ability to get three stars to buy into thriving together and living the idea of Ubuntu was impressive, too.
His stories about the Duck Boats in the preseason, Ainge recruiting him and the last Red Auerbach secure cigar were all great windows into how he was successful and worth tuning in for.
It was weird to see Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca — This was made before Grousbeck announced plans to sell the Celtics and didn’t choose Pagliuca’s bid. Makes the viewer wonder if there were underlying issues between them that just hadn’t come out yet.
Unsentimental Danny Ainge still a character — There’s a scene in an earlier episode when Ainge, then a Celtics player, talked about how Red Auerbach should have been trading some of the team’s aging superstars to get value while they were still worth something.
That came not long before Auerbach traded Ainge. That scene came to mind when Ainge traded franchise favorite Antoine Walker.
All the behind-the-scenes retrospective on everything that led to the Celtics and Timberwolves agreeing to the Kevin Garnett deal is terrifc.
The Kevin Garnett-Bill Russell friendship is moving — The documentary did a nice job of capturing the friendship between Kevin Garnett and Bill Russell.
They smartly built up Garnett’s personality and passion gradually and then showed how that same passion for winning and working was applied to his admiration for Russell as both the player and man.
It all builds to their embrace after the Celtics’ title, when Garnett tells Russell:
“I hope we made you proud.”
Ray Allen didn’t believe Pierce on the wheelchair — Like many people, Ray Allen is skeptical about Paul Pierce leaving Game 1 of the 2008 finals in a wheelchair after a hard fall against the Lakers.
Piece famously ditched the chair in the hallway and ran back into the game, igniting his teammates and the crowd.
Allen thinks there was some manufactured drama.
“I’m still curious whose idea that was,” Allen said.
