http://www.espn.com/watch/collections/269/30-for-30-celtics-lakers-best-of-enemies I didn't see a thread for this documentary so I thought I would start one. I'm old enough to remember this rivalry in the 80's and confess to being a monster Celtics fan before moving to Houston in 1991 and switching allegiance to the Rockets at that point. The documentary is very well made with Mark Wahlberg narrating from the "Boston" perspective and Ice Cube narrating from the "Los Angeles" perspective. Watching it brought back memories and in some cases revived memories of things forgotten. It amazes me even now watching back how much rougher the NBA was (and how much was gotten away with) by both teams. They truly despised each other but from that came grudging respect and admiration all these years later for each side. Even the subject of race is explored as the obvious white vs. black team make up of the Celtics and Lakers were discussed by the participants and those around them. The time period has a special place for me as I recall my late father and I really bonding over the Celtics playoff series during the 80's. It was my first real taste of basketball and because of it I fell in love with the game. Special memories. So...has anyone else watched it? If not, the link above can take you to the documentary...3 parts over 5 hours covering everything from the early 60's to the late 80's with a lot of coverage of the 84,85 and 87 finals.
agree with this. I've seen Part 2 and half of Part 1 so far (out of order), I'm eager to watch the whole thing start to finish. Grew up in the early 70s as a Knick fan, played high school ball just as Larry Bird was drafted, and lived in Boston during 82-84 and just outside of the city until 87. What a time to be an NBA fan. But really love the context of the deep history back to the 50s that the film provides. Really well done.
It's Donnie, not Mark narrating Boston side. Definitely a great 30 for 30. Probably my favorite one now. Feel bad that Bird and McHale didn't play longer and Bias didn't survive(though i don't buy the BS that he was going to be better than MJ just like Benji was supposed to be better than Magic..it's all post death legend.) Makes you wonder as a fan, if players gave their all and played through injuries, their careers would end by 30, but today's players can play forever with so many advances and rest days and sitting out for even a jammed finger. Which would you rather have? I think i still take the warrior that left everything out there for his team and for the fans. If Harden got seriously hurt and he played through it and gave some epic performances that go down in history and we still come up short and Harden is never the same and retires by 30, i'll take that over him stat padding another decade and playing with no heart or care and partying it up at strip clubs while he makes 30 mil a year to get us past the first round at best.
They are basketball players, not gladiators. Nobody is obligated to sacrifice their physical health with a serious injury for our entertainment.
McHale and Bird didn't do it for entertainment either. They did it for themselves and their teammates and their coaches because winning was that important to them.
That has nothing to do with the ridiculous expectation coming from you that a "seriously hurt" player should "fight/play through it". I'm so glad this toxic machismo attitude is dying out in the NBA, it's just a game. You shouldn't have to face permanent structural (OR BRAIN DAMAGE IN THE NFL) to define your legacy as a player; ridiculous.
I've recorded it, and like most, it was my favorite time being a competitor. I was watching bird and magic ,courtship of rivals for the millionth time, and I can't get enough. I viewed Bird as a great player, regardless of color. He even used to say he felt disrespected when you put a white guy on him, lol. That era was special because it brought in teamwork. 2 highly skilled guys who would do anything to win. Bird called his teammnates sissies after la blew them out. Can you imagine if he said that today?
Im watching a little right now, but man has espn changed. They seem to interject racism into everything. OJ Simpson documentaries they have at least 7 of em, now the lakers/celtics thing directed by ice cube( who ironically like me voted for trump) smh, espn fell off. its embarrassing as a black man, to have to hear race being interjected into everything espn talks about. FS1 is the place to be, i wish the nba had rights with them and nbc again
I don't know if it's possible to tell the story of the Celtics/Lakers without discussing race. From what I've heard, before this documentary, the contrast between the Celtics, with three prominent white players (Bird, McHale and Ainge), and the nearly-all-black Lakers was a dichotomy that was apparent in the 1980s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell were inherently political figures and to ignore those sides of the story is to do a disservice to the men themselves. To cover the story of Russell in Boston without mentioning race would be like watching a Jackie Robinson movie that only talked about his batting average. Sports can be great because there's the potential for greater dialogue and impact than just entertainment. I agree that ESPN's talking heads' political and racial discussions can feel clumsy, but I don't think it's possible to tell this story without discussing things beyond the game on the floor.
Yep. Race was a big deal in accurately telling the Lakers/Celtics story. Not sure it was necessary in the OJ one.....they tried so hard to make him seem like an Uncle Tom/Porch N word/self hating black man simply because he didn't want his skin color to define him. I get the story about marketing a black man to white people, etc...but that's all that needed to be mentioned. You didn't have to go in depth about how he lost his way because he didn't want to protest etc
