The first episode of Celtics City was focused on the rise of the franchise with Bob Cousy and Red Auerbach through 1963 when Cousy retired.

The second episode is heavily focused on the greatness of Bill Russell during the 60’s and how he carried the Celtics to 11 championships in 13 years with Auerbach.

It starts with Jaylen Brown talking about what Russell means to him. He explains how he was nervous to come to Boston after being drafted third overall in 2016.

Brown was booed by Celtics fans who were in attendance at the Barclays Center for the NBA Draft when his name was called. It’s something that he will remember forever and mentioned in this second episode.

“Honestly, before I got to Boston, I was kind of scared. When I got drafted, they booed me. Even though, things were a different context in a different period of time, but it doesn’t make it any less severe or any less impactful. So paying attention to history has also given me a greater context to where we’re at now. It makes a lot of sense why this organization has been a pioneer for social justice movements and society.”

The episode goes into detail about the racial issues in the world and what Russell had to deal with as a result of it while he was living and playing in Boston.

In the 60’s, Russell was the NBA’s best player, but it didn’t matter in a slowly changing world that was largely segregated, especially in parts of Boston.

In 1966, Auerbach retired and Russell became the head coach of the Celtics as a player-coach while Auerbach was the general manager of the team.

At this point, Russell and the Celtics had nine titles. He should’ve been viewed as a legend in Boston, but unfortunately he wasn’t. Instead, they treated him like dirt. They broke into his home, destroying everything, including all of his trophies and life accomplishments. They even defected in his bed.

Karen Kenyatta Russell, Bill’s daughter, shared this disturbing story and what it was like for their family to come home that night to find their house ransacked.

“I don’t think we ever fully felt safe. One night we came home and found that we had been robbed. The house was in shambles. Someone had destroyed all of his trophies and when my parents went to bed, they pulled back the sheets and someone had defected in their bed. I think that feeling was scary about him in Boston was not feeling that he couldn’t keep my mom and my brother safe.”

As a way to show his support, and also losing his patience with the way things were going in the city, Auerbach made the decision to change their home jersey from saying “BOSTON” across the chest to “CELTICS.”

This was because he felt that his team was not playing for the city of Boston. This change was to represent that they are a team that plays for each other and not the city on their jerseys. It was a way to bring the team closer together and for the focus to remain on the team.

The episode then transitions into the rivalry between Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. They faced off 143 times against each other, a true rivalry as Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan says in this episode.

“When you look at the rivalry, it remains and will always be the greatest individual matchup rivalry in the history of the NBA. [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson], for example, played against each other 37 times total… Wilt and Russell played 143 times against each other… I mean that’s a rivalry.”

In 1967, Chamberlain’s 76ers defeated Russel’s Celtics in the Division Finals to advance to the Finals. It was the first and only time the Celtics didn’t win the Finals in the 1960’s, ending a 11-year run.

In 1968, Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, creating a Big Three by joining forces with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. In 1969, they were the favorites to win it all, but the Celtics stood in their way as an aging team that made it to the championship as a fourth seed.

The Celtics went on to win the Finals. They became the first team in NBA history to win a series after being down 2-0 to start, making it the greatest upset in NBA history. This was the last championship of the Bill Russell-led Celtics dynasty.

After winning the championship, the very next day, a reporter from a Boston paper was in Auerbach’s office and asked him if he was satisfied with the coaching this season. Keep in mind that Russell was still the coach of the team.

Auerbach was surprised by the type of question considering they just won another championship.

After that, Russell knew that was going to be his last game. He said “I realized that there are no final victories.” He didn’t go to the Celtics championship parade. At this point, after 11 championships in 13 years, he was checked out and who could blame him?

He retired and didn’t look back.

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Photo Credit: AP Photo