Evoking Scottie Pippen and Isiah Thomas, Celtics Legend Slams $200 Million Giant’s Production

Remember The Last Dance? It stirred up major conversation when it premiered in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The documentary revived ’90s nostalgia and quickly captured widespread attention. But not everyone was a fan. 6x NBA champion Scottie Pippen openly criticized the series, “Each episode was the same: Michael on a pedestal, his teammates secondary, smaller,…”, sparking a controversy that lingered long after its release. Isaiah Thomas had the same concern. Now, years later, another hit docu-series, this time chronicling the Boston Celtics’ famous trajectory, has drawn similar backlash from Cedric Maxwell, a Celtics legend, for many of the same reasons.

Do you remember “Cornbread” from the Celtics? He is the only player in the league’s history to win the NBA Finals MVP award without ever making an All-Star appearance. Playing for the Celtics alongside Larry Bird, he averaged 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the NBA Finals. Throughout his 11-year NBA career, he had 10,465 points and 5,261 rebounds. Cedric Maxwell might not be in the NBA Hall of Fame yet, but he had a legendary career that has moved mountains.

Speaking on the 98.5 The Sports Hub’s ‘Toucher and Hardy’ show, Maxwell has expressed an issue with HBO’s Celtics City docuseries. He added that the series didn’t show the contributions that he had made to the franchise. “I’m pretty pissed about that, but how can you talk about me in that Celtic City edition, and all of a sudden I’m not the finals MVP?” he questioned.

He added, “But none of that was done in ‘Celtics City,’ to the point that when we saw the premiere of ‘Celtics City’ with Wyc (Grousbeck) and some of the head people with the Celtics, he happened to mention after it was over, ‘Hey, by the way Cedric Maxwell was the Finals MVP that year.’ So, not too happy with the way I’ve been portrayed.”

The show is executive-produced by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons. Spotify recently dished out $200 for The Ringer, as per Forbes. He wasn’t impressed with how he was portrayed and felt that the series didn’t do justice to the contributions he made to the team. Playing eight seasons for the Boston Celtics, he won two championships with the team. Moreover, he had a big role in the 1984 Finals against the Lakers. 

Thomas, who was a crucial part of the franchise, refused to be part of the Celtics City after The Last Dance. He was upset over how Michael Jordan called him a –e in the show. He didn’t want to be “fooled” twice. Pippen also had the same issue, and he even took it to Jordan.

Scottie Pippen revealed that Michael Jordan agreed with him

Pippen was quite clear in his 2021 memoir, Unguarded. The 6x NBA champion claimed that the docuseries glorified Jordan, while the rest of the team members were not praised enough. The Last Dance producer Jake Rogal feels that the Chicago Bulls legend was shown as a hero throughout the series, which is much different from what Pippen thinks.

The Last Dance chronicled the Bulls’ Finals season playing against the Utah Jazz. Moreover, one particular scene from the series showed MJ discussing Pippen delaying his foot surgery. It was believed that this was because Pippen was underpaid by the team after he signed a 7-year deal worth $18 million, while his former teammate Jordan earned $30 million a year.

Pippen wasn’t happy with the show, as he felt that it portrayed him as “selfish.” For years, he has held the same thought. Did he speak to Jordan? As per the 6x NBA champ, Jordan agreed with him. “I told him I wasn’t too pleased with it. He accepted it. He said, ‘Hey, you’re right.’ That was pretty much it,” he said in conversation with The Guardian.

Many had called out the show for its portrayal of Jerry Krause. Luc Longley was one member absent from the series. After expressing his frustration, Pippen finally took it upon himself to start the No Bulls Tour, teaming up with Horace Grant and Longley. Despite the criticisms it received early, the event was much loved by fans later, as it revealed several unknown stories from the Bulls’ championship run. What is your take on this?