Why ‘Celtics City’ Docuseries Rubbed Boston Legend Wrong Way

All nine episodes of HBO’s “Celtics City” docuseries, executively produced by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, aired. Boston fans raved over the project and its historical storytelling of the franchise’s good, bad and ugly, but not everyone loved it.

Cedric Maxwell, a key cast member in the tale of Celtics history, wasn’t fond of the (undersold) role his contributions played in the production. Maxwell spent eight seasons with Boston, helped the franchise capture two championships and — swept under the rug in “Celtics City” — was named MVP of the 1981 NBA Finals.

That didn’t sit right with the now-69-year-old radio broadcaster for 98.5 The Sports Hub.

“How can you talk about me in that ‘Celtics City’ edition, and all of a sudden I’m not the Finals MVP or you look down at the library right now and there’s a big quote in the library I’m saying, ‘Climb on my back,'” Maxwell told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Hardy” show. “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.”

Maxwell added: “I’m not jealous. I’m just telling you the facts.”

It takes a true ball-knower to recall Maxwell’s elevation of the Celtics when the Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale crew took on Moses Malone and the Houston Rockets in the 1981 Finals. “Cornbread” Maxwell averaged 17.7 points on 56.8% shooting from the field across the six-game series, and recorded three consecutive double-doubles in Games 3, 4 and 5 — something most casuals don’t have stored in their basketball knowledge file. But Maxwell’s respect amongst the organization has been grandfathered in for years.

“Celtics City” doesn’t dismiss Maxwell’s existence entirely. He’s shown sporadically throughout the early episodes, but none zoom in and focus on his Finals MVP performance or Maxwell’s output in Game 7 of the 1984 Finals against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers.

Maxwell scored a team-leading 24 points in the do-or-die battle for Boston’s 15th championship banner, along with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block. That was the night Maxwell offered the Celtics his iconic, “Get on my back, boys” quote before they took the floor at Boston Garden.

“It’s just really strange considering if you’re telling the story like that, don’t you tell all the best parts?” Maxwell said. “Don’t you talk about my seventh game against the Lakers in ’84? Don’t you talk about that? So, I don’t know the people who did it — I know a couple of people who did the story — but for the most part, I just don’t understand it. And frankly, I don’t really appreciate it.”

Boston’s win over Los Angeles amplified its bragging rights over its West Coast rival as it improved the Celtics to a perfect 8-0 all-time against the Lakers in the Finals. Maxwell finished his time in Boston posting averages of 13.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 607 games with the team. The Celtics retired No. 31 in honor of Maxwell in 2003, which made him the 22nd player honored in the rafters.

Maxwell did confirm that he does know Simmons, a Massachusetts native and a longtime Celtics fan with deep ties to the franchise. Still, Maxwell feels wronged.

“I know Bill, and I don’t know — again, I don’t know. I just don’t feel I was put in the right light,” Maxwell emphasized.

The final episode of “Celtics City,” titled “We’re the Celtics,” aired Monday night.