Anyone who has watched the newly-released documentary, Celtics City, may have noticed that some key characters are missing from the doc.
Seeing as Celtics City revolves around the history of the Boston Celtics, it’s no surprise that producer Bill Simmons was able to procure interviews from any and all living Celtics players, including Larry Bird.
Simmons was unable to get some of Bird’s rivals to appear in the docuseries, however.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live recently to discuss Celtics City, Simmons revealed to Kimmel who refused to take part in the documentary.
“What happened is, the guys on the other teams, they don't wanna be like the villains of the sports movie anymore,” Simmons told Kimmel.
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“They figured this out. So like, we didn't get Magic (Johnson) … he was like, ‘Nah, I can't do it.’”
“So we didn't get (Charles) Barkley, we didn’t get Magic, we didn’t get Isiah (Thomas).”
Of the three Hall of Famers mentioned by Simmons, Johnson is by far the voice that was most missing from the documentary, especially given Johnson’s close relationship with Bird and the historic nature of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry during the 1980s, the arc of which was fully explored by Celtics City.
Johnson’s participation in the docuseries would have provided fascinating insight into the 80s rivalry and the nature of the Magic-Bird relationship, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Nonetheless, the series has been met with widespread praise since its release.
Celtics City is now streaming in full on HBO Max.
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