ESPN 30 for 30 Celtics/Lakers Rivalry

tempo_n_groove · June 2017

So, this is a GREAT documentary. I remember from 84 to 89 very vividly. Learned a lot from watching this too.

But why, why in the hell does Ice Cube narrate and why does he have to act "tuff" while narrating? Mr Cube, you've fooled people for years into thinking that you were tough, you've been paid and we all know that you're not...

The 80's with the Lakers and Celts brought back Basketball to the masses. I have had the pleasure of never watching a tape delayed game because of this.

Imagine watching something that already happened today?

Thoughts?

pjhawks · June 2017

tempo_n_groove said:

So, this is a GREAT documentary. I remember from 84 to 89 very vividly. Learned a lot from watching this too.

But why, why in the hell does Ice Cube narrate and why does he have to act "tuff" while narrating? Mr Cube, you've fooled people for years into thinking that you were tough, you've been paid and we all know that you're not...

The 80's with the Lakers and Celts brought back Basketball to the masses. I have had the pleasure of never watching a tape delayed game because of this.

Imagine watching something that already happened today?

Thoughts?

i've only seen about the last 20 minutes of the 1st episode but I found it annoying that they tried to make it a black-white thing. where whites cheered for the Celtics and blacks for the Lakers. That is not a memory I have of those two teams. And as a Sixers fan I wanted the Lakers to beat the Celtics.

HesCalledDyer · June 2017

Can't wait to see this. I don't have cable so I'll be waiting patiently for it to show up on Netflix.

tempo_n_groove · June 2017

pjhawks said:

tempo_n_groove said:

So, this is a GREAT documentary. I remember from 84 to 89 very vividly. Learned a lot from watching this too.

But why, why in the hell does Ice Cube narrate and why does he have to act "tuff" while narrating? Mr Cube, you've fooled people for years into thinking that you were tough, you've been paid and we all know that you're not...

The 80's with the Lakers and Celts brought back Basketball to the masses. I have had the pleasure of never watching a tape delayed game because of this.

Imagine watching something that already happened today?

Thoughts?

i've only seen about the last 20 minutes of the 1st episode but I found it annoying that they tried to make it a black-white thing. where whites cheered for the Celtics and blacks for the Lakers. That is not a memory I have of those two teams. And as a Sixers fan I wanted the Lakers to beat the Celtics.

You must have lived in happytown USA. I unfortunately remember it being a black/white thing.

I LOVED Magic and the Lakers since I moved to cali for a few years so I rooted for them. Worthy had this cool shot where he would pretend to shoot and palm the ball like a pump fake then drive baseline. Anybody remember that move?

tempo_n_groove · June 2017

HesCalledDyer said:

Can't wait to see this. I don't have cable so I'll be waiting patiently for it to show up on Netflix.

I'm sure it's on youtube or espn site?

HesCalledDyer · June 2017

tempo_n_groove said:

HesCalledDyer said:

Can't wait to see this. I don't have cable so I'll be waiting patiently for it to show up on Netflix.

I'm sure it's on youtube or espn site?

If it's on Youtube, I can't find it. And I can never watch anything on ESPN unless I login with my cable subscription. Kinda defeats the purpose - if I had a cable subscription, I wouldn't be trying to watch on the app.

pjhawks · June 2017

tempo_n_groove said:

pjhawks said:

tempo_n_groove said:

So, this is a GREAT documentary. I remember from 84 to 89 very vividly. Learned a lot from watching this too.

But why, why in the hell does Ice Cube narrate and why does he have to act "tuff" while narrating? Mr Cube, you've fooled people for years into thinking that you were tough, you've been paid and we all know that you're not...

The 80's with the Lakers and Celts brought back Basketball to the masses. I have had the pleasure of never watching a tape delayed game because of this.

Imagine watching something that already happened today?

Thoughts?

i've only seen about the last 20 minutes of the 1st episode but I found it annoying that they tried to make it a black-white thing. where whites cheered for the Celtics and blacks for the Lakers. That is not a memory I have of those two teams. And as a Sixers fan I wanted the Lakers to beat the Celtics.

You must have lived in happytown USA. I unfortunately remember it being a black/white thing.

I LOVED Magic and the Lakers since I moved to cali for a few years so I rooted for them. Worthy had this cool shot where he would pretend to shoot and palm the ball like a pump fake then drive baseline. Anybody remember that move?

well I was in high school at the time so i guess i didn't pay much attention to that. plus being in Philly we just naturally hated the Celtics.

and yes I remember that Worthy move. can still picture him doing it going baseline and dunking. Showtime Lakers were a lot of fun to watch.

g under p · June 2017

tempo_n_groove said:

pjhawks said:

tempo_n_groove said:

So, this is a GREAT documentary. I remember from 84 to 89 very vividly. Learned a lot from watching this too.

But why, why in the hell does Ice Cube narrate and why does he have to act "tuff" while narrating? Mr Cube, you've fooled people for years into thinking that you were tough, you've been paid and we all know that you're not...

The 80's with the Lakers and Celts brought back Basketball to the masses. I have had the pleasure of never watching a tape delayed game because of this.

Imagine watching something that already happened today?

Thoughts?

i've only seen about the last 20 minutes of the 1st episode but I found it annoying that they tried to make it a black-white thing. where whites cheered for the Celtics and blacks for the Lakers. That is not a memory I have of those two teams. And as a Sixers fan I wanted the Lakers to beat the Celtics.

You must have lived in happytown USA. I unfortunately remember it being a black/white thing.

I LOVED Magic and the Lakers since I moved to cali for a few years so I rooted for them. Worthy had this cool shot where he would pretend to shoot and palm the ball like a pump fake then drive baseline. Anybody remember that move?

George McGuiness of the Indiana Pacers did that move much better and before Worthy ever tried such a move. It was unfortunate the death of Len Bias in 86' or else the Celtics would've continued their power teams throughout the rest of the 80's.

Peace

eeriepadave · June 2017

i caught it last night, very interesting/cool. I never thought of it as being a black/white thing at first but i can see why people thought of it now. I didn't really care for Ice Cube or Donnie Wahlberg as the narrators, that was kinda annoying.

g under p · June 2017

eeriepadave said:

i caught it last night, very interesting/cool. I never thought of it as being a black/white thing at first but i can see why people thought of it now. I didn't really care for Ice Cube or Donnie Wahlberg as the narrators, that was kinda annoying.

I never thought of it as a black/white thing either, I was just a Celtics fan rooting for the team from Beantown. I did think of it at the time that it was a Magic vs Bird thing though between two supreme players playing in their prime. I'm watching it now and I get emotional watching some the highlights from the Gahden. A place I saw so many games as a youth of the Celtics Big Red, Jo Jo White etc to the Bruins Orr, Cheevers and company brings out all emotions.

Peace

dankind · June 2017

Beat Boston!

cp3iverson · June 2017

Amazing documentary but go Sixers. Andrew F'ing Toney. The Boston Strangler!!!

eeriepadave · June 2017

g under p said:

eeriepadave said:

i caught it last night, very interesting/cool. I never thought of it as being a black/white thing at first but i can see why people thought of it now. I didn't really care for Ice Cube or Donnie Wahlberg as the narrators, that was kinda annoying.

I never thought of it as a black/white thing either, I was just a Celtics fan rooting for the team from Beantown. I did think of it at the time that it was a Magic vs Bird thing though between two supreme players playing in their prime. I'm watching it now and I get emotional watching some the highlights from the Gahden. A place I saw so many games as a youth of the Celtics Big Red, Jo Jo White etc to the Bruins Orr, Cheevers and company brings out all emotions.

Peace

yeah I only around 10 years old in the mid 80's and wasn't a huge basketball fan. I was more into baseball and football. Almost forgot that The Sixers were part of that rivalry for a few years.

markymark550 · June 2017

Looking forward to watching this. I was a small child during the thick of the Bird vs Magic years (born in 83). So, I don't remember a lot about it, but I love basketball and basketball history.

The black/white thing makes me think of the Chuck Klosterman essay about this rivalry in Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (at least I think it was in that one). He basically stated the rivalry was a metaphor for just about every dichotomy you can think of.

The Juggler · June 2017

markymark550 said:

Looking forward to watching this. I was a small child during the thick of the Bird vs Magic years (born in 83). So, I don't remember a lot about it, but I love basketball and basketball history.

The black/white thing makes me think of the Chuck Klosterman essay about this rivalry in Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (at least I think it was in that one). He basically stated the rivalry was a metaphor for just about every dichotomy you can think of.

I've been meaning to read that book. Thanks for reminding me.

I've only seen about 10 minutes of this but have it on dvr. Gonna watch at some point this week.

THE LOOK · June 2017

Great documentary! I didn't realize that "race" played such a major role, as the documentary suggests! All I saw growing up watching these games, was just one of the greatest rivalries in NBA history.

The Juggler · June 2017

I'm surprised to see so many people claim to not remember race playing even a little factor in that rivalry. I was very young, but it was pretty obvious to me that there was one team primarily black and one team primarily white. I hate the Celtics so I rooted for the Lakers anyway. Race doesn't matter to me. But to pretend it wasn't an issue for other people is kind of foolish.

tempo_n_groove · June 2017

The Juggler said:

I'm surprised to see so many people claim to not remember race playing even a little factor in that rivalry. I was very young, but it was pretty obvious to me that there was one team primarily black and one team primarily white. I hate the Celtics so I rooted for the Lakers anyway. Race doesn't matter to me. But to pretend it wasn't an issue for other people is kind of foolish.

Those that didn't see race in it are lucky. Good for them. The reason I remember race being a part of it was from comments from the adults.
I was watching a basketball game and then I hear snarky comments. It changed it for me.

markymark550 · July 2017

Finally got to watch all of it yesterday. I think it is one of the better documentaries in the 30 for 30 series. That 84 Finals was epic. I would love to just go watch that whole series. So many great players were a part of this rivalry. I'm too young to have any memories during the prime of the rivalry in the 80s, so it was great to hear all of the players tell their side of it. Definitely can't refute the claim that Magic and Larry saved the NBA.

My one complaint is the same as most of what's been said and that's the narrators. I get wanting to present an unbiased account of it all, but that could have easily been accomplished without Ice Cube and Wahlberg.

HesCalledDyer · July 2017

markymark550 said:

Finally got to watch all of it yesterday. I think it is one of the better documentaries in the 30 for 30 series. That 84 Finals was epic. I would love to just go watch that whole series. So many great players were a part of this rivalry. I'm too young to have any memories during the prime of the rivalry in the 80s, so it was great to hear all of the players tell their side of it. Definitely can't refute the claim that Magic and Larry saved the NBA.

My one complaint is the same as most of what's been said and that's the narrators. I get wanting to present an unbiased account of it all, but that could have easily been accomplished without Ice Cube and Wahlberg.

The basketball 30-for-30s always seem to be the best ones:
Without Bias
Winning Time
The Guru of Go
No Crossover
Once Brothers (my personal favorite)
There's No Place Like Home
Benji
Survive and Advance
Free Spirits
Bernie and Ernie
Requiem for the Big East
Bad Boys
Playing for the Mob
When the Garden was Eden
I Hate Christian Laettner
Sole Man
This Magic Moment

All excellent!! I haven't seen any since then but after those there are:
Believeland
Phi Slama Jama
One and Not Done
Celtics/Lakers

And there's a couple ESPN Films Presents:
The Fab Five
The Announcement

markymark550 · July 2017

With basketball as my favorite sport, I do tend to enjoy the basketball ones more. I, too, like Once Brothers the best. There are only a couple in the series that I didn't particularly care for (the one about OJ's Bronco ride and the Tyson/Tupac come to mind, but that's more on the presentation of it rather than content). If it's not basketball related, my second choice would be college football.

pjhawks · July 2017

HesCalledDyer said:

markymark550 said:

Finally got to watch all of it yesterday. I think it is one of the better documentaries in the 30 for 30 series. That 84 Finals was epic. I would love to just go watch that whole series. So many great players were a part of this rivalry. I'm too young to have any memories during the prime of the rivalry in the 80s, so it was great to hear all of the players tell their side of it. Definitely can't refute the claim that Magic and Larry saved the NBA.

My one complaint is the same as most of what's been said and that's the narrators. I get wanting to present an unbiased account of it all, but that could have easily been accomplished without Ice Cube and Wahlberg.

The basketball 30-for-30s always seem to be the best ones:
Without Bias
Winning Time
The Guru of Go
No Crossover
Once Brothers (my personal favorite)
There's No Place Like Home
Benji
Survive and Advance
Free Spirits
Bernie and Ernie
Requiem for the Big East
Bad Boys
Playing for the Mob
When the Garden was Eden
I Hate Christian Laettner
Sole Man
This Magic Moment

All excellent!! I haven't seen any since then but after those there are:
Believeland
Phi Slama Jama
One and Not Done
Celtics/Lakers

And there's a couple ESPN Films Presents:
The Fab Five
The Announcement

agree. Loved the Len Bias one, Once Brothers was fantastic but so sad, Requiem for the Big East, I hate Christian Laettner and the One and Not Done were great too . Those were my favorite basketball ones. One not listed that was good was Unguarded about Chris Herren and his drug struggles.

Non-basketball ones I thought were great: the Two Escobars ,Pony Express about SMU Football. From Elway to Marino and Big Shot about the guy lying to buy the Islanders and Catholic vs. Convicts.

Maybe the best one of all though was the Fantastic Lies about the Duke Lacrosse rape trial.

markymark550 · July 2017

pjhawks said:

HesCalledDyer said:

markymark550 said:

Finally got to watch all of it yesterday. I think it is one of the better documentaries in the 30 for 30 series. That 84 Finals was epic. I would love to just go watch that whole series. So many great players were a part of this rivalry. I'm too young to have any memories during the prime of the rivalry in the 80s, so it was great to hear all of the players tell their side of it. Definitely can't refute the claim that Magic and Larry saved the NBA.

My one complaint is the same as most of what's been said and that's the narrators. I get wanting to present an unbiased account of it all, but that could have easily been accomplished without Ice Cube and Wahlberg.

The basketball 30-for-30s always seem to be the best ones:
Without Bias
Winning Time
The Guru of Go
No Crossover
Once Brothers (my personal favorite)
There's No Place Like Home
Benji
Survive and Advance
Free Spirits
Bernie and Ernie
Requiem for the Big East
Bad Boys
Playing for the Mob
When the Garden was Eden
I Hate Christian Laettner
Sole Man
This Magic Moment

All excellent!! I haven't seen any since then but after those there are:
Believeland
Phi Slama Jama
One and Not Done
Celtics/Lakers

And there's a couple ESPN Films Presents:
The Fab Five
The Announcement

agree. Loved the Len Bias one, Once Brothers was fantastic but so sad, Requiem for the Big East, I hate Christian Laettner and the One and Not Done were great too . Those were my favorite basketball ones. One not listed that was good was Unguarded about Chris Herren and his drug struggles.

Non-basketball ones I thought were great: the Two Escobars ,Pony Express about SMU Football. From Elway to Marino and Big Shot about the guy lying to buy the Islanders and Catholic vs. Convicts.

Maybe the best one of all though was the Fantastic Lies about the Duke Lacrosse rape trial.

Pony Excess was a really good one. CJK5H

Duke lacrosse one was good, but also sad and infuriating.

HesCalledDyer · July 2017

pjhawks said:

agree. Loved the Len Bias one, Once Brothers was fantastic but so sad, Requiem for the Big East, I hate Christian Laettner and the One and Not Done were great too . Those were my favorite basketball ones. One not listed that was good was Unguarded about Chris Herren and his drug struggles.

Non-basketball ones I thought were great: the Two Escobars ,Pony Express about SMU Football. From Elway to Marino and Big Shot about the guy lying to buy the Islanders and Catholic vs. Convicts.

Maybe the best one of all though was the Fantastic Lies about the Duke Lacrosse rape trial.

Yeah the Chris Herren one was really good as well. I knew I was forgetting at least one.

Some of my favorite non-bball ones are Into the Wind about Terry Fox (quite the tearjerker!), Small Potatoes about Donald Trump killing the USFL, The U & The U Part 2 (despite me being a Noles fan, these are great), Rand University about Randy Moss growing up in small town West Virginia, Slaying the Badger about Greg LeMond & Bernard Hinault in the Tour de France, Fernando Nation, Pony Excess, and The Birth of Big Air about Mat Hoffman & BMX. And of course, the ESPN Films Presents Catching Hell, about the Cubs and Steve Bartman and scapegoating in sports.

I haven't seen Fantastic Lies yet... I'll have to add it to the list.

markymark550 · July 2017

Good call with Catching Hell. Really enjoyed that one too.

g under p · July 2017

The Juggler said:

I'm surprised to see so many people claim to not remember race playing even a little factor in that rivalry. I was very young, but it was pretty obvious to me that there was one team primarily black and one team primarily white. I hate the Celtics so I rooted for the Lakers anyway. Race doesn't matter to me. But to pretend it wasn't an issue for other people is kind of foolish.

It was an issue existed it's just that it wasn't an issue to me. I focused more on the style of play more so than the race make up the team. Naturally I loved the way the Celtics played compared to the showtime flash of the Lakers.
Peace

tempo_n_groove · July 2017

HesCalledDyer said:

pjhawks said:

agree. Loved the Len Bias one, Once Brothers was fantastic but so sad, Requiem for the Big East, I hate Christian Laettner and the One and Not Done were great too . Those were my favorite basketball ones. One not listed that was good was Unguarded about Chris Herren and his drug struggles.

Non-basketball ones I thought were great: the Two Escobars ,Pony Express about SMU Football. From Elway to Marino and Big Shot about the guy lying to buy the Islanders and Catholic vs. Convicts.

Maybe the best one of all though was the Fantastic Lies about the Duke Lacrosse rape trial.

Yeah the Chris Herren one was really good as well. I knew I was forgetting at least one.

Some of my favorite non-bball ones are Into the Wind about Terry Fox (quite the tearjerker!), Small Potatoes about Donald Trump killing the USFL, The U & The U Part 2 (despite me being a Noles fan, these are great), Rand University about Randy Moss growing up in small town West Virginia, Slaying the Badger about Greg LeMond & Bernard Hinault in the Tour de France, Fernando Nation, Pony Excess, and The Birth of Big Air about Mat Hoffman & BMX. And of course, the ESPN Films Presents Catching Hell, about the Cubs and Steve Bartman and scapegoating in sports.

I haven't seen Fantastic Lies yet... I'll have to add it to the list.

They did one on Matt Hoffman? I need to see that!

ESPN 30 for 30 Celtics/Lakers Rivalry

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