The past several years have yielded some truly spectacular sports documentaries, including several centered around the game of basketball. One of the latest to be released is the 2025 TV schedule entry Celtics City. A two-part series (that’s streamable on Max), it chronicles the history of the titular, Boston-based NBA team. There are interviews from those who played for the team and those who competed against it. In terms of the latter, though, legendary player Isiah Thomas isn’t involved, and we can thank The Last Dance.
Isiah Thomas famously played against the Larry Bird-led Celtics during the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and those matchups were chippy, to say the least. So it would’ve made sense for him to appear in the recently released doc. However, during an interview with Sirius XM (as shared on X), the two-time NBA champion explained that he was hesitant to participate over fear of being “set up.” He candidly expanded on those feelings:
I decided not to do the Boston documentary, because of what Jordan and The Last Dance did. They totally set me up and blindsided me. And I wasn’t gonna get fooled twice, so I just decided not to participate in the documentary and be able to talk about it. But I wasn’t gonna go on film and sit there and be set up, and potentially be set up again, like I was set up in The Last Dance.
Affectionately known as “Zeke” by fans, the former point guard was the driving force behind the Detroit Pistons of the ‘80s and ‘90s, who were known as “The Bad Boys.” The group (who I think are a team who could serve as the basis of a big-budget TV drama) became notorious for their rough style of play, which many considered to be dirty in some respects. Aside from the Celtics, the Pistons were also fierce rivals of the Chicago Bulls, who were led by Michael Jordan, hence Mr. Thomas’ participation in Last Dance.
One of the major sections of the Emmy-winning Bulls documentary centers around the team’s meeting with the defending champion Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Said playoff series infamously ended with the Detroit team being swept and most of the players leaving, with time left on the clock in Game, without shaking hands with their opponents. That footage paired with clips of Michael Jordan playing against the physicality-minded Pistons players elicited visceral responses in viewers. It even got to the point that Jordan fans mistakenly targeted NBA player Isaiah Thomas after watching the doc.
Believe it or not, I actually had the opportunity to speak with Jake Rogal, who served as a producer on The Last Dance (which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription. We didn’t discuss Isiah Thomas’ contempt for the way he was portrayed, though I did ask the documentarian if he’d alter anything about the 10-part series if he could. Rogal, respectfully, said he wouldn’t change anything about the doc.
Regardless of how anyone feels about Isiah Thomas and how he was portrayed in the 2020 doc, the 12-time All-Star is entitled to his opinion. He also surely had the right to choose not to be a part of the Celtics show. Nevertheless, I’d be lying if I said the production wouldn’t have been better for having an interview with Thomas.
If you haven’t already, check out both parts of Celtics City now, and dive into The Last Dance as well if you’ve yet to see it.
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