‘Celtics City' beyond the episode: The 70s C's and the ‘worst stain in Boston's history'

Outside of the Boston Celtics' two NBA titles, the 1970s marked a dark decade in the city's history.

The Boston desegregation busing crisis led to a series of racial protests and violent riots that received national attention. This period of unrest served as the backdrop of a new Celtics era, in which the NBA legend and civil rights advocate Bill Russell retired and was replaced as C's coach by Tommy Heinsohn.

Heinsohn took over a rebuilding team in 1969-70, but the franchise quickly returned to prominence following the acquisitions of Paul Silas, Dave Cowens, and Jo Jo White. They made six trips to the playoffs in the 1970s with championships in 1974 and 1976.

More 'Celtics City'

• Episode 1: "Founding Fathers"
• Episode 2: "No Final Victories"

The 70s Celtics and the racial tensions that existed in Boston throughout the decade were the focus of the third episode of Max's "Celtics City" docuseries, titled "All Swept Up". Michael Holley and Jackie MacMullan shared their biggest takeaways from the episode.

"We see the footage of Russell on the motorcycle, which is funny. The 6-foot-9 Russell on a motorcycle, big grin on his face, just having a good time," Holley said. "And (the Celtics) figure it out, they have to bring in Jo Jo. They draft Jo Jo, they draft Dave Cowens. Hondo (John Havlicek) is still there, and now you have this championship team in the 70s in Boston, so still Celtics tradition.

"But some of the racial elements from the 60s, of course, move forward into the 1970s."

MacMullan called Boston's desegregation busing crisis "the worst stain" in the city's history.

"I grew up at that time outside of here, and I used to watch those visions on television at night and I was scared to death," MacMullan said. "I didn't live anywhere near it, but it was just a terrifying thing to see people throwing rocks at poor little kids on a bus and the language and everything about it.

"In this episode, Don Chaney says, 'We just didn't bring politics into the locker room.' When he said that, it kind of jolted me a bit like, 'Well, good thing you didn't play with Bill Russell then.' It was a shift in philosophy. There was a PSA during busing with Dave Cowens and Satch Sanders and they're like, 'We know this is gonna be difficult, but if we work together on this...' I was so glad to see that because Satch, another unsung hero in the history of the franchise, he was in Roxbury every day. In Dorchester, serving the underserved. Good friend of Russell's, of course, but had his own long, long history of being part of the community and trying to make a difference."

After the 1976-77 season, the Celtics entered another rebuilding period. That's when head coach-turned-executive Red Auerbach worked his magic, selecting Cedric Maxwell in the 1977 draft and Larry Bird in 1978.

For more on the 1970s Celtics, check out NBC Sports Boston's exclusive footage and interviews below:

Key members of the 1974 Celtics look back at the memorable series for the NBA championship against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks.

John Havlicek was named Finals MVP, but head coach Tom Heinsohn asked the Celtics Hall of Famer to be a decoy in Game 7. Dave Cowens went on to propel Boston to its first NBA title without Red Auerbach and Bill Russell leading the way.

NBC Sports Boston presents an oral history of how Auerbach and the Celtics were able to draft Larry Bird.

Boston selected Bird with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft out of Indiana State University. This was a huge gamble for Auerbach as Bird returned to college for his senior season, then engaged in extended contract negotiations with the C's. If Boston and Bird could not come to an agreement, he would re-enter the NBA Draft.

NBC Sports Boston celebrates the life and legacy of Boston Celtics all-time leading scorer John Havlicek. Havlicek, who passed away in 2019, won eight NBA championships, was the 1974 Finals MVP, a 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA, and eight-time All-Defensive selection. Havlicek was also part of one of the most famous plays in sports history, with Johnny Most screaming "Havlicek stole the ball!"