Category: Politics and activism

Celtics Lab 145: Honoring Bill Russell’s legacy and talking Boston basketball with Rep. Ayanna Pressley

This one covers everything from Russell’s impact in Boston and beyond to ranked-choice voting and the strengths of clam chowder vs. Chicago hotdogs as arena food.

The Boston Celtics became the cornerstone franchise of the NBA because of Hall of Fame big man Bill Russell, but the iconic center’s legacy cast a shadow not only over the history of the league itself, but American culture more broadly as a central figure of the U.S. Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Like many of us, Rep. Ayanna Pressley is a fan of Russell’s for both basketball and social justice reasons, as well as being no small part of several efforts to give the legendary figure his flowers in the form of his statue in the city of Boston and a resolution honoring his legacy of works extending far beyond the basketball court.

Rep. Pressley joined us on the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast for our most recent episode to talk about Russell’s impact on the Celtics, the city of Boston, and our society writ large.

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She joins your usual hosts Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn to chop it up about last season’s finals run, this season’s team, and they even debate the relative strengths of clam chowder vs. Chicago hot dogs as arena food.

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Make sure you don’t miss this episode of the Lab or miscast our representative of Massachusetts seventh district as a Bulls fan — either would be a very big unforced error indeed.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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Celtics host roundtable, exhibition game with formerly incarcerated people

Turns out those rumors of Boston playing a game in prison were off — but not by that much, and for a good cause.

There was a rumor floating around the Boston Celtics that the team was going to conduct a game with prisoners that seemed just plausible enough to have us at the Celtics Wire reach out for confirmation.

While we did not hear anything back from the Celtics or other rumored parties, it turns out to have been true, at least for the most part.

While the initial reports turned out to be off on several points, Boston did hold an event on Thursday that hosted what the team called “a transformational experience featuring an intimate roundtable discussion about hope and redemption with formerly incarcerated individuals, followed by a game coached by the 2022-23 roster featuring roundtable participants and our coaches.”

With Represent Justice, PLUS ONE, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), and Transformational Prison Project, Boston held the event to get the team familiar with what some in their community go through and to advocate for the “Raise The Age” bill currently in process with the state legislature.

“This reminds me of (Celtics great Bill Russell) and how active he was in the community,” related Grant Williams via the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. “It makes you feel more comfortable … and more willing to be involved.

“I feel like it shines light on things players don’t necessarily get to see every day unless they’re directly affected. It’s something that strikes me immediately and it’s something that I want to be involved with.”

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

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