Celtics
The series will be available to stream on Wednesday.
As the Celtics continue preparations for their first NBA title defense since 2008, fans will have a chance to relive the 2023-24 season through the eyes of Jayson Tatum, one of the stars of Netflix’s “Starting 5″ documentary being released Wednesday.
The 10-part series follows five of the biggest stars in the NBA — Tatum, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis — throughout last season, which ended with the Celtics winning their record 18th championship.
Co-executive producer Sami Khan, who spent last season following Tatum, said the series revealed plenty about him on and off the court.
“He’s one of the most generous people that you’ll ever meet in your whole life,” Khan said. “I think it says a lot that, you know, Bred Hampton, Nick Sang, Amile Jefferson are kind of legends in Boston and Celtics fandom. And that’s because of Jayson, because he wants to lift people up. So that generosity really shines through.
“And I think it sort of comes through the camera too, where he’s giving us the access. Realize, he doesn’t do this hardly ever; this is the first time opening up these parts of his life. So the generosity extends to the viewer.”
Few Boston athletes in recent years have been under the microscope quite like Tatum, whose superstar bona fides and ability to lead a team to a championship were questioned time and again amid his ascension to first-team All-NBA status. Interviews with Tatum dive into that media spotlight, which hasn’t really dissipated.
“The thing that he’s underrated for is just his strength,” Khan said. “His physical strength, which obviously has ramped up after the Finals loss in 2022, but then also his mental strength, all the things he’s overcome in his life, and for whatever reason, I don’t think he gets the credit for that.
“Through the interview, how he talks about navigating the crucible, I guess, that is Boston sports media, and how he’s been able to navigate that from being a teenager to now at 26 years old … seeing that through Jayson’s eyes was illuminating.”
Piecing together this sort of documentary is always a challenge, as filmmakers have no control over how events will play out on the court. But according to Khan, the results were secondary to the subject.
“What you’re trying to do is tell the story of these characters at this time in their lives, and in a lot of ways, the wins and losses aren’t important,” Khan explained. “Joe Mazzulla will disagree, Brad Stevens will disagree, Jayson Tatum will disagree.
“But for us . . . I think our challenge, our job, is how do we tell the complete story of Jayson Tatum? Regardless of whether they win it all, and he lifts Deuce up as the confetti is dropping, or, you know, Kyrie goes into God mode in Boston for the first time and it’s a heartbreaking loss.
“So, trying to separate the wins and losses from the story we’re telling itself. And I think the other thing, too, that we were cognizant of is the fact that Jayson Tatum has a full-time job that isn’t being in a Netflix doc series, so to be as minimally invasive as possible and sort of fit into his life and truly be flies on the wall.”
The producers settled on five players who offered a variety of personalities and career arcs. James is one of the game’s all-time greats in the twilight of his career. Tatum and Edwards are ascending superstars with opposite personalities. Butler is a one-of-one presence on and off the court, and Sabonis is one of the NBA’s underrated stars who has found the right home in Sacramento.
Despite all their differences, there was one through-line.
“What we noticed as the players were getting firmed up and we’re starting to back up the story is that each guy, in their own way, was dealing with a father-son relationship,” Khan said. “With LeBron, it’s with Bronny, what happened at USC, and then what was going to happen in the draft. It’s Jayson and Deuce, it’s Jayson’s relationship with his own father, Justin. It’s Jimmy’s relationship with his father. And then Sabonis, you know, his relationship with his pops, Arvydas.
“We’d like to take credit for that part of it — good casting — but it was just good timing, where these guys were all dealing with these father-son issues, and they were sort of coming to a head over the course of the 2023-24 season.”
Celtics fans, however, will have their focus largely on Tatum, about whom they’ll learn plenty.
“He’s a really funny guy,” Khan said. “That lighter side of Jayson, I think people are going to get a kick out of seeing that, just him sort of cutting loose. Seeing him with Bred Hampton, Nick Sang, Amile Jefferson, that’s part of why those guys are around too. They keep Jayson loose. They make him laugh.
“And, you know, it’s not just basketball, basketball, basketball, but even on the basketball court and practice court, it’s like, ‘Let’s have fun. Let’s do this in a way that’s going to keep us motivated for the next time.’
“So I’m looking forward to Celtics fans seeing that lighter side of Jayson.”
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