Celtics City: A Must-Watch for Boston Celtics Fans

Celtics City key art. Courtesy of HBO.

Celtics City is a nostalgic trip into Boston Celtics past and present, spread out over the course of nine 60-minute basketball-filled episodes.

This is the NBA documentary series that I’ve been waiting for. After all, I adopted the Boston Celtics as my team when Coach Rick Pitino departed Lexington for Boston in 1997 and they’ve been my team ever since. Pitino’s years in Boston weren’t the best but they gave the Cs players such as Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce. It took the lows of the Pitino years to eventually get to highs of the Doc Rivers years and a new Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. Along with them and a young Rajon Rondo, the Celtics returned to glory, winning NBA championship #17 in 2008.

Celtics City goes all the way back to the team’s founding as one of the original eight teams in 1946. Red Auerbach later came aboard in 1950 and the team soon came to dominance following Bill Russell being acquired in a 1956 trade. The center soon became the team’s centerpiece, winning 11 NBA championships during a 13-year career. Eight consecutive championships came during a stretch that lasted 1959-1966 thanks to a roster that included Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, Don Nelson, K. C. Jones, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders, and Bill Sharman.

Celtics City shows how the dominance of the 1960s continued into the 1970s. The team won five division titles and another pair of championships in 1974 and 1976. By this point, Heinsohn was coaching the team. However, Satch Sanders and Dave Cowens would take over coaching duties by the end of the 1970s. In any event, Dave Cowens, Havlicek, and Jo Jo White were the team leaders of the decade.

As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, the Hick from French Lick entered the picture. Larry Bird teamed up with Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish in the Celtics frontcourt to form The Big Three, winning championships in 1981 under Bill Fitch and both 1984 and 1986 under K.C. Jones. It wasn’t just that the team was winning again and contending every year. This was a squad that played in 5 NBA Finals during the 1980s, matching up with the Los Angeles Lakers three times.

Celtics City wouldn’t be doing its job if it didn’t focus on the tragedies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bird, McHale, and Parish battled injuries as they played into the early 1990s. Success in the 1990s, unfortunately, just wasn’t meant to be. The tragedy started with the death of Len Bias days after being drafted in 1986. The next year, the Celtics drafted Reggie Lewis. Lewis broke out as a player with the Cs but, again, tragedy would strike. He was only 27 years old at the time of his 1993 death.

Rick Pitino in Celtics City. Courtesy of HBO.

Following a dismal performance from the team, then-Celtics coach Rick Pitino absolutely went off during his March 1, 2000 press conference and Celtics City shows a good chunk of it:

“Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hardworking, and we’re going to improve. People don’t realize that, and as soon as they realize those three guys are not coming through that door, the better this town will be for all of us because there are young guys in that room playing their asses off.”

After blaming everyone but himself, Coach Pitino had time to reflect all these years later during an interview for Celtics City:

“I still think that I was a pretty good coach, but I wasn’t a good president because I don’t think you can do both jobs. I don’t believe in making–if I ever had to do it all over again, I would have never stepped into that role. You don’t have the talent, it doesn’t work. We did not have the talent that they had when they had Bird, McHale, and Parish. The NBA’s all about talent, all about talent.”

Just before the 2000-01 season, Paul Pierce was attacked and stabbed at a Boston nightclub. After what happened with Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, Boston fans had every reason to think that the worst was going to happen. Thankfully, Pierce pulled through and became one of the greatest players in club history. Enter KG and Ray in 2007 and the Celtics were destined to return to the promised land. If that weren’t enough, Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo had himself a breakout year during the 2009-10 season. Then-Celtics coach Doc Rivers described him as “the smartest player” in his entire coaching career.

When we reach the point in Celtics City where Bill Russell died, it can be rather emotional. One can especially feel it while listening to Karen Kenyatta Russell discussing her father. There are so many greats who have put on the Boston Celtics uniform and so many of them played their entire career for the Celtics. Bill Russell was one of them. Boston wasn’t always his best friend but he is the greatest Celtics player of all time. No doubt about it.

Through it all, Celtics City shows not just the history of the team but the role it plays for the city. Bill Russell’s time in Boston has been very well documented. After experiencing racism while playing for Boston, it took until the late 1990s for Russell to make up with the fans. Maybe it’s just me but the ceremony is one of the most emotional moments in the entire series. What was new to me was seeing archival footage of Russell and KG in conversation.

While there are plenty of interviews with past and present players in Celtics City, a number of journalists and fans chime into the conversation, painting a full picture of what the Boston Celtics represent to the city, pride, resilience and all. The Simmons family–Bill Simmons is an executive producer of Celtics City–contributes their own personal stories, too. Oh yeah, there’s a good chunk of footage that has never been seen before, too. I’m here for it all!

We’re over a decade removed from the Big Three of Pierce, KG, and Ray. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown–The Jays–make up current leaders of today’s Celtics. It took a few years to get things going but they really gelled together to make it back to the NBA Finals in 2022. They played a pivotal part in winning the club’s 18th championship in 2024. You couldn’t have written a better ending for the nine-episode Celtics City!

Not only do Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish walk through the door in Celtics City, but other Boston Celtics legends–including Red Auerbach and Bill Russell–join them in this deep dive into club history and what the team means to Boston. Boston Celtics fans will obviously appreciate Celtics City the most but it’s going to go down in history as one of the best basketball documentary series ever made.

DIRECTOR: Lauren Stowell
SHOWRUNNER/CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Gabe Honig
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bill Simmons, Connor Schell, Aaron Cohen, Libby Geist, Wyc Grousbeck, Rich Gotham, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Bentley Weiner
PRODUCERS: Sascha Gardner, Christina Lenis
CONSULTING PRODUCER: Jackie MacMullan
SUPERVISING PRODUCER: Abtin Motia
FEATURING: Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Danny Ainge, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Wayne Embry, Pat Riley, Don Nelson, Don Chaney, Spencer Haywood, Charlie Scott, Bill Walton, Cedric Maxwell, M.L. Carr, Kevin McHale, Quinn Buckner, Paul Pierce, Rick Carlisle, Dee Brown, Brian Shaw, Xavier McDaniel, Antoine Walker, Doc Rivers, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, James Worthy, Joe Mazzulla, Brad Stevens, Rick Pitino, Jan Volk, Chris Wallace, Wyc Grousbeck, Rich Gotham, Steve Pagliuca, Jeff Twiss, Jeanie Buss, Nancy Auerbach Collins, Randy Auerbach, Karen Kenyatta Russell, Lonise Bias, Bob Ryan, Jackie MacMullan, Dan Shaughnessy, Howard Bryant, Michael Holley, Lawrence O’Donnell, Chuck Klosterman, Bill Plaschke, Bill Simmons, Dr. Bill Simmons, Ted Landsmark, Donnie Wahlberg, Bel Biv DeVoe