Celtics City 2025 Tv Series Review Trailer

 The talents and accomplishments of the current Celtics make inevitable comparisons to their legendary forebears on the Garden hardwood. The past is ever-present with the Celtics. Those 18 championship pennants flying in the rafters of TD Garden provide heights worthy of constant aspiration. But their shadow can be long.

The talents and accomplishments of the current Celtics — who, of course, clinched that 18th pennant last June — make inevitable comparisons to their legendary forebears on the Garden hardwood.

Those comparisons aren’t always easy to handle. When Jayson Tatum recently cited Larry Bird as the greatest Celtic — a title Tatum said he aspires to snatch — a common local response was, “Why didn’t he say Bill Russell?”

The same goes for arguably the greatest dynasty in American professional sports. A magnificent current Celtic can mention his admiration for a legendary Celtic and sports icon, and we wonder if he is the right legendary Celtic and sports icon.

I mention this in the opening announcement for this reason: One of the many, many things that HBO’s extraordinary new nine-part documentary series, titled “Celtics City,” manages to get right is the through-lines that run from one era of the franchise to another, and from one special player to another.

“Celtics City,” directed by Lauren Stowell, is told chronologically, with a new episode available to stream on Max every Monday beginning March 3. (Bill Simmons is executive producer, and this is clearly a project he always intended to do.)

Yet the threads and juxtapositions and through-lines of Celtics history are deftly woven throughout each hourlong edition. Some are simple and charming — Tatum’s appreciation for fellow St. Louisan Jo Jo White, and the contrasts of Dee Brown and Jaylen Brown in the dunk contest more than 30 years apart, and the comical difference between their former practice spot at Hellenic College and their Brighton facility now.

And some are truly profound — particularly Bill Russell’s path as a social justice advocate, which Jaylen Brown now follows. “As I learned what the Celtics tradition is, there were a lot of misconceptions about what they stood for,” Brown says. “This organization has been a pioneer of the social justice movement in society … It’s part of the fabric of the [Celtics].”

“Celtics City” tells the story of each era while also seamlessly weaving them together. And it does much more than that. Nothing Stowell, Simmons and fellow co-producer Connor Schell (who co-created ESPN’s “30 for 30” film series with Simmons) have done here is shallow. And this is no infomercial, not even with the Celtics as partners on the project.

The stories of frequent triumphs, rivalries spanning generations and painful tragedies are told in full. But the docuseries’ title confirms an even larger ambition. “Celtics City” explores, sparing no effort when necessary, the Celtics’ place in the Boston landscape, its neighborhoods, racial tensions across generations and the cruelties and indignities suffered by its black players.

Stowell’s lens focuses on a story bigger than basketball, while never dismissing basketball.

More than 80 people were interviewed for the documentary, and archival footage is selectively used for those who have passed away, including Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, John Havlicek and rival Wilt Chamberlain. The game footage from Russell and Bob Cousy’s early years is sharper than anything I’ve seen from that era. It makes you appreciate how extraordinary they were.

Cousy, now 96, is interviewed at his home in Worcester, and might be the MVP of the entire documentary series. Cooz is sharp, funny, candid and a little nostalgic, and doesn’t sound much different than he did when he broadcast Celtics games a generation or two ago.

“Every sports team comes together,” he says of being a Celtic, “but not every team has this.”

If Cousy is not, to use a hockey term, the documentary’s first star, it is only because Robert Parish has put aside his legendary stoicism and become downright engaging.

“I’m an aloof person,” he explains. “I don’t let people get to know me personally, so people don’t get to know me as a person.”

He is anything but aloof when he is driving to an event, recalling how much he loved Newbury Street during his playing days and its outdoor cafes that “remind me of Europe.” Chatty Chief is something to admire.

I never know how much to reveal when writing about something that hasn’t aired yet, so I’ll hit a few key points here without giving everything away.

Watch Celtics City 2025 Tv Series Trailer