A nine-episode dose of Celtics nostalgia is set to hit HBO next month.
The premium cable network on Wednesday revealed the release date and first full-length trailer for “Celtics City,” a docuseries from HBO Sports that chronicles the history of Boston’s iconic NBA franchise.
The first episode, titled “Founding Fathers,” will premiere Monday, March 3 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and its Max streaming service. New episodes will be released weekly, with the finale set to drop on April 28, during the opening round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.
Executive produced by “30 for 30” co-creators Bill Simmons and Connor Schell, the series features “never-before-seen archival footage and over 80 interviews with past and present Boston Celtics legends” and opponents.
Among them, according to a press release: 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, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Glen Davis, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and James Worthy. Celtics head coaches Joe Mazzulla, Brad Stevens, Doc Rivers and Rick Pitino also appear, as do former general managers Jan Volk and Chris Wallace and current ownership partners Wyc Grousbeck, Rich Gotham and Steve Pagliuca.
Grousbeck and Gotham are credited as executive producers on the project.
Here is the official synopsis for Episode 1:
“As the Boston Celtics celebrate their record 18th NBA title, the franchise’s origins are traced back to the arrival of Red Auerbach in 1950, and his uncompromising vision for success. Auerbach makes history by drafting Chuck Cooper, the NBA’s first Black player, and builds a powerhouse led by Bob Cousy and Bill Russell. When Cousy retires in 1963, the team has six championships, but racial tensions in Boston and beyond augur a tumultuous era ahead.”
Subsequent episodes center around Russell’s civil rights activism and tenure as Celtics player-coach; Bird’s arrival in Boston and ensuing rivalry with Magic Johnson’s Lakers; the tragic deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis; Pierce’s 2000 stabbing and the lean Pitino years; Ainge’s formation of the Pierce-Garnett-Allen Big Three and the ending of a 22-year title drought; and the long road Tatum and Brown took to last year’s championship.