New York Post Report Claims Celtics Sale Driven by Family Dispute

Bobby Krivitsky | Sep 14, 2024

Jun 17, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck celebrates with the Larry O’Brien Trophy after the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in game five of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The Celtics currently have $203.1 million invested in total salary cap allocations and are $7.6 million over the second apron for the 2024-25 campaign.

Beyond crossing that threshold for a second straight season, at the moment, Boston is on the hook for nearly $445 million in salaries and tax penalties for 2025-26. That figure will likely exceed half a billion.

The reigning NBA champions already have over $200 million on their books for nine players for 2026-27.

According to Josh Kosman of the New York Post, the Celtics' spending is at the root of why the franchise went up for sale this summer.

"The Boston Celtics' ballooning payroll allegedly sparked a rift within the family that owns the team – leading the aging patriarch to demand his free-spending son sell the iconic franchise," reports Kosman, who later notes that Irving Grousbeck owns a controlling approximately 20 percent stake in the 18-time NBA title winners.

However, Wyc Grousbeck told The Post, "The Grousbeck family is selling the team for estate and family planning considerations. To say the sale is in any way related to losses is completely incorrect."

He added, "There has not been a capital call from ownership, or any additional investment of any kind, in the 22 years since Boston Basketball Partners bought the team, and we don't anticipate there being one."

Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., the Celtics' primary shareholder, intends to sell a majority interest in the franchise in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028. They also expect Wyc Grousbeck to remain on board as the Governor of the Celtics until the second closing in 2028.

Since then, conflicting reports have swirled about the interest of potential bidders Jeff Bezos and Fenway Sports Group.

The Post adds that sources tell them the franchise barely broke even last season and is expected to lose about $80 million because of luxury tax fines for being over the cap for the 2024-25 campaign.

That has a lot to do with the Celtics not owning the arena they play in. Charlie Jacobs, the CEO of Delaware North, of which TD Garden is a subsidiary and Boston's NBA team is a tenant, shared during the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon that the C's recently signed a lease to remain in their current home venue for "another 12 years or so."

The Celtics not owning their home stadium is also at the root of why one source told The Post it's more likely the franchise goes for about $5 billion rather than the organization and NBA's hope of a $6 billion sale.

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