Did the Celtics’ ownership being finalized make or break things in Boston? After a long, suspense-filled wait, Wyc Grousbeck has found the capable hands of Bill Chisholm to take on the costly responsibilities of the franchise. But hold on. This isn’t a smooth transition. Less than 24 hours in and the headlines keep piling up. There’s drama, twists and most importantly suspense. But whatever the deal is, it’s definitely not like the Mavericks’ ownership sale.
While discussing the various aspects of majority ownership of the Celtics on The Bill Simmons Podcast, guest Chris Mannix brought up a major point, dragging Mark Cuban into the conversation. “He’s (Wyc Grousbeck) going to be the governor of this team for the next three years, which I believe is going to be the case, ’cause I believe it’s going to be codified in the sale agreement. Like, this is not going to be kind of whatever handshake deal Mark Cuban had with, you know, Patrick Dumont and the Adelson family,” Mannix said.
Host Simmons was unaware that Cuban didn’t have a deal with the new majority owners of the Mavericks. So, Mannix explained, “No, he didn’t have any deal there. That’s kind of what the problem was. Like, Cuban went into the sale thinking, ‘All right, well, you know, they’re going to let me do this,’ and all of a sudden, very quickly, it was determined that he wasn’t.” The former Shark Tank investor thought he had a deal to take control of the sale, but it quickly became clear that he didn’t after he sold his majority shares in December 2023.
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The Sports Illustrated insider believed that wouldn’t be the case with Grousbeck. “I do think, even if it’s nominal, we’re gonna get Wyc Grousbeck as one of the front-facing owners of this team for the next three years,” he added. Though he suspects there could be issues with Wyc Grousbeck staying involved while stepping down, those concerns are something for the future. Amid all of this, there are whispers of growing tension in the franchise regarding the welcoming of the new ownership.
Wyc Grousbeck chooses an outsider over minority owner for the role
Yes, there was a minority owner with the financial backing and willingness to take on the majority share of the franchise. But Wyc Grousbeck allegedly wasn’t on board with it. What could have been the reason?
It was Steve Pagliuca, who lost the bid for the Celtics mainly because the Grousbeck family set a high asking price. Although Pagliuca’s group had the funds to reach $5 billion, surpassing that amount proved difficult. “What I had heard, that he had the money to get to five, which was where they were hoping it was going to be, in the fives, because that’s a realistic price for a franchise that doesn’t have an arena. The Grousbeck side wanted more,” Simmons said on the podcast.
Well, there also appears to have been a personal angle. Remember in 2022 when Pagliuca attempted to buy the Brooklyn Nets? Grousbeck had no prior knowledge of it. That was said to have affected their relationship.
Simmons further pointed out that when rumors started to spread about the Grousbeck family asking too much for the team, people within the organization were divided. “When those stories came out, it started to get dicey, and there’s a lot of people in the organization who were rooting for him (Pagliuca) to get it because he was stability,” The Ringer CEO mentioned. But not everyone believed that he would actually invest enough to keep the team competitive during the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era, according to Mannix.
With so much happening in Boston right now, all eyes are on Bill Chisholm and how he will turn things around. Something bold is surely on the horizon, but what that will be remains a suspense.
The post Unlike Mark Cuban, Wyc Grousbeck’s Role in Celtics Ownership Clarified Amid Growing Tensions Within the Organization appeared first on EssentiallySports.
