“The controlling family of the ownership group, after careful consideration and internal discussions, has decided to sell the team for succession and family planning reasons,” the Celtics said in a statement.
Grousbeck’s tenure has yielded two championships — in 2008 and 2024 — and 16 playoff appearances in the past 17 seasons. The 63-year-old owner joined in the locker room celebrations when the Celtics capped the season with a victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals two weeks ago, and he held the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the team paraded through the streets of Boston to win the championship.
In its most recent franchise valuations, Forbes found the Celtics to be worth $4.7 billion, the fourth-most valuable franchise in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. However, Boston had a payroll of $183.7 million last season, the fourth-highest in the league, and Grousbeck told the Boston Globe in June that the franchise was “losing money” during its championship season.
“We are fans who bought the team,” Grousbeck told the newspaper. “We do this for love. We do it for Celtic pride, and we are going to put everything we can into the team to win a banner, to win a championship.”
The Celtics, given their rich history, vast market and prestige, will almost certainly fetch a record sale price exceeding the $4 billion that mortgage executive Mat Ishbia paid for the Phoenix Suns in 2023.
Given the NBA’s new salary cap rules, which include stiffer financial penalties and new restrictions on the league’s biggest spending teams, it will become increasingly expensive to keep Boston’s championship team. The Celtics are on track to return their entire starting five and all of their key reserves to defend their title in the 2024-25 season, but after that, they will likely face tough roster choices or be forced to pay what could be unprecedented luxury tax bills.
Grousbeck isn’t the only NBA owner looking to sell during the boom times of recent years. Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry sold his stake in February 2023, shortly after the franchise won the 2021 championship, its first title in 50 years. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban sold his majority stake in November, just months before the Mavericks reached the Finals for the first time in 13 years.
Under commissioner Adam Silver, the average value of NBA franchises has increased from $634 million in 2014 to $3.85 billion last year, according to Forbes.
News Source : www.washingtonpost.com
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