Boston Celtics Finalize Sale to Bill Chisholm: ‘Coming in 2nd Is Not Acceptable’

The Boston Celtics have a new owner, and there’s one thing that isn’t going to change at the NBA’s most-decorated franchise.

“Coming in second is not the objective, and it’s not acceptable,” private equity mogul Bill Chisholm said Tuesday after taking control of the team from Wyc Grousbeck. “The ultimate yardstick is winning championships. Wyc’s got two, and we’re going to get more, and he and I together are going to help drive that.”

Chisholm leads a group that bid $6.1 billion for the Celtics — a record price for an American professional sports franchise. The NBA unanimously approved the deal last week, and all that was left was for the money to change hands on Tuesday.

“We are committed to building on the legacy of the Celtics and raising banners,” Chisholm said. “And I can’t wait for the team to get back out there this fall.”

A Massachusetts native, Chisholm said his earliest Celtics memories are of the Dave Cowens, JoJo White and John Havlicek teams that won two NBA titles in the 1970s, but he really fell hard for the teams with Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale that added three more banners to the Boston Garden rafters in the ’80s.

“I became a rabid fan during the Bird, McHale, Parish era. That was my team,” Chisholm said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly after the deal was finalized. “How can you be a teenager in Massachusetts, or New England, with that group and not end up being a lifelong Celtics fan?”

The team was put on the market last summer, soon after Tatum and Brown vanquished the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals. Chisholm won the bidding in March and leads a group that now has majority ownership control of the team, with full control coming by 2028 at a price that could bring the total value to $7.3 billion.

That’s the highest price ever paid for a team in the four major North American sports, though a piece of the Los Angeles Lakers changed hands this summer at a price that would value the entire franchise at $10 billion.

Other investors include Aditya Mittal, Bruce Beal, Andrew Bialecki, Dom Ferrante, Rob Hale, Mario Ho and Ian Loring. Sixth Street is also a “major participant” in the investment group, the team said in a news release.

Grousbeck and co-owner Steve Pagliuca led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million and presided over an era in which the Celtics won two NBA titles, lost in the finals two other times and made the playoffs in 20 of 23 seasons. The team’s most recent title came in 2024, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Team president Rich Gotham, general manager Brad Stevens and coach Joe Mazzulla are all expected to remain in their positions. Chisholm will represent the team in league matters as governor, with Grousbeck staying on as co-owner, CEO and alternate governor to run the day-to-day operations alongside Chisholm.

“We’ve got a really solid core to the roster. We’ve got, I think, the best basketball people that there are. And we’ve got a really talented business operations team,” Chisholm said. “And then we’ve got a leader like Wyc. I mean, why would you go make major changes to that?

“I think there are things we can always improve on,” he said. “But that is a really, really good place to start.”

Grousbeck said he can already tell that Chisholm understands the significance of owning one of the NBA’s charter franchises, with its unmatched 18 championships and a history of Hall of Famers from Red Auerbach, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

“It’s an unbelievable responsibility, and an unbelievable thrill,” Grousbeck said. “But it’s a huge challenge because the greats built it. And we’re just here trying to maintain the legacy, which is a great honor.”

Chisholm takes over the team in a bit of a transition just two seasons after its latest title.

Tatum is recovering from surgery to repair the ruptured right Achilles tendon injury he suffered in Boston’s Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the New York Knicks, dooming the Celtics’ hopes of a repeat. Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis — key parts of the title-winning team — were traded to avoid the NBA’s punitive second apron payroll tax. Another key player, Al Horford – who came off of the bench or subbed in for the oft-injured Porzingis the past two years – remains a free agent.

Grousbeck said the days of outspending opponents to win championships are over.

“We had our two years at supermax, 100 mph, and now you take a year to reset a little bit, which every team will be doing,” Grousbeck said. “And we’ll be back. We’re coming back as hard as we can.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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