Thoughts on Grousbeck, C’s New Owners, and Why Henry Isn’t the Answer originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Still grappling with the idea of Wyc Grousbeck – the only Boston owner who shows how much he cares through his actions and not through Apple TV vanity projects – no longer owns the Celtics. So here are some thoughts on Grousbeck’s legacy, what he would look like as a new buyer, and where the other local owners would fit into this process, if at all.
— Grousbeck is considered one of the poorest owners in professional sports, with a net worth of just $400 million, and it goes without saying that both halves of that statement are relative. Therefore, selling the team answers the basic question of how he could afford more than $300 million in looming luxury tax penalties. He can’t, so he’s moving on.
But the fact that his wealth is not obscene by professional sports standards perhaps helps explain his appeal to the common man (again, it’s relative). Among Boston’s four owners, Grousbeck stands out. He has never demanded credit by manipulating side channels like the vain Robert Kraft, is not an absentee owner like Jeremy Jacobs, and has not become an aloof, technocratic asset manager like John Henry.
He is the owner most dedicated to winning and it is a tough blow to lose him.
— We all love the idea of local ownership, and in a perfect world, Celtics partner Stephen Pagliuca would step in, increase your share of the team and become the new majority owner. Pagliuca was a finalist a few years ago for English soccer powerhouse Chelsea, which was sold for more than $5 billion. He should be every Celtics fan’s No. 1 pick.
— I strongly disagree with Darren Rovell’s assertion that Grousbeck wouldn’t sign players for hundreds of millions if he didn’t already have a buyer in mind.
Signing $430 million in contracts on the day you announce you’re selling the team means only one thing: You know who the next owner will be.
No responsible businessman would accumulate this debt without the approval of whoever would be next.
-Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 1, 2024
First of all, the franchise is more valuable with Jayson Tatum attached to it, so it’s not like the Celtics are going to let him walk – maximum contracts for superstars are the cost of doing business. Second, it’s hard to imagine that serious bidders will be put off by the creation of a championship core. In other words: anyone whose offer depended on Derrick White Extension wasn’t a real contender in the first place.
– So who gets the team? This is where we must prepare for the great unknown. When superfan Mark Cuban shockingly sold the Mavericks last year, the buyer was Miriam Adelson, widow of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. The Adelsons are longtime conservative mega-donors who wouldn’t be the obvious choice to own a franchise in our more socially conscious league where players are admonished to shut up and dribble. But here we are.
Or perhaps the C’s will go to a Saudi fund that loses any connection with the city and turns the team into an instrument of sports laundering, as is happening throughout European football. It’s only a matter of time before state-funded ownership reaches iconic US brands as well.
Our ideal owner is a unicorn—rich enough to pay $300 million in luxury taxes, civic-minded enough to treat the Celtics like a treasured local institution, normal enough to have no baggage. You don’t get that rich without baggage.
– Of the three local owners, John Henry is the only one showing an active interest in expanding his portfolio, and it’s no secret that Fenway Sports Group would like to add an NBA franchise to its holdings.
But based on recent history, no thanks. There’s nothing Henry hates more than writing luxury tax checks. He would blow up the Celtics so fast in the name of fiscal responsibility that he would be Mookie Betts squared. You can already hear management explaining how unsustainable the current lineup is. Nightmare. No.
