The Celtics are onto a new era after Thursday’s big news that William Chisholm has agreed to buy the team. A longtime fan of the Celtics who grew up in the area, the deal was announced Thursday as the largest in North American professional sports.
That means changes are going to happen, though it’s unclear what the future will look like. Third-year Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla addressed the sale for the first time in an appearance Friday on 98.5’s Zolak and Bertrand, talking about his conversations with Chisholm and more.
“Just spoke to him yesterday briefly,” Mazzulla said. “But it was a good conversation. I think it’s twofold. I think you’re grateful for what our ownership has done up until this point and it kind of goes back to what we’ve always talked about is the Celtics have always been in great hands. People who have either coached, played, owned it, been a part of it have left it in a different better place.
“I think Wyc (Grousbeck) and (Steve Pagliuca) have done that, and now we transition kind of into Bill and his group and Wyc will still be in there. But it’s great that we have someone that is from the area and has a passion and commitment to just keep pushing the Celtics forward, just trying to be the best that it could be. He shares that and looking forward to kind of building our relationship with him.”
The Grousbeck family announced last July that the team was up for sale, just weeks after winning the 2024 NBA title. The bidding process continued throughout the season as it was narrowed down to four bidders, which included Chisholm and current co-owner Pagliuca. The Grousbeck family elected to go with Chisholm’s bid and ownership group.
Chisholm is a co-founder of Symphony Technology Group, a private equity fund in California. The new ownership group also includes current minority owner Robert Hale, president of Related Companies, Bruce Beal Jr. and a global investment firm in Sixth Street.
Now, there are plenty of questions for the Celtics going forward. Their salary sheet only continues to climb as luxury tax penalties will increase. A new arena is also a major question in Boston as the Celtics don’t own TD Garden; Grousbeck recently hinted Friday at any future plans going forward.
There are plenty of moving parts at this point, but it was also clear Pagliuca was disappointed his bid was not selected. He released a pointed statement after the news Thursday, which included “luxury taxes be damned.” Mazzulla also addressed his relationship with Paliuca after the co-owner lost out on the sale.
“I shot him a text a little bit as we were traveling,” Mazzulla said. “Like I said, it’s twofold. You have people who have put their hearts and souls into growing the organization and team. So that can be difficult. For me, personally, I couldn’t imagine what life would be like not being able to work for the Celtics.
“So I understand that and you have your gratitude towards that. At the same time, we have an opportunity to continue to push and move forward with the organization, and that’s what we gotta do.”
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