Celtics’ increasing payroll reportedly caused rift within Grousbeck family, impending sale of team
The Celtics are set to lose money over the next two seasons, according to the New York Post.
The Celtics’ decision to spend a record amount of money to keep their championship roster intact seemed to cost more than just dollars and cents.
Boston’s increasing payroll caused a rift between Celtics owners Irv and Wyc Grousbeck, leading the elder Grousbeck (H. Irving) to tell his son (Wyc) to sell the team, the New York Post‘s Josh Kosman reported Friday.
H. Irving Grousbeck, a 90-year-old Massachusetts native who is currently teaching at Stanford Business School, wasn’t willing to foot the bill for the pricey payrolls the Celtics will have in the upcoming seasons, Kosman reported. The elder Grousbeck reportedly owns roughly 20 percent of the franchise.
The Celtics have dished out two of the largest contracts in NBA history over the last two offseasons. First, Jaylen Brown signed a five-year, $285.4 million extension during the 2023 offseason, which was the largest contract in league history at the time. Jayson Tatum broke that mark in July, agreeing to a five-year, $315 million extension with the Celtics that will keep him in Boston through the 2029-30 season.
In addition to Brown and Tatum, Jrue Holiday (four years, $134.4 million), Derrick White (four years, $118 million), Kristaps Porzingis (two years, $60 million), Sam Hauser (four years, $45 million), and Payton Pritchard (four years, $30 million) have all agreed to extensions since July 2023 that will spike the Celtics’ payroll to historic numbers. They’re already projected to have $225 million committed in salary for the 2025-26 season, making their luxury tax bill an estimated $280 million due to repeater penalties, according to ESPN.
If the Celtics’ projected salary number for 2025-26 remains the same, the total roster cost for that year would roughly be $513 million, making it the most expensive in NBA history.
With those increasing numbers, the Celtics’ ownership group is bracing to lose $80 million in the 2024-25 season after barely breaking even last year, according to Kosman.
The Celtics’ increasing payroll reportedly being the impetus for the sale of the team is also different than the reasoning that the team gave in July. When it was announced that the Grousbecks would be selling their stake in the franchise, the team said it was for “estate and family planning considerations.”
Wyc Grousbeck told Kosman that is still the case, denying that the increasing payroll caused his father to tell him to put the team up for sale.
“The Grousbeck family is selling the team for estate and family planning considerations. To say the sale is in any way related to losses is completely incorrect,” Grousbeck told Kosman.
“There has not been a capital call from ownership, or any additional investment of any kind, in the 22 years since Boston Basketball Partners bought the team and we don’t anticipate there being one.”
The younger Grousbeck has served as the face of the ownership group since they bought the team for $360 million in 2003, but has a roughly three percent stake in the franchise, according to Kosman. Prior to the Celtics winning their 18th title in June, Grousbeck said on multiple occasions he’d spend whatever it took to win Banner 18.
“We’re fans who bought the team. We’re doing this for love,” Grousbeck told The Boston Globe‘s Shirley Leung in June. “We’re doing this for Celtic pride, and we’re going to put everything we can into the team to win a banner, to win a championship.”
In that same interview, the younger Grousbeck admitted that the team was losing money, but they were “unconcerned by that.” However, the elder Grousbeck seemed to be concerned with the team’s increased payroll.
“Wyc says we’ll spend whatever it takes, but dad wasn’t into losing money,” a source reportedly told Kosman.
Regardless, the Celtics will be sold at some point in the near future. There have been a handful of names speculated to be interested buyers in the team, including current co-owner Steve Pagliuca. The NBA is hoping the Celtics are sold for a valuation of at least $6 billion, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said in August. That would make it the largest sale in league history and more than $1 billion over their projected worth by Forbes ($4.7 billion).
When the Celtics announced the sale in July, they said the managing board of the ownership group “expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028.” Their plan also includes Wyc Grousbeck to remain as the team’s governor until the full closing of the sale in 2028.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com