As the Boston Celtics gear up to face the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night, the biggest piece of news surrounding the team isn’t the return of Jayson Tatum but of the team’s historic sale.
The Celtics are currently in the process of selling the team’s ownership to William Chisholm for a historic $6.1 billion, a record in North American sports.
Read also:
- 3 Americans in Belize died from carbon monoxide in hotel room, officials say
- Close call reported between Delta flight and Air Force jet near Reagan National
- Tiger Woods back in headlines as ex-mistress makes bold move after his romance with Vanessa Trump goes public
- Spanish court overturns Dani Alves’ rape conviction on appeal
- Burkina Faso: 3 journalists arrested, HRW denounces media repression
In an interview with Jay King of The Athletic, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens spoke about the team’s ownership transition.
BREAKING: Bill Chisholm, the co-founder of private equity firm STG Partners, is buying the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion – the largest sale for a sports franchise in North American history. pic.twitter.com/eUKgXFTBVe
“I never really gave my two cents (throughout the sale process) because that’s not my role,” Stevens said. “It’s their right and everything else to sell the team and make the decision they made. My only thing is just asking to be kept in the loop on everything I need to know from the standpoint of making decisions here and now and moving forward.”
The biggest question mark for the Celtics is just how much this ownership transition will impact the team. Will the sale impact the team as much as the Dallas Mavericks’ sale? Stevens doesn’t believe so.
“But really, every indication is it’s pretty much business as usual, so I’m excited about that,” Stevens said. “But again, you spend a lot of money on these things, so you have every right to come in and put your stamp on it however you want, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”
The number one fear for Celtics fans is whether or not the ownership group will gut the team. Will they trade away Jayson Tatum or other star players in a brash move? Stevens believes that the new group knows that the team has a good thing going.
“When you buy a team and when you are invested like that, then he’s gonna bring great ideas,” Stevens said. “We’ll operate and execute plans that ultimately he wants to. I’ve been really impressed with how committed he seems to be to learning more about how we’ve done things, both the business side and the basketball side. And also the idea that I think he recognizes that we’ve got a good thing going.”
It remains to be seen if the Celtics’ sale will even be rescinded by the league, but the more important thing is that the Celtics remain undistracted as they get ready for the NBA playoffs.
In Face of Adversity, Spurs Turn to Hardwood ‘Sanctuary’
Sandro Mamukelashvili Reminds Spurs What Winning Feels Like
Harrison Barnes’ Veteran Impact Goes Beyond Basketball
