‘Lots of Interest’ in Celtics Sale; owner plans to stay until ’28

WASHINGTON – Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, whose family is in the midst of selling its controlling stake in the franchise, said Thursday that not only does he continue to plan to run the team for the next three years, but he believes it can is repeated. as champions this season.

“It’s ongoing. There’s a lot of interest,” Grousbeck said of the sale on a conference call with reporters after a ceremony with President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the team’s record-setting 18th NBA championship. “That’s a comment, I think. I’d like to limit it to that, but I would say the plan is for me to be (in charge) for three more years. That’s what’s laid out. We’ll go from there.

“Having said that, I think I’d rather talk about this team that we have in front of us, with us right now, that has the capacity to contend again. I think we’re contenders this year, and we can be contenders in the future, and that’s what I’m most excited about.”

Grousbeck, who was making his second trip to the White House as an NBA champion, has been in charge of the Celtics since 2002.

In June, just days after Boston won the title, the Celtics’ ownership group – Boston Basketball Partners, LLC – stunned the basketball world by announcing it would sell a controlling stake in the franchise after more than two decades of stable ownership of one of the most iconic franchises in North American sports.

In that announcement, the ownership group said it expects to sell a majority stake in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028. It also said it expected Grousbeck to “remain as governor of the team until the second closing in 2028 . “

Boston is favored to repeat as NBA champions, and the Celtics enter Friday’s game here against the Wizards with a 12-3 record — second only to the Cleveland Cavaliers (16-1).

But while Grousbeck made it clear he hopes to get more opportunities to celebrate championships with this group, he admitted Thursday was a special day. The celebration outside the White House featured hundreds of celebrants with ties to Massachusetts, including Governor Maura Healey and Senator Ed Markey.

“This was a very exciting and moving day,” Grousbeck said. “We hadn’t been focused on (getting here). We got through raising the banner and opening night and then it was all business, led by (Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla).

“Joe doesn’t really want us to dwell too much on the past. He wants us to move on. But that being said, everyone here – including Joe – really seemed to be having a great time.”

That included guard Derrick White, part of a roster full of players — outside of Jrue Holiday — who hadn’t won an NBA title before doing so with the Celtics.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” White said. “I was kind of looking forward to it, and then I think going in, I was like, ‘I’m a little more excited than I thought I would be.’

“I think it was just a lot of excitement just being in the White House, and just all the decisions and things that go on in there. We were able to go into the Oval Office, which was pretty cool. So that being where all the big decisions were the coolest part.”

Among those excited to have the Celtics visit was President Biden, who began his remarks by saying that his Secret Service name is actually “Celtic.”

“I’m especially proud of this trophy,” a smiling Biden said of the team’s title.

Then, referring to Mazzulla becoming the youngest coach to win an NBA title since Bill Russell with the Celtics in the 1960s, Biden made a joke about his own turn from being one of the youngest people ever elected as an U.S. senator to be the oldest president. .

He eventually received a Celtics jersey from Jayson Tatum.

“Joe Biden was the youngest, and now he’s the oldest,” Biden said. “I liked being the youngest better.”