The Boston Celtics' ballooning payroll has caused a rift within the family that owns the team, leading the elderly patriarch to ask his spendthrift son to sell the iconic franchise, The Washington Post has learned.
Sources told The Post that Irving Grusbeck, a 90-year-old Massachusetts-born entrepreneur who owns about 20 percent of the team, was reluctant to back the team with financial backing for what is looming as a big loss on the mega-money contract that helped the Celtics win a record 18th NBA championship in June.
To win that title, his son, Wyck Grusbeck, 63, has assembled the league's most expensive roster, which is expected to cost about $500 million for the 2025-26 season thanks to big contracts signed this summer to secure star players.
Wyck Grousbeck owns about 3% of the shares but is the nominal owner. announced the surprise decision He was planning on selling his beloved hometown team right after hoisting the NBA trophy.
“This is what happens when the father puts in most of the money,” one source said.
According to sources, the team barely broke even in the race for the championship last season.
The team is expected to lose about $80 million in luxury tax penalties for exceeding the salary cap for the new season that starts next month, according to people close to the sale process.
That figure is likely to increase significantly in 2025-26, when tougher salary cap penalties are introduced.
The 11 players under contract, including star Jayson Tatum, who signed the richest contract in NBA history this summer, and Jrue Holiday, who also signed a new deal, are due $225 million, and the team will be hit with a luxury tax penalty of $280 million. According to ESPN:.
“Wick said he would spend whatever he had to, but his dad was never short of money,” another source said.
When they made the shock announcement, the Grusbecks claimed they were selling the team for “estate planning purposes.”
Wyck Grusbeck told The Washington Post on Friday that he reiterated that statement on behalf of the family.
“The Gresbeck family is selling the team for financial and family planning reasons. It is completely false to say the sale has any connection to the losses,” he argued.
“In the 22 years since Boston Basketball Partners acquired the team, there has been no capital request or additional investment of any kind from the owners and no plans for any in the future.”
Irving Groesbeck did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
The hallowed franchise of Red Auerbach, Bill Russell and Larry Bird was sold in 2003 for $360 million to a group led by Irving Grusbeck, a Harvard Business School graduate and Stanford University lecturer.
But part of the company's current financial woes is that it doesn't own TD Garden, the Celtics' home stadium, and so doesn't get revenue from concerts and other events that could help make up for losses, the people said.
The expected losses and the lack of an arena in the deal could discourage potential buyers from paying the $6 billion price the NBA is asking for the team as it seeks to set a high bar for any expansion franchise in Las Vegas.
“This will be very interesting because the economics are not there yet,” one of the people said.
“It's going to be hard for the Celts to get $6 billion,” another source said. “It should be more like $5 billion.”
The Dallas Mavericks, who lost to Boston in the NBA Finals, were sold last year for $3.5 billion.
That falls short of the current record of $4 billion that Matt Ishbia paid to acquire the Phoenix Suns in 2022.
Earlier this week, former Milwaukee Bucks great Junior Bridgeman reportedly bought a 10% stake. He bought out his former team at a valuation of $4 billion.
The proposed plan to sell the Celtics is a compromise between father and son, with a 51% stake being transferred in the coming months and the remaining stake being transferred in 2028.
Wyc Grousbeck will remain the controlling shareholder until the sale is completed.
The two banks, JPMorgan and BDT & MSD Partners, have not yet distributed sales books, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Post exclusively reported that Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group is interested.
So does Steven Pagliuca, co-chairman of private equity firm Bain Capital, which owns more than 20 percent of the team, according to sources.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is not a fan of a staged sale, but has indicated he is willing to make an exception for this auction.
“We said [to the Celtics] “If you present to us what you're considering, we'll look at it on an individual basis. I think every situation is different,” Silver said Tuesday.
