A father-son disagreement over team payroll spending reportedly led the Grousbeck family to put their Boston Celtics up for sale shortly after the franchise won its record-setting 18th NBA championship in June.
The New York Post reports that 90-year-old patriarch Irving Grousbeck has taken issue with his son Wyc giving out big player contracts that have pushed the team toward the league’s first $500 million payroll. After offseason moves to sign Jayson Tatum to a $314 million extension and Derrick White to a $126 million extension, the Celtics face a projected $280 million luxury tax penalty for the 2025-26 season, according to ESPN.
Wyc Grousbeck responded to the Post’s story with a statement: “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. 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 Celtics are worth an estimated $5.12 billion, which ranks fourth among all NBA teams, according to estimations from Sportico. Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca, who is also co-chairman of the private equity giant Bain Capital, has said he wants to be part of the bidding to buy team equity from the Grousbecks, who led a group that bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002.