Sometimes, ownership can be detrimental to a team’s success.
Just think of recent contract negotiations mishandled by Jerry Jones on behalf of his beloved Dallas Cowboys. Of course, trading away Micah Parsons was best for your team. That makes perfect sense.
Thankfully for fans of the Boston Celtics, however, ownership doesn’t appear likely to meddle with on-court decision making anytime soon. Actually, quite the opposite.
Speaking to reporters last week ahead of the start of training camp — that’s right, the NBA plays meaningful games later this month — new Celtics owner Bill Chisholm offered words that fans of the league’s winningest franchise should find encouraging.
“Let’s do whatever we can to win championships and raise banners, and raise as many as we can,” Chisholm said while sitting alongside former lead owner Wyc Grousbeck and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. “I will do whatever it takes, whatever the Boston Celtics need me to do.”
We’ll take it!
Chisholm, who purchased the team for a record $6.1 billion earlier this year, replaces a former lead owner in Grousbeck, who also wasn’t afraid to do what was asked in the name of winning. This, they did, as Grousbeck’s Celtics won a pair of championships — 2008 and 2024 — during his 23-year tenure, and reached the playoffs in all but three of those seasons.
For his part, Grousbeck said he has no plans of leaving the franchise outright, even after his term as CEO expires in five years. Because even with the millions of dollars he made in selling his majority ownership stake — he bought the Celtics for $360 million back in 2002 — Grousbeck said he’s still hoping to get a little more out of the team.
“I’m staying in, shoulder to shoulder with Bill,” he said. “I want a third ring. And then I want a fourth ring. I’ve got two. It’s a nice start.”
Even with Chisholm saying all the right things, the Celtics still have an uphill climb this season.
First and foremost, Boston will be without five-time All-NBA selection Jayson Tatum as he recovers from surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon suffered during his team’s loss to the New York Knicks in last year’s Eastern Conference Semifinals. Tatum, at just 27 years old, has expressed his interest in returning at some point during the season, which would be a remarkable comeback to say the least.
“I don’t go to rehab six days a week for nothing,” Tatum told ESPN recently.
The Celtics will also have to fill the void left by the departures of Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and, likely, Al Horford, who all played key roles in their team’s championship run in 2024. Those departures proved necessary, though, as Boston did its part to avoid crippling penalties associated with maintaining a salary above the second apron of the league’s salary cap. For those wondering, those penalties come in the form of restrictions on acquiring free agents, not fines that can be brushed off by ownership.
What Chisholm does bring to the table is peace of mind. Management will have peace of mind to do what it deems best for the franchise. The players will have peace of mind knowing that ownership won’t let personal vendettas get in the way of success.
There’s no doubt that the likes of All-NBA guard Jaylen Brown, and fan favorites Derrick White and Payton Pritchard will have their work cut out for themselves this season — especially as fans await the return of Tatum. Unlike, though, fans of some franchises, say the Dallas Cowboys, at least we don’t have to worry about ownership getting in their own way.
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