WASHINGTON, DC — Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, whose family is in the midst of selling its controlling stake in the franchise, said Thursday that he not only plans to continue running the team for the next three years, but he believe they could repeat as champions this season.
“It’s on the way. There’s a lot of interest,” Grousbeck said of the sale in a conference call with reporters Thursday after a ceremony with President Joe Biden on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the team’s record 18th NBA championship. “That’s one comment, I guess. I’d like to limit it to that, but I would say the plan is that I’m going to stay. [in charge] for three more years. This is what is arranged. We will 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 ability 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 made his second trip to the White House as an NBA champion, has been in charge of the Celtics since 2002.
Back in June, days after Boston won the title, the Celtics’ ownership group – Boston Basketball Partners, LLC – stunned the basketball world by announcing it would sell its controlling stake in the franchise after more than two decades of steady ownership of one of the most iconic franchises in North American sports.
In that announcement, the ownership group said it expected 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 the team’s Governor 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 have more opportunities to celebrate championships with this group in the future, he admitted Thursday was a special day. The celebration outside the White House featured hundreds of revelers with ties to Massachusetts, including Governor Maura Healey and Senator Ed Markey.
“This was a very exciting and moving day,” Grousbeck said. “We weren’t focused on [coming here]. We went through raising the banner, and opening night, and then it was all a matter, led by [Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla].
“Joe doesn’t really want us to dwell too much on the past. He wants us to move forward. But, having said that, 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 had no experience winning 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 there was just a lot of excitement just being in the White House, and just all the decisions and things that go on there. We got to go into the Oval Office, which was pretty cool. So to be where everybody. the big decisions are the best 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 particularly 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 joked about his own turn from being one of the youngest people ever elected as a U.S. senator to being the oldest president. ever
He later received Jayson Tatum’s Celtics jersey.
“Joe Biden was the youngest, and now he’s the oldest,” Biden said. “I liked being the youngest more.”
