Many in the NBA community were a little shocked to learn the Celtics were being put up for sale just weeks after winning the NBA championship and a family rift has now been revealed as the reason why.
The Celtics are owned by the Boston Basketball Partners, a group of investors where Wyc Grousbeck is the face and team Governor, but he personally owns around three percent of the team, according to The New York Post.
Wyc’s 90-year-old father, Irving Grousbeck, owns a controlling 20 percent stake in the team.
Yes the Celtics won the championship, but to do it, they had to have one of the NBA’s highest paid rosters.
That same roster is projected to cost around $500 million for the 2025-26 season and Irving is not happy about it.
“Irving Grousbeck… balked at funding big losses on the horizon from the massive contracts that helped the Celtics capture a record 18th NBA championship in June, multiple sources told The Post,” the outlet said.
“The team barely broke even last season during its championship run, sources said. It is expected to lose roughly $80 million because of luxury tax fines for being over the salary cap for the upcoming season that tips off next month, a source close to the sale process said.
“That figure likely will rise significantly in the 2025-26 season when harsher salary cap fines kick in.”
Another of The Post’s source said, “Wyc says we’ll spend whatever it takes, but dad wasn’t into losing money”.
The Celtics total for payroll and taxes in 2024-25 is projected to be around $262 million – the fourth highest in the league.
Wyc Grousbeck maintains that the sale is for “estate planning” purposes only.
“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,” he insisted.
