Celtics Owner Wyc Grousbeck Plans to Sell the Franchise by 2028

The Boston Celtics’ current primary ownership group is cashing in.

After winning their record-breaking 18th league championship this past season and reportedly signing their All-Defensive Team backcourt of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday to lucrative contract extension agreements, the current owners of the franchise have released a press statement declaring their intention to sell the team, reports Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.

“Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, announced today its intention to sell all the shares of the team. The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations,” the statement read in part.

“The managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028, and expects Wyc Grousbeck to remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028,” the statement concluded.

The 63-year-old Grousbeck’s Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. first bought the legendary club in 2002 for $360 million. Per Sportico, the team is currently valued at $5.12 billion, making it the fourth-most valuable NBA franchise behind only the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. But it has won more than all of those franchises.

During Grousbeck’s tenure as team owner, Boston has appeared in four NBA Finals, in 2008, 2010, 2022, and 2024, winning in 2008 and 2024.

With a starry top six featuring Lively, Holiday, All-Star forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, brittle starting center Kristaps Porzingis, and five-time All-Star-turned-reserve big man Al Horford, second-year head coach Joe Mazzulla employed a stellar five-out offense and a switchy defense to his advantage. Boston expounded on a league-best 64-18 record with a dominant 16-3 run through the playoffs this spring. The exclamation point of that trajectory was a five-game Finals trouncing of the Dallas Mavericks.

With a probable super-max extension looming for five-time All-Star Tatum, Bobby Marks of ESPN notes that the Celtics are expected to be the priciest club in the history of the league by the 2025-26 season.

Per The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, only Grousbeck is trying to offload his ownership portion of the team. Boston’s minority owners reportedly intend to retain their percentages of the franchise.

Boston may be pricey, but the team also appears primed to remain one of the NBA’s most competitive clubs for years to come. Through 2028 and the intended end of Grousbeck’s tenure, it seems quite possible that the reigning champs could claim at least another title or two, as by far the class of the Eastern Conference.