Celtics up for sale after winning title

FOR SALE Owner Wyc Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics reacts as he holds the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy during the 2024 Boston Celtics championship parade following their 2024 NBA Finals win on June 21, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. Owners of the NBA champion Celtics announced they were putting the club up for sale on July 1, 2024, two weeks after capturing the team’s record 18th NBA championship. Wyc Grousbeck led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. AFP PHOTO

NEW YORK — Owners of the NBA champion Boston Celtics announced they were putting the club up for sale on Monday (Tuesday in Manila), two weeks after capturing the team's record 18th NBA championship.

The Celtics were valued at $4.7 billion last October by Forbes magazine, having leaped 18 percent in value to rank behind only the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion).

Wyc Grousbeck led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million.

But NBA clubs have sold for much bigger sums in recent months, with the Phoenix Suns going to Mat Ishbia in February 2023 for $4 billion and a co-ownership stake in the Milwaukee Bucks going to Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion last year.

The Dallas Mavericks, who lost to Boston in last month's NBA Finals, were sold last December with casino moguls Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont purchasing a 69 percent majority stake in the club for $3.8 billion.

"Boston Basketball Partners LLC, the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, announced today its intension to sell all the shares of the team," Celtics ownership said in a statement.

"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 managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025 with the balance closing in 2028."

Grousbeck is expected to remain the team's representative on the NBA Board of Governors until the final sale completion in 2028, the ownership said.

Under the current owners, the Celtics won the NBA title in 2008, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, lost the final to Lakers in 2010 and dropped the 2022 final to Golden State before claiming this year's crown. AFP