Thoughts on Grousbeck, new C’s owners, and why Henry isn’t the answer

Thoughts on Grousbeck, new C’s owners, and why Henry isn’t the answer originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Still coming to grips with the idea of Wyc Grousbeck – the one Boston owner who shows how much he cares through his actions and not via Apple TV vanity projects – no longer owning the Celtics. So here are some thoughts on Grousbeck’s legacy, what a new buyer might look like, and where the other local owners fit in this process, if anywhere.

— Grousbeck is considered one of the poorest owners in professional sports, with a net worth of only $400 million, and it goes without saying that both halves of that statement are relative. So selling the team answers the basic question of how he could possibly afford upwards of $300 million in looming luxury tax penalties. He can’t, so he’s moving on.

But the fact that his wealth is not obscene by pro sports standards perhaps helps explain his everyman appeal (again, it’s relative). Among Boston’s four owners, Grousbeck stands apart. He has never demanded credit by manipulating back channels like the vainglorious Robert Kraft, he’s not an absentee landlord like Jeremy Jacobs, and he hasn’t become an aloof technocratic asset manager like John Henry.

He’s the owner most devoted to winning, and it’s a tough blow to lose him.

— We all love the idea of local ownership, and in a perfect world, Celtics partner Stephen Pagliuca would step right in, increase his stake in the team and become the new majority owner. Pagliuca was a finalist a couple of years ago for English soccer powerhouse Chelsea, which sold for over $5 billion. He should be every Celtics fan’s No. 1 choice.

— Strongly disagree with Darren Rovell’s contention that Grousbeck wouldn’t be signing players for hundreds of millions if he didn’t have a buyer in mind already.

Signing $430 million in contracts on the day you announce you are selling the team only means one thing: You know who the next owner is.

No responsible business person would pile that debt without approval from who is next.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 1, 2024

First off, the franchise is more valuable with Jayson Tatum attached to…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/thoughts-grousbeck-cs-owners-why-160140928.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-07-04 00:09:12

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