00:00All right, it's hour number three, Felger and Maz.
00:03Felger here coming to you remotely.
00:05Michael Holley is in for Maz.
00:07Big Jim Murray is in our Update Studio
00:09in our Town for Attire Studios in Waltham.
00:11That was Wick Grosbeck earlier this offseason
00:13welcoming Bill Chisholm to the family,
00:17which was odd since Bill Chisholm just bought the team
00:21from Wick Grosbeck's dad.
00:24So it's all just a way of getting into the news
00:27that came out today.
00:28Per Shams and others, Wick is out as of today.
00:32Wick Grosbeck will no longer stay on as governor
00:34as part of the Celtics' $6.1 billion sale to Bill Chisholm.
00:38Sources tell me and Ramonda Shelbourne
00:40plan had been for Grosbeck to remain through 2028.
00:44Chisholm assumes governor title
00:45and the transfer will be finalized soon.
00:48And I'll just say first, and we play that sound
00:51and we have other cuts, where it's just,
00:53they're going on and on about Wick Grosbeck
00:56remaining on as governor of the team through 28.
00:58And part of the transition is that Wick still runs the team,
01:01even though Bill Chisholm owns the team for another three years,
01:05to which most of us said, are you effing stupid?
01:09Like, why do they go through that charade?
01:11Why would you out there believe that for one half second?
01:14Why is Bill Chisholm going to allow Wick Grosbeck
01:17to spend his money when he just bought the team?
01:22That's ludicrous.
01:23It doesn't work that way.
01:25I don't know why they go through the charade
01:26of pretending like it works that way,
01:28but everyone knew that this day was coming
01:31when it was first announced,
01:32and they didn't even go through the charade
01:34of Wick Grosbeck sitting in the front row
01:35pretending like he was still the governor
01:37because that was never going to happen.
01:39And so here we are.
01:40It hasn't happened.
01:41I don't know, Mike Holley or Jim, you have a thought?
01:43Yeah, I mean, Mike, exactly.
01:46First, let's start with just the common sense part of it.
01:48Because if you lead a group of investors
01:52and it's a $6.1 billion transaction,
01:57it's a $6.1 billion deal,
02:01there's no way, I don't care,
02:04you could be the most magnanimous person,
02:07the most altruistic person out there,
02:09there's no way you're going to say,
02:10hey, yeah, yeah, you run the deal.
02:13Okay, I spent all this money,
02:14but I want you to do it.
02:16So that's one, that doesn't make a lot of sense.
02:18But two, here's the thing,
02:19here's the little caveat today
02:21that really brings it home,
02:23it's illegal.
02:24The NBA doesn't allow you to do it
02:27because if you can't do that
02:30unless that person has at least a 15% stake
02:34in the franchise.
02:36Oh, I didn't even know that.
02:37So did Cubans still have 15%?
02:40Because they started that way in Dallas too.
02:42You can't do it.
02:43You're not allowed to do it.
02:44So I don't think you would do it,
02:47but even if you would do it,
02:49you're not allowed to do it on a bigger scale.
02:53The NBA just doesn't allow that to happen.
02:55So what we have is Bill Chisholm,
02:59ready or not, baby, here it is.
03:01You're on the clock.
03:02You bought the team.
03:04You're the lead guy.
03:05You're the governor.
03:07And I'm sure Wick will be a part of the franchise,
03:09but this is Bill Chisholm's?
03:12Not where it matters.
03:14Well, yeah, he'll be a part of it.
03:15Well, it's like with Mark Cuban and the Mavs.
03:17I mean, this is what it's kind of following.
03:19Like, he's around.
03:20I think they give him a key card,
03:22but, you know, you're kind of on the pay-no-mind list.
03:24You don't have any real say.
03:25You can still sit in the front row and be around,
03:27but, like, you don't get to do anything.
03:30And this is just following that,
03:31is what it feels like to me.
03:33Yes, and I'm not sure, you know,
03:35would he be in charge of some things?
03:36I don't know what they would be.
03:38But you're not in charge.
03:40And he never was going to be.
03:41I don't know anyone who thought he would have is nuts.
03:43Because he's a fan like us.
03:45Right, exactly, because you just don't think critically about anything.
03:49Let me ask you this.
03:50But, I mean, the number one thing is,
03:53are you a tax-paying team,
03:55and how much are you willing to pay in tax?
03:57There were going to be that payroll between payroll and taxes
03:59were going to cost them half a billion dollars.
04:02Are you saying that that was Wick's decision to spend Bill Chisholm's?
04:05No, I mean, who could possibly believe that?
04:07That was always going to be Bill's call,
04:09Bill Chisholm's call, whatever their titles were.
04:12So here we are.
04:13Can I give you the latest spin?
04:14Ramona Shelburne just had a tweet that came out a couple of minutes ago.
04:17Yeah.
04:17According to multiple league sources,
04:20while Bill Chisholm will technically be the Celtics governor,
04:22he and Wick Grosbeck plan to run the team together as originally planned.
04:27Hold on.
04:27But with Chisholm as governor and Grosbeck as alternate governor and CEO,
04:31the change in structure was due to league rules,
04:33including minimum ownership.
04:34Sources said Grosbeck will end up owning slightly less than the required 15%
04:39given final funding for the transaction.
04:41Operations of the team should remain consistent with Brad Stevens and Rich Gotham
04:44continuing to run basketball and business operations.
04:46Okay.
04:47So they're just together.
04:48Yeah.
04:48It's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
04:49Oh, it's just perfect.
04:50It's such garbage.
04:51It was, it's one of the reasons Wick sold it to Chisholm because he felt he'd still
04:57have a seat at the table, which is what Wick wants.
04:59He still wants to walk around like he owns a place, which he never did,
05:02but he loves the role.
05:04And who wouldn't, you know, what's not to like?
05:06You get to spend your dad's money and walk around like, like you're the guy.
05:10Like that's, I guess who wouldn't fall into that trap?
05:13But boy, does Wick fall into that trap?
05:15Give me a break.
05:16And he still wants to do it.
05:17And Chisholm is going to let him do it.
05:19If, if, if, if they were so intent on Wick having to see at the table, why not give
05:22him 15.5%?
05:24Right.
05:25Why not give him 15.1%?
05:27There's a way to, there's a way to do this.
05:28There's a way around it.
05:29Let me ask you this.
05:30Let me ask you guys this.
05:31Do you think, uh, I can understand why, why Wick would want to stay for all the reasons
05:37you said.
05:38He loves the spotlight.
05:39He loves, you know, those court side seats and the shots of Wick there, you know, there's
05:44a big Celtics run and he's standing up and he's high fiving people.
05:47Why do, do the Celtics think that Celtics fans need to hear this?
05:56Is that why they, they made such a big deal?
05:58Good question.
05:59I mean, I can't, maybe you're a Celtics fan.
06:02Is that, does that make you feel better?
06:05Okay.
06:06Bill Chisholm is going to take over, but Wick Grosbeck is going to be the guys making decisions
06:11for three years.
06:13How does that help you as a Celtics fan?
06:15It's a good question.
06:15I mean, I don't know, like Wick Grosbeck was the best fake owner I ever saw.
06:21I mean, he didn't own it, but he played the part.
06:24Like any fan would want their owner to play the part.
06:27He was invested.
06:28When they got good, he spent through the nose.
06:31It was just about championships.
06:33He spared no expense.
06:35He paid for every role player and every, you know, last remaining piece to get over the
06:39top.
06:40He maxed out his best players.
06:43And he, you know, the emotional support was there.
06:46The, the, the investment was there.
06:48It just turns out it wasn't his money.
06:51So, so he was a fake owner.
06:53He won, he won the owner.
06:54He was just playing the owner.
06:55I'm telling you from, from both sides of it, Mike, you had Wick who was like, sometimes
07:00people say, you know, I'm not really, uh, I'm not really the owner.
07:03I'm the custodian of this.
07:05You know what I'm saying?
07:06No, no, no.
07:08He acted like it was his.
07:09He was, but he was a great custodian who, who, uh, we all thought was the owner.
07:15We forgot.
07:16We knew like when they first bought the team, it was, it was Irv Grossbeck and others.
07:21And we just kind of forgot about Irv.
07:23So Wick was great as being the front facing guy who didn't own it.
07:27And wouldn't you love to have an owner like Irv Grossbeck who was like, it wasn't about
07:32he, I don't think he gave a single interview.
07:34No, it was just like, Hey, the money, the team is here.
07:37The team is going to spend money.
07:39We got a new practice facility.
07:40We're not crazy with our coaches.
07:42We don't, uh, we don't hire and fire coaches, uh, overnight.
07:46We really have stability.
07:48He was really everything you would want an owner to be.
07:51And he, he never sought the spotlight.
07:55So the dad we're talking about.
07:56Right.
07:57Exactly.
07:58If, if you're a Celtics fan, Murray, are you nervous?
08:01Oh yeah.
08:01How can't you be?
08:02Uh, I mean, it feels like they've kind of stripped this thing to the bone and now the
08:06guy that you most relate to, because he seemed like these, you know, he really cared.
08:10Like that was genuine.
08:11Now he's gone too.
08:12It feels like a fire sale right now.
08:14The whole team, the whole team, Mike, I mean, you think about it.
08:18All right.
08:19So we know Porzingis, Holiday, you know, Horford, all the, all the people who moved on.
08:25Now you've got Pags out.
08:28You've got, uh, Wick out.
08:30I mean, it's, it's really, you want to talk about a team that needs an identity.
08:35You don't know what the identity of the Celtics is from any angle from ownership or on the
08:42court.
08:42And it's a good point.
08:43The previous owners really could not have, you could not have asked for much more as
08:48a fan, whether you're talking about the fake owner, the guy who pretended to be the owner
08:52in Wick Grosbeck or the real owner, the way Irv carried himself.
08:57And Mike is a good point.
08:57He's egoless, but obviously invested and let his son be the face of it, but just good,
09:06solid, sound, consistent decision-making over the tenure of their ownership.
09:09And when they were good, they spent when they were worthy, they were tax paying teams and
09:15did what it took.
09:16And so whether it was the fake guy out front or the real guy behind the scenes, it's hard
09:21to get much better than those guys were at the end of the day.
09:23Add it all up.
09:24You're enjoying calling him a fake owner.
09:26Oh, he was such a fake.
09:28Don't you think he was such a fake at the end of the day?
09:30You love the fake owner.
09:33And you know what?
09:34He deserves it because he's the example of the guy that was born on third and thinks
09:38he hit a triple.
09:40You know, there's nothing wrong.
09:42You can't help where you're born.
09:43And if you're born into a great situation, Jonathan Kraft, and you convey that as in,
09:50you know, I'm lucky to be here.
09:53I was put in a spot that not many people were, you know, have been afforded the grace of
10:00being here.
10:01It's lucky that I'm here.
10:03And I'm humbled by it.
10:05I'm humbled by it.
10:06And I acknowledge it.
10:07And you carry yourself with a certain humility.
10:10Then what do I, you know, you can't help who you're born to.
10:12And if you're born to a rich, powerful guy and you take over the business and do a good
10:16job with it and you wear it that, you know, I'm in this position because of where I was
10:22born, then I don't, no problem.
10:24But when you walk around like you, like you created the thing and it's your deal.
10:31And you know, you, you all know what I'm saying.
10:34Born on third and you think you hit a triple.
10:36We know the guy.
10:37And you got to admit that's wick gross back and it's too bad because the guy who, what,
10:42who's not like that just got, got iced out.
10:46He got boxed out.
10:46That's tags.
10:48And by the way, I like wick and he's been good to me and I hate to dump on him like that,
10:52but I just got to, I got to tell it like it is.
10:55I mean, so I, you know, the truth is the truth.
10:59He didn't own the team, but he acted like he did.
11:02And, but either way, I think he did a good job and his father did a good job and they were
11:06good owners and the next guy, they can't possibly be as good.
11:12Like it's going to get worse because I don't know how it could be much better than it was
11:16under those guys.
11:18They could, they could have the, they could, Mike, let me, I'll just say this.
11:21They could have the will to be just as good, but this already from the start, like you want
11:27to talk about a first step, your first step of ownership.
11:31What a disaster.
11:32Your first step of ownership is.
11:34Hey, you think this has been a disaster this off season?
11:37Yeah.
11:37Your first step of ownership is talking about the second apron and you're not the only team
11:42talking about it.
11:43I understand, but you take over as owner and we're saying goodbye to drew holiday and
11:48poor Zingas and Tatum is hurt.
11:50And Al Horford is trying to decide between retirement or going somewhere else, but not necessarily back
11:57to you.
11:58I mean, really, it is, they're making the trades that they make are salary dumps.
12:04Let's just call it what it is because they're trying to balance the books and they're trying
12:09to get a certain, um, they're trying to get a certain bottom line for tax purposes.
12:15That's not, this is not the fireworks that you want as a new owner.
12:20Okay.
12:21Well, let's, your thoughts, 617-779-095.
12:25I'm glad to hear you say it.
12:26Well, I mean, how can you, I mean, it's, I mean, once you get out of the aprons, which
12:30they're on their way out of, it is just about money and bottom line and margins and all of
12:35that.
12:35And that's what they're doing now.
12:37And that's what feels like they're not even done doing this.
12:39Simon's kid.
12:40He's gone.
12:41You, you know, he's gone.
12:42And so it's like a, so that's the start for the new ownership.
