Brad Stevens expecting ‘business as usual' amid Celtics' ownership transition

New York Times

26-03-2025

As the Boston Celtics transition from one ownership group to another, Brad Stevens suggested Wednesday that he doesn't expect many changes to how his front office operates.
A group led by Bill Chisholm reached an agreement last week to purchase the franchise from Wyc Grousbeck and the Boston Basketball Partners, LLC. Though Grousbeck is expected to stay on as the CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season, the Chisholm group will take over as majority owners this summer if the sale at an initial valuation of $6.1 billion is approved.
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'I never really gave my two cents (throughout the sale process) because that's not my role,' Stevens said while addressing a small group of reporters at Celtics shootaround in Phoenix. 'It's their right and everything else to sell the team and make the decision they made. My only thing is just asking to be kept in the loop on everything I need to know from the standpoint of making decisions here and now and moving forward.
'As we get to spend more time with Bill — with Wyc and Bill — then we'll have more clarity on how we are going to do things. But really, every indication is it's pretty much business as usual, so I'm excited about that. But again, you spend a lot of money on these things, so you have every right to come in and put your stamp on it however you want, so I'm looking forward to working with him.'
Less than a week after Chisholm's group won the bidding to take over the franchise, Stevens still hasn't had much communication with the incoming Celtics owner. Stevens said he first met Chisholm a couple of weeks ago when the finalists of the potential new ownership groups visited with the Boston brass. At that time, Stevens said he met with each of the finalists for one or two hours apiece. Chisholm's appreciation of the Celtics quickly came across. The native of Georgetown, Mass., describes himself as a lifelong fan of the team.
'Each group had different versions of what they were most interested in,' Stevens said. 'And it was really clear how much he loves the Celtics and how much it means to him. And that's really cool.'
After Chisholm's group reached an agreement to purchase the Celtics, Stevens said he and Chisholm spoke on the phone once. They spent time together in Sacramento on Monday when Chisholm and his wife, Kimberly, attended the Celtics' win against the Kings. Chisholm is also expected to visit Boston next week after the Celtics return from their Western Conference trip.
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Though still in the beginning stages of building a relationship with Chisholm, Stevens said he is looking forward to working more with his new boss.
'Everybody's got to just be themselves, right, and bring their own authenticity to it,' Stevens said. 'When you buy a team and when you are invested like that, then he's gonna bring great ideas. We'll operate and execute plans that ultimately he wants to. I've been really impressed with how committed he seems to be to learning more about how we've done things, both the business side and the basketball side. And also the idea that I think he recognizes that we've got a good thing going. For me, the most important thing in this whole transition is just the people that I work with feel comfortable. I think that clearly from every indication of every conversation I've had with Bill, I do, and I think everybody should.'
After learning in June that the Celtics would be put up for sale, Stevens said he initially thought about all the people who work under him in basketball operations. The franchise has been owned by the same group since 2002, a decade before the team hired Stevens as head coach.
'I think initially you go through that, 'OK, we've been really fortunate to be stable for a long time,'' Stevens said. 'And not only within ownership, but also a lot of people have been here for a long time. And I think the biggest thing — my initial thought goes to not the team, not anything but the 60 people in basketball operations. … Making sure that everybody knows that when people come in that there's a good deal of trust with what's going on, on both of those sides, because ultimately I want to see all of our people do well and continue, and I'm surrounded by such talented people, to be honest, that carry my a– every day. So I want to make sure that all of them feel good and feel good about the transition. And based on everything, meeting Bill, Wyc being around, hearing from both of them, they've given us every indication that that's going to be the case.'