Celtics Lab 312: How the Boston Celtics' new owner may navigate the 2nd apron with Yossi Gozlan
Celtics Lab 312: How the Boston Celtics' new owner may navigate the 2nd apron with Yossi Gozlan
Now that Boston Celtics majority owners Wyc and Irv Grousbeck have sold their shares to private equity billionaire Bill Chisholm, planning for the storied ball club's future under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA)'s harsh realities can begin in earnest, and Grousbeck's recent comments on how that may play out for any team (never mind Boston) has given us some clues for what the Celtics might look like as soon as next season.
To get a better idea for ourselves how the team's front office might make moves in anticipation of the heavy tax bills and crushing penalties multiple seasons in the second apron might bring, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Justin Quinn, linked up with "The Third Apron" founder and cap expert Yossi Gozlan to map it out.
From the general ways Boston can mitigate the impact of keeping a title core together to how long we think they might do so all the way to how it could go down when they start pulling apart the roster, we go hard into the details on this one. So tune in and join us if getting into the weeds of what the short- and medium term of the Celtics may look like is your thing.
Celtics Lab is brought to you by Prize Picks.
If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.
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Associated Press
25 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Boxing returns to Fenway Park after 70 years, with hopes to revitalize the sport in Boston
For the first time in nearly 70 years, boxing is returning to Boston's famed Fenway Park. The 11-fight card is the culmination of years of effort by twin brothers and longtime public schoolteachers who grew up in Watertown and want to revitalize boxing in the city that was home to some of the greatest athletes in the sport's history. It's also symbolic of a shift back to the roots of the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, to when it wasn't just used for Red Sox games but for other sports and political events. 'Most people's experience there is solely related to baseball,' said Richard Johnson, Fenway expert and curator at The Sports Museum in Boston. 'But the fact is that this year, you can see an event that'll be very similar to what your grandparents saw.' Promoters Mark and Matt Nolan want 'Fight Night at Fenway,' scheduled for Saturday, to be both a time capsule and time machine, taking spectators back to boxing's glory days and what the sport can be for the city in the future. The Nolans got their license to organize fights last year with the goal of bringing boxing back to Boston. After Fenway, 'That's mission accomplished,' Matt Nolan said. 'It's not just like our dream, it's everybody's dream — every boxer on planet Earth,' he said. 'Just the idea that some kid can fight his way to Fenway Park. It's like hitting the lottery. You can't you can't beat it. There's nothing comparable.' A rich history Boston has played a long and impressive role in American boxing history and the development of the sport itself, said Johnson, author of 'Field of Our Fathers, An Illustrated History of Fenway Park.' The city was home to 'Boston's Strong Boy,' John L. Sullivan, born in 1858 to Irish immigrant parents and widely considered America's first sports superstar. The first heavyweight champion of the world, he was as famous as Muhammad Ali was in his time. Sam Langford, a Black Canadian-born boxer, moved to Boston as a teenager but was blocked from competing in the world championships by racist policies and is considered one of the greatest non-champions in boxing. Other boxing stars with Boston connections include Marvin Hagler and Rocky Marciano of nearby Brockton. 'The Boston Bomber' Tony DeMarco, whose statue raises his fists at passersby in Boston's North End, was the last fighter to win in the ring at Fenway in 1956. For a time after it was built, Fenway Park was the only outdoor venue with a significant seating capacity in Boston, making it a destination for all kinds of events, including boxing starting in 1920. After new owners took over in 2002, the park became a venue for concerts and sporting events like hockey, snowboarding, Irish football and curling. 'Back in the day, it was sort of the Swiss Army knife of sports facilities in Boston. And it's returned to that — a little bit of everything. So, returning boxing to the park is just a nod to the past,' Johnson said. Other venues can feel 'more corporate and sterile,' but Fenway is living history, said Johnson, who calls it the 'largest open-air museum in New England.' A different pitch Mark Nolan said it's not for lack of trying that no one has hosted a boxing fight at Fenway in almost 70 years. But many promoters couldn't make a pitch that landed with ballpark management. The Nolans, who teach full time and own a boxing gym in Waltham where people can train regardless of their ability to pay, were different. After success hosting events at other venues, Mark Nolan said Fenway Sports Group connected to their 'everyman' appeal and decided to give them a shot. The brothers fell in love with boxing while accompanying their father, a boat captain, to the gym as kids. When they expanded from coaching amateur boxers to professionals five years ago, they were dismayed by what they found: shows full of uneven fights set up to make the promoters as much money as possible, with established amateurs fighting people who 'have no right putting gloves on in any capacity whatsoever' in venues like high school gymnasiums. Fighters weren't being paid fairly and contracts weren't transparent. They came up with a simple business plan: pick good venues, pay fighters well and only host matches in Boston proper. They said a lot of promoters sell fighters, but they're focused on selling fights fans want to see. 'They're making sure that every fight is well-matched,' said Thomas 'The Kid' O'Toole, a fighter from rural Galway, Ireland, who has lived in Boston for the past two years, 'Nobody wants to see someone go in and just knock their opponent out right away and beat them up for four, six, eight rounds. They want to see a competitive fight.' O'Toole went professional in 2021 and is undefeated with 13 fights. He said his fight against St. Louis-born Vaughn 'Da Animal' Alexander at Fenway will be 'the biggest test of his career.' Massachusetts-born Lexi 'Lil Savage' Bolduc will compete in her fourth professional fight. She faces Sarah Couillard in a rematch after coming out on the losing end of a majority draw at the Royale. 'Fighting at Fenway, I think adds a little bit of pressure because I'm local, I grew up in Mass and idolized a lot of players as I was growing up. ... But at the same time, I'm trying to use it just as a huge opportunity and really soak in the moment,' she said. 'Pressure makes diamonds. 'To be able to kind of stand on that same ground of some of the most accomplished athletes, it's really remarkable,' she said.
Newsweek
34 minutes ago
- Newsweek
USPS Workers Divided Over New Deal on Pay, Layoffs
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining contract, covering employees nationwide. The proposed contract, finalized on June 2, 2025, spans from September 21, 2024, through September 20, 2027, reported APWU. Newsweek contacted APWU for comment via email on Saturday. Why It Matters The public mail system has long faced funding issues and has been a point of contention for many administrations. Postal workers across the country rallied against the dismantling of the United States Postal Service on Sunday. Although the agreement extends no-layoff protections to many employees with fewer than six years of service, apprehensions persist about potential job security, especially for those not yet covered. File photo: APWU activists protest during a rally near the Brentwood Post Office on March 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. File photo: APWU activists protest during a rally near the Brentwood Post Office on March 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo byWhat To Know APWU posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it and USPS have reached a tentative three-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). APWU added: "Now it is time for members to review the agreement and vote on ratifying this contract." Reactions among postal workers on social media have been mixed. While the deal includes annual wage increases and cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for employees, some workers are expressing concerns over the adequacy of these raises amid rising inflation. The agreement proposes annual wage increases of 1.3 percent in 2024, 1.4 percent in 2025, and 1.5 percent in 2026, along with six full cost-of-living adjustments for career employees. One Reddit user on the platform's USPS forum said: "Honestly one of the best contracts in like the last 10 years." Another commented: "In the current inflationary environment cola may give us a bigger raise anyway (as we saw the last couple years). I'd rather the deal got done sooner so we don't miss out on colas." "The protection from layoff clause being extended to those who started during the last contract is huge for my facility specifically," posted another Reddit user. "It would now cover more than half of our career clerks who weren't protected before." One member of the USPS Employees Facebook group, in response to the agreement, said: " not protected. Greatest." Another stated: "PSE's still have to wait two years before they become regular. They should change that." Additional highlights of the tentative agreement also include the elimination of certain entry-level steps and the restoration of top steps in pay grades 4 to 7 on the lower-tier pay scale. Increased uniform allowances and night shift differentials are also proposed. APWU notes that all provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that were not modified in negotiations remain in full force and effect. For example, overtime provisions, discipline procedure, grievance-arbitration procedure, and holidays. The tentative agreement received unanimous approval from the National Negotiating Committee and the National Executive Board. It was presented to the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee on June 4, 2025, which also unanimously approved it for a ratification vote by union members, according to APWU. What People Are Saying APWU President Mark Dimondstein stated: "This is great news for postal workers! Negotiations are never easy and have been hard fought. We have secured an agreement that continues to protect the rights and interests of our members in uncertain times. "We have been negotiating when [government] workers and our unions are under severe assault and with the specter of postal privatization looming. Yet even in this environment, the Tentative National Agreement contains annual wage increases, six full cost-of-living adjustments for career employees, no-layoff protections including for tens of thousands of members with less than six years' service, 50-mile limits on excessing, elimination of some entry level steps, restoration of one more top step in pay grades 4-7 on the lower tier pay scale, increase in uniform allowances, and much more. "All these gains were accomplished with no givebacks or concessions. A 'Yes' vote will secure the provisions and advances of the Tentative Agreement." Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino commented as reported by USPS: "This is a fair and responsible agreement that serves the best interest of our employees, our customers and the future of the Postal Service." What Happens Next The agreement is pending ratification, with ballots expected to be mailed to APWU members by June 16, 2025, and a return deadline of July 10, 2025. The American Arbitration Association will oversee the mailing and counting of ballots. The APWU advised that "more details on the ratification process will be forthcoming." All members are encouraged to participate in the ratification vote, emphasizing the importance of the contract in determining wages, benefits, and working conditions. However, it won't be clear until the outcome of the vote to gauge how union members truly feel. For more information on the tentative agreement and the ratification process, members can visit the APWU's official website.
Boston Globe
38 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Tom Thibodeau's been unfairly branded, and it's the kind of label that's hard to shake
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement But in New York, he's being unfairly blamed for the organization's shortcomings. It was team president Leon Rose who traded five first-round picks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — to the Timberwolves for the skilled, not always gritty Towns and Jalen Brunson are marvelous offensive players, but porous on defense. With two starters who struggled defensively, that placed pressure on the other three and Indiana took full advantage. The Celtics didn't beat the Knicks because they blew the first two games with poor offensive execution and 3-point shooting. Indiana didn't have that issue, and it was apparent from the first two games of the series the Pacers were the better team. That wasn't Thibodeau's fault. Advertisement Perhaps there are better coaches out there, and perhaps the Knicks will find one who will lead them to their first championship since 1973, but Thibodeau was well prepared and his players played hard for him. Did he deserve another year to work with the Towns-Brunson combination and devise ways to improve defensively? Yes. Related : As has been proven with the firings of Two days later, Thibodeau was fired. 'I get asked frequently about these things. I always say shocked. Sometimes you get numb and you're not shocked,' said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle , president of the National Basketball Coaches Association. 'The Knicks have such a unique situation, with so much attention and such a large fan base and such a worldwide following, it's one of the most difficult jobs to take. The guys that have been most successful, Red Holzman , Pat Riley , Jeff Van Gundy . Rick Pitino had a short run but a very effective run. There were a lot of lean years. Thibs went in there and changed so much. 'So you look at all that, then what happened yesterday ... When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI things. No way. There's no way possible. I know how the players feel about him, too. So there's not much else to say. Advertisement 'Teams and ownership can make these decisions unilaterally, and it's their right to do that. . . . Tom will certainly be fine. I don't think he's going to have any problem finding his next job. It's just going to depend on when he's ready to jump back in again. I have great respect for Thibs. I go back with him a very long way.' The coaching profession has changed dramatically in the past decade. Players earn so much, they very rarely take the ultimate blame for a team's shortcomings. In Cleveland last year, the Cavaliers were so afraid Donovan Mitchell would sign elsewhere, general manager Koby Altman Kenny Atkinson took over and won 64 games. The Cavaliers were co-favorites along with the Celtics to reach the Finals before they were The Knicks ending wasn't shocking. They pretty much ran their course against a deeper Pacers club that appears to be a team of destiny after their But the Knicks will attempt to unseat an already established coach such as Dallas' Jason Kidd or Houston's Advertisement Reputations are difficult to shake in the NBA, and Thibodeau being a coach that lacks the skills and acumen to get his teams to a championship level is a tag that will stick. That's unfortunate. The Knicks were not picked by any prognosticator to reach the Finals this year. This was the first year with Bridges and Towns. The club lost key center Isaiah Hartenstein to free agency and, while Brunson is a sparkling player, he does have the tendency to squeeze the life out of the offense with his isolation style. But coaches are hired to be fired and every NBA coach realizes that. Thibodeau will be a popular choice as a top assistant if he chooses, and he knew coaching the Knicks likely wouldn't end well unless he won a championship. Like the previous 22 coaches before him, he didn't, so he's gone. The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau after his team's exit in the Eastern Conference Finals. Adam Hunger/Associated Press SILVER TONGUED Commissioner chats about Celtics, Finals NBA commissioner Adam Silver touched on Glen Taylor to a group Silver said the Celtics sale is getting closer to fruition and offered some specifics on the transition from Wyc Grousbeck to Bill Chisholm . 'I'd just say that the Boston Celtics deal I don't think of as a staged deal. They're still in the process of completing it. It's really more about a phase-out of current ownership,' Silver said. 'I think Bill Chisholm, who is the incoming owner, he's got to sort of straighten out some affairs in his life and his business. He's currently located on the West Coast. I think he's a huge admirer of Wyc Grousbeck and the way he's been running that team. Advertisement 'Obviously their results speak for themselves. What he's working out with Wyc is an opportunity for him, as I said, to learn the business from Wyc, then step in as the principal owner, the Governor of the team. There would then be no switching going forward. I think in the situation in Minnesota, yes, as I said before, I mean, it's not ideal to have those kinds of staged transactions. But also you learn it's nice to state these principles, but there we were in the middle of a pandemic, and Glen Taylor was in the process of selling his team. We all agreed to something that seemed to make sense in the moment.' The biggest issue at this year's Finals are the finalists themselves. The Pacers and Thunder play in two of the league's smaller markets and neither has won an NBA championship. (No, Silver made an astute point. The NBA is the only league where fans are concerned and consumed about television ratings. When the Diamondbacks faced the Rangers in Advertisement Would the NBA prefer the Knicks or the Celtics reach the Finals? Perhaps, but the Pacers and Thunder offer hope to small- and medium-market owners that they can win if well managed. 'I remember when I first joined the league, David [Stern] used to joke early on in his tenure, David Stern, as commissioner, he said his job was to go back and forth between Boston and LA handing out championship trophies,' Silver said. 'I think it was very intentional. It didn't begin with me, it began with David and successive collective bargaining agreements, that we set out to create a system that allowed for more competition in the league, with the goal being having 30 teams all in position, if well managed, to compete for championships. That's what we're seeing here. 'I've said before, the goal is that market size essentially becomes irrelevant. I'd say the reason I wanted to talk a little bit about technology earlier, in part, it's the successive collective bargaining agreements, and thank you to the players because I think they all recognized we had an interest in serving the fans. Fans in every city want to see their team be competitive.' Can the NBA be financially successful when the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Bulls, Warriors, Mavericks, and 76ers are left out of the Finals? The Spurs, Magic, and Pistons are among those building teams to compete for championships in coming years. The Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, and Nets are putting together young rosters to eventually do so. 'There is, I don't know, roughly 700,000 [people] in Oklahoma City, I think around 900,000 in Indianapolis. Not such small markets,' Silver said. 'Even if there were another million people or so in a city, when you're talking about a global market in a sport like the NBA where we're being followed by billions of people around the world, those incremental changes become pretty meaningless. 'I can't say standing here that I'd envision we would have seven different champions over seven years. I would only say the goal isn't necessarily to have a different champion every year. As we said, it's to have parity of opportunity. Hats off to Oklahoma City and Indianapolis, two incredibly well-run franchises, top to bottom, that deserve to be here. Whichever team were to win, if they were to repeat, I wouldn't then be saying this, therefore, isn't working because I didn't go to a different city to hand out the trophy. I'd be saying that's the system we wanted to create, as long as there's a level playing field. 'What we're focused on is on the process that goes into building the team, not the outcome. So the outcomes will be whatever they are.' 'Obviously their results speak for themselves," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said of the Celtics' ownership group. Nate Billings/Associated Press WILD ASCENTS Carlisle came from out of nowhere While Cooper Flagg is already perhaps the most heralded player to come from Maine, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle played two years for the Black Bears before transferring to Virginia and being drafted by the Celtics in 1984. Carlisle grew up in Lisbon, N.Y., in the north central part of the state bordering Ontario. They don't produce basketball players in Lisbon. They produce hockey players. That didn't dissuade Carlisle, who had a friend, Hal Cohen , from nearby Canton who served as his basketball role model. 'He was the greatest player to ever come out of the North Country,' Carlisle said. 'He got a scholarship to Syracuse University. He got a scholarship to a big-time basketball program. I grew up playing with him all the time, competing. It was one of the reasons that I ended up having a chance to get a Division 1 scholarship.' Related : As Carlisle noted, he had to go to Worcester Academy for a year to get it, and his lone Division 1 offer came from Maine. 'Through a series of connections and relationships, was able to transfer to University of Virginia and play with Ralph Sampson for a year. That changed my life forever,' Carlisle said. 'Had great coaching and a lot of things that were very fortunate. Ended up getting drafted by Boston in a round that no longer exists in the draft. A lot of things fell my way. But I worked hard, too. 'You know, seeing Hal Cohen do that was something that gave a lot of people, a lot of guys in the North Country, a lot more belief about being able to go to higher levels, not just in basketball, but other sports.' Carlisle has built a roster in Indiana without a top 15 starter. Tyrese Haliburton has approached that level in the past few seasons, while Pascal Siakam may be the most underrated player of this generation. Carlisle said the NBA is becoming more of a team league than a star league, evidence by a Finals of deep, talented rosters. 'It was Larry [Bird] and Magic [Johnson] , then it was Michael Jordan for a few years. Things are changing,' Carlisle said. 'The roster construction seems to be evolving in a slightly different direction, if not a pretty significantly different direction. There are always going to be stars. Identifying with teams may become more of a significant thing than just the star aspect of it. 'It's such a dynamic business and it's so quickly changing. It can change in a moment, much like a playoff series can. I just think the league is so healthy right now because there are so many young, great young players that have personality, that are such great promoters of the game simply by virtue of how they play the game, with their joy, with their love,' he added. 'It's moving away from an isolation league to really more of a team-type game. Oklahoma plays that way. We try to play that way. So, time will tell.' Layups The Celtics have until June 29 to pick up the nonguaranteed club option on guard Drew Peterson . Davison's contract will be guaranteed for 2025-26 if he's on the roster by next Jan. 10. Because the Celtics are in the second apron, they cannot aggregate contracts to make a trade, meaning they could not throw in Davison's contract as a sweetener of a bigger deal ... David Adelman was Jamal Murray , who did not report to camp in premium shape after looking sluggish during his Olympic stint with Team Canada. Murray eventually turned into the player who has been the Nuggets' second-best scorer, but got off to a painfully slow start, especially from the 3-point line. Murray is beginning a four-year, $207 million contract as the Nuggets look to remain relevant in both his and Nikola Jokic's prime. Denver doesn't have much salary wiggle room or free-agent opportunities since it is approaching the second apron with Murray's bump in salary … LeBron James has a player option for 2025-26 that he's fully expected to exercise as the Lakers prime for a championship-contending season. The club is seeking an impactful center and have several expiring contracts they can use to nab a big man. Rui Hachimura , Dorian Finney-Smith , Maxi Kleber , and Gabe Vincent all are entering the final years of their contracts, while Austin Reaves , who could be their most attractive player, is owed just $27 million over the next two years on a reasonable deal. The Lakers will have to decide whether they are going to use rookie Dalton Knecht , who got off to a rousing start and then was nearly traded to the Hornets, in any offseason deals. Knecht was a part of the rotation as a knockdown 3-point shooter, but then was relegated to the bench after a slump. He played just four minutes in the Lakers' first-round playoff series against the Timberwolves, and could be an attractive piece for a younger team looking for a shooter. Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
