Coach Steve Kerr shared a promising postgame update on the star guard, who was ruled out with a pelvic contusion shortly after heading to the Golden State locker room.
“[Curry] is getting an MRI right now,” Kerr told reporters. “He just kind of fell on his pelvic, tailbone area.
“He was trying to come back. He thought he might be able to come back, and we just decided not to risk anything. Hopefully, it’s not bad, but he’s getting imaging right now.”
“He hit that ground hard,” Green said. “You could hear it. It was crazy. Obviously, a very scary moment for us and for him. Hopefully, he’s good.”
Kerr acknowledged this injury is similar to the one Curry sustained in March 2021. After a 3-point attempt to end the third quarter against the Houston Rockets, Curry landed on a metal step in the bench area.
The Warriors initially stated the diagnosis then was a tailbone contusion, though it later was revealed that Curry actually suffered a hairline fracture. He missed five games following that injury before finishing the season on a tear to earn a third-place finish in NBA MVP voting.
If Curry does miss any time, the Warriors have fared well in the 10 games their star has missed this season — including Tuesday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks. In total, Golden State entered Thursday with a 7-3 record when Curry sits.
Of course, the Warriors would greatly prefer to have their two-time MVP available than not, especially heading into the final stretch of the regular season in a tightly packed Western Conference playoff picture.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue has missed four of the last six games because of back issues. It's unclear if he'll return for the game against Memphis on Friday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
With or without coach Tyronn Lue patrolling the sideline, the Clippers will play yet another meaningful game against another tough Western Conference foe in the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at the Intuit Dome.
They are now the seventh seed in the West, which would put them in the play-in tournament. But they are only 3½ games behind the fifth-seeded Grizzlies and entered Thursday one game behind the sixth-seeded Golden State Warriors. The Clippers (39-30) own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Grizzlies (2-0) and Warriors (3-0).
The Clippers also play Oklahoma City at home on Sunday. The Thunder (57-12) have the best record in the NBA. The Clippers are looking to take a stand in these games, knowing how important each win is to their chances of inching up in the uber-tough West and securing a playoff spot.
“All three teams that we have this week are ahead of us as far as with better records, two of them in the Western Conference. They were statement games,” guard Norman Powell said. “You want to go out there and play and show that we can compete and beat these teams. This is playoff time. I think we have 12 games left. …
"So it’s all about positioning and playing your best brand of basketball. Down the stretch of games and getting ready for the playoffs, it’s always good to have the top teams that have kind of solidified their one, two, three spots in the postseason, to go and see where we’re at and see where we can improve to go out there and be the team that we need to be going down this last stretch.”
Lue has missed four of the last six games because of back issues, the last against Cleveland on Tuesday night, and assistant Brian Shaw has been at the helm in his place. The Clippers say Lue’s status for the game against the Grizzlies is to be determined Friday.
Shaw, a former coach of the Denver Nuggets, has led the Clippers to a 3-1 record in Lue’s absence. And the wins and losses go on Lue’s ledger, Shaw reminded everyone, laughing.
Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is in charge of the defense, missed the Cavaliers game because of a family matter. Neither he nor was at practice Thursday.
“As far as JV, we’re just praying for him and his family situation that he can get back to us as soon as possible,” Shaw said. “T. Lue is still experiencing some back issues, and so the same thing with him. We just want him to get back as soon as possible. We also want him to take care of himself for whatever it takes for him to be able to get back.”
The win over the Cavaliers with Shaw in charge was another significant game against the team that had the best record in the NBA, and it was the Clippers' fourth win in a row and seventh in eight games. They are sticking to the message that it is about what they do and not so much about trying to make a statement against the top teams.
“Yeah, it’s about our group,” Shaw said. “When we’re in a position to be able to control what comes next for us, we have to take control of those situations. That’s how I’ve been approaching it, we’ve been approaching it. Not trying to make it more than what it is.
"The one thing I really saw in the Cleveland game is like the joy that everybody was playing with. So, we want to continue that. We want them to have fun, we want them to compete and I think if we compete and we have fun, we share the ball and everybody feels like they are involved. … We got a lot of contributions in a lot of different ways. So, we just want everybody to star in their role.”
The Clippers have just enough time left to put themselves in the best possible position in the competitive and crowded West. And the talented Grizzlies are next in line for the Clippers.
“Memphis is going to do what they are going to do. They are going to try to impose their will on us. We have to try to do the same thing with them,” Shaw said. “But like I said, it’s just mainly execute what we want to execute and worry about playing the right way and doing the right things.”
William Chisholm has plenty of reasons to celebrate Thursday night — $6.1 billion reasons, to be exact.
Chisholm is set to become the next majority owner of the Boston Celtics after leading his group to a deal with Wyc Grousbeck, the majority owner and team governor since 2002.
Chisholm, the managing director and co-founder of private equity firm Symphony Technology Group, will take on a majority ownership of a sports franchise for the first time.
The Celtics mark a major start in that regard, as the team has won an NBA-best 18 championships while being in the middle of a potential repeat bid. Chisholm is also a lifelong C’s fan, which is one reason Grousbeck approved the switch.
So, how will a lifelong fan celebrate becoming the newest owner of his team? Chisholm told NBC Sports Boston of his plans, which includes watching the 2025-released documentary “Celtics City” produced by HBO.
“I couldn’t bring myself to watch the documentary because I would’ve just broken my heart, like in part of this process,” Chisholm said. “So the celebration is we’re starting the documentary. Which for me is crazy because I should’ve watched each episode five, 10 times already, but I held back because I wanted to see where this all ended up.
“I would’ve eventually gotten there and watched it, but now I’m all in.”
Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson has taken a big step toward his potential return.
Brunson is out of the walking boot and has been doing some light shooting, Tom Thibodeau revealed Thursday ahead of the team's game against the Hornets in Charlotte.
While the 26-year-old captain likely still has a ways to go before getting back out there with the team in practice and then game action, this is certainly an encouraging step forward.
Brunson, of course, injured his ankle late in overtime during the Knicks' loss to the Los Angeles Lakers back on March 6.
Heading into Thursday night's game, New York has gone 3-3 without him, and his absence has been felt heavily on both ends of the court.
He is expected to be evaluated again around the two-week mark from the injury, though, ESPN's Shams Charania reported last week that the two-time All-Star could be sidelined through March or early April.
Following Thursday's contest, the Knicks have five more games this month and then eight in April before kicking off the playoffs.
SAN FRANCISCO – While the Warriors outlasted the undermanned Toronto Raptors for a 117-114 win Thursday night at Chase Center, the final score was secondary.
Steph Curry in the third quarter took a hard fall and later was ruled out with a pelvic contusion.
Curry before leaving the game scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and made two 3-pointers. The Raptors did everything they could to make anybody else on the Warriors beat them.
Challenge accepted. Most of all by Draymond Green, who scored a team-high 21 points, which is his second-most this season. The combination of Green and Jimmy Butler carried the Warriors to victory down the stretch.
Butler recorded his second triple-double since joining the Warriors with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. His best play of the night, however, came on defense. Jamal Shead had a chance to make it a one-point game with 20 seconds remaining, but Butler had other plans.
Not to be forgotten, rookie center Quinten Post scored 18 points off the bench, going 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Jonathan Kuminga also was a major scoring punch off the bench, scoring 18 points. Plus, Brandin Podziemski had 15 points in his second game returning from a back injury.
The Warriors will take the results of a win, but now the real news awaits.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors completing a 6-1 seven-game homestand.
As it always has, though, everything starts with Curry. The Raptors heavily top-locked Curry from the jump for all 94 feet, and Green quickly adjusted. First, because of the way nobody wants to leave Curry, the Warriors used an inverted pick-and-roll for a wide-open lane to let Green throw down a dunk. Later in the first quarter, the two used their synergy to execute their pick-and-roll closer to the basket, making Green’s man leave him and leading to a layup.
In the second quarter, four seconds after checking back into the game, Green found Curry cutting behind Toronto’s defense with a perfect bounce pass for two points. How did Curry make his first three of the second half? By rubbing off a strong screen set by Green. He wound up assisting Curry on three of his six made shots.
The Raptors paid no attention to Green as a scorer, and he made them pay for it. He had 10 points in the first quarter and 18 going into halftime, including four 3-pointers. Green’s 18 points were his third-most ever for a half, and the five threes he wound up with tied a season-high.
Though the Warriors only held a six-point lead through the first half, four of their players already had scored in double figures. Green’s 18 points led all scorers. He wasn’t alone.
Kuminga gave Golden State 14 first-half points off the bench. Podziemski was right behind with 13, and Post drained four threes off the bench for 12 points going into the second half.
Curry, however, was held to seven points. So in a sense, the Raptors’ strategy somewhat worked.
But Curry then scored 10 of the Warriors’ first 16 points in the third quarter before exiting to an injury. The Warriors responded by going on a 10-4 run to close the quarter to hold a 93-92 lead going into the fourth.
A total of six Warriors scored in double figures. From the time of Curry’s injury to the end of the game, the Warriors outscored the Raptors by eight points, 34-26.
Steph’s Scary Injury
All of Chase Center fell silent with a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter. A pin drop could be heard echoing off the court. That’s what happens when Curry goes down.
Curry drove to the basket and was hammered by two Raptors as he delivered a pass across his body from the paint to the left corner. He bounced off the court, immediately lifted his back and began grabbing at his tailbone area. For what felt like an eternity, Curry stayed down on the ground and was tended to by assistant athletic trainer Drew Yoder.
On his own power, Curry walked to the Warriors’ bench before being joined by director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini down the tunnel and back to the locker room.
Steph Curry goes down and all of Chase Center holds their breath in the third quarter
Early into the fourth quarter, the Warriors ruled Curry out because of a pelvic contusion. He was listed as questionable two games ago with lower back soreness, which first occurred during pregame warmups one week ago against the Sacramento Kings. Curry then was given rest last game, the first one he didn’t suit up for in nearly two months.
The Warriors on Saturday begin a six-game road trip starting in Atlanta against the Hawks. They’re 5-3 in eight games without Curry this season.
DeMar DeRozan reached yet another incredible milestone amidst his 16th NBA season.
The star Kings forward eclipsed 25,000 career points with one of his patented mid-range buckets in the third quarter of Sacramento’s game against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night at Golden 1 Center.
DeRozan entered Thursday’s game with 24,983 career points, needing 17 to reach the milestone.
He now becomes the 27th player in league history to reach the rare feat, just behind Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, who reached the career mark earlier this month.
DeRozan is the sixth active player with at least 25,000 points, joining LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Curry.
The 35-year-old has been one of the purest scorers in the league, still showcasing his efficiency nearly two decades in.
Entering Thursday’s game, DeRozan was averaging 22.2 points on 48.6-percent shooting from the field and 35.6 percent from 3-point range, with 4.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 35.8 minutes across 62 games (62 starts) with Sacramento this season.
Warriors star Steph Curry left Thursday’s game against the Toronto Raptors after a scary fall beneath the basket.
A hush fell over the Chase Center crowd in the third quarter after Curry was knocked to the ground. The point guard immediately grabbed his lower back in pain and went to Golden State’s locker room shortly after, and there was no foul called on the play.
The Warriors later ruled Curry out of the game with a pelvic contusion.
Up to that point, Curry had scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 2 of 4 from deep. Dub Nation rained down “MVP” chants as the training staff tended to Curry on the court.
Earlier in the week, Curry admitted his back had been hurting him, too, before sitting out of Tuesday’s win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
While it’s unclear just how serious Curry’s injury is, the fall was frightening and clearly sent the two-time NBA MVP into distress.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — New Orleans Pelicans assistant Dan Geriot was named coach at Iona on Thursday, three days after Tobin Anderson was fired following two years in the job as the replacement for Rick Pitino.
The 36-year-old Geriot was in his 10th season as an NBA assistant, nine years with the Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Pelicans.
He played at Richmond from 2006-11 and began his coaching career as an assistant at Princeton and Campbell.
The Gaels finished this season 17-17 and reached the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game. They were 16-17 in Anderson’s first season.
Mar 19, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Rapper Flavor Flav congratulates San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) after scoring thirty four points against the New York Knicks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
I don't know which is more improbable: That Spurs big man Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 34 points in less than 20 minutes, setting an NBA record, or that he is good friends with legendary rapper Flavor Flav.
We have video evidence of both. New York native Mamukelashvili shot 7-of-7 from 3 and put up 34 points on the Knicks to spark a 120-105 San Antonio upset. After the game, Flavor Flav crashed his postgame interview.
Flavor Flav crashed Mamu’s on-court interview after a career night!
This was an ugly loss for the Knicks, who just look worn down from the road and continue to struggle to generate offense without Jalen Brunson (sprained ankle). That said, New York is pretty solidly locked into the No. 3 seed in the East, so the loss doesn't hurt much in the standings.
William “Bill” Chisholm is set to become the next owner of the Boston Celtics in the largest sale for a North American sports franchise. Chisholm led a group that will buy the team in a $6.1 billion deal, Sportico reported.
“When we announced the sale of the team last July, we noted how important it was to us that the next owner of the Celtics fully appreciated what this team means to the city it represents and its fans far and wide,” current owners Irving and Wyc Grousbeck said in a letter to investors Thursday. “We know that Bill does (quiz him on Celtics trivia if you want to be sure).”
Wyc Grousbeck will stay on as CEO and Governor, overseeing team operations through the 2027-2028 NBA season.
Here’s a quick rundown of what to know about Chisholm, the man set to become the new Celtics owner, pending league approval.
Who is Bill Chisholm?
Chisholm was born and raised in Georgetown, Mass., 30 miles north of Boston. He played soccer at Dartmouth from 1988 to 1991 and then studied at Penn’s Wharton School, joining Bain & Company in 1996.
As an investor, Chisholm is the hands-on manager of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Symphony Technology Group (STG), a private equity firm with roughly $10 billion in assets under management that focuses on developing software businesses. Prior to starting STG in 2002, he also co-founded The Valent Group. Chisholm owns about a quarter of STG with cofounder Romesh Wadhwani holding the rest, according to a 2024 regulatory filing.
The Chisholm family has primarily lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and they have been active in supporting type 1 diabetes research through leadership positions on the local board of Breakthrough T1D, formerly called the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Bill’s wife, Kimberly, is a published author who previously taught at Cal-Berkeley. She discusses literature on YouTube and in online classes.
They also have homes in the Northeast, with the intention of buying property in Boston, according to a report from The Boston Globe.
What is Symphony Technology Group?
According to a 2009 profile of STG by Forbes, the company is known for a traditional private equity approach of seeking to improve portfolio companies’ operations with its in-house know-how. As of 2016, the company boasted more than 15,000 employees. In past interviews, Chisholm has emphasized STG’s single-sector focus, staff of experienced operators and desire to grow or “transform” portfolio companies.
What is Bill Chisholm’s net worth?
Chisholm’s net worth has not been publicly reported. However, STG has continued to grow in recent years. The company debuted on Buyouts’ list of the top 100 PE firms in terms of fundraising, with STG placing 54th thanks to its nearly $10 billion haul across five years.
The STG VI fund, which closed on $2 billion in 2020, generated an IRR of 6.48% as of 2023, Buyouts reported based on public records.
Wadhwani, who stepped aside as STG CEO in 2017, has an estimated net worth of $5 billion.
Who else is buying the Boston Celtics?
Chisholm’s group includes current Celtics stakeholder Rob Hale and Related Companies president Bruce A. Beal Jr., as well as global investment firm Sixth Street. NBA teams are allowed to sell private equity groups up to 30% of each franchise, with no single fund able to own 20% of a club. Controlling owners are required to hold at least 15% of their team.
While Chisholm has yet to address the media, he emphasized the franchise’s role in the Boston community—and his desire to bring more titles to TD Garden—in a statement announcing the sale.
In a separate statement, Wyc Grousbeck said Chisholm “burns with a passion to win on the court.”
The Celtics have signed core players to top-of-the-market deals, with a potential luxury tax bill of $280 million coming due in 2025-26.
The Boston Celtics have won 18 NBA Championships [Getty Images]
A group led by American businessman William Chisholm has agreed to buy iconic basketball team Boston Celtics for a record $6.1bn (£4.7bn).
The amount will represent the highest ever paid for a North American sports franchise, eclipsing the $6bn purchase of the NFL's Washington Commanders in 2023, which due to the exchange rate to sterling at the time equated to £4.8bn.
Last year, Forbes ranked the Celtics - who are owned by the Grousbeck family and partner Steve Pagliuca - as the fourth-most valuable NBA team at $6bn (£4.6bn), with the Golden State Warriors first at an estimated $8.8bn (£6.7bn).
Chisholm, the co-founder and managing partner of California-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group, is from the Boston area and a lifelong fan of the Celtics, who won a record 18th NBA championship last year when beating the Dallas Mavericks.
"Growing up on the North Shore and attending college in New England, I have been a die-hard Celtics fan my entire life," he said.
"I understand how important the Celtics are to the city of Boston - the role the team plays in the community is different than any other city in the country.
"I also understand that there is a responsibility as a leader of the organisation to the people of Boston, and I am up for this challenge."
Wyc Grousbeck and the current ownership group purchased the Celtics for $360m (£277m) in 2002.
Grousbeck is set to remain in his role as chief executive and governor until the end of the 2027-28 season, before Chisholm takes control of team operations.
My impression of Bronny James is that he is very self-aware. From his press conferences to his demeanor on the court, he understands his situation and the opportunities he has gotten, and he is putting in the work to try and make the most of them.
That comes across in a must-read, lengthy interview with The Athletic’s Joe Varden, where Bronny talks about everything with his rookie season. That includes the face-to-face confrontation between his father, LeBron James, and ESPN's Stephen A. Smith after Smith said on air, "I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this." Bronny, taking a page from his father's book, is using this as fuel.
"My first thought about everything is I always try to just let it go through one ear and out the other, put my head down and come to work and be positive every day," Bronny said. "But sometimes it just, it fuels me a little bit. I see everything that people are saying, and people think, like, I'm a f—— robot, like I don't have any feelings or emotions.
"But I just take that and use it as fuel for me to go out, wake up every day and get to the gym early, get my extra work in, watch my extra film every day, get better every day," Bronny continued. "That's what Rob wants me to do as a young guy, coming in, playing in the G League and learning from far on the bench watching the Lakers play."
Nepotism may be frowned upon, but it is as American as apple pie and has long run through the highest levels of power and money in society. Bronny has in the past been open about the chance he was handed — being drafted No. 55 by the Lakers and then given a multi-year NBA contract — but has also said what matters is what he does with that opportunity.
This season, Bronny has gotten better. Lakers coach J.J. Redick discussed Bronny's improved playmaking, while GM Rob Pelinka praised his work ethic. Bronny's defense has always been his strength, it was at the other end of the court where his confidence and skills needed to grow.
"I definitely think I've improved, not only as a player, but just having a different mindset as a player to go out and play my game and play the game that I know how to play," Bronny said. "I feel really good about it — I see the progress."
There has been progress, but there is still a ways to go, especially with his shot, if Bronny is going to eventually crack the Lakers rotation (something that was never expected this season and likely not next season, he was always a project). That was evident recently when he played 16 minutes recently against Denver (in a game where LeBron and Luka Doncic were out). There were positives like a clutch 3-pointer plus a steal, and he got to the foul line at one point, but he also was 1-of-5 shooting on the night. With the South Bay Lakers of the G-League, Bronny is averaging 17.4 points a game, but is shooting just 31% on 3-pointers.
There is a segment of fans who want to pile on Bronny, and while those fans want to hold him up as an example of a larger societal issue, at the core he's just a kid trying to take advantage of his chance. This was never a bad bet by the Lakers, they took him with the No. 55 pick — a spot deep in the draft where actual NBA rotation players are rarely found — and they have him on a cheap contract. Every team has (or should have) multiple developmental projects going on, and Bronny is one of the Lakers' projects.
Whether it works out or not remains to be seen, but give Bronny credit, he is putting in the work.
NBA owners are likely rejoicing over Thursday’s news that the Boston Celtics are being sold for $6.1 billion, the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise. Not only does it help the valuations of their own teams, but it sets the stage for the league’s expected expansion.
Though nothing formal is underway, the NBA looks on course to add multiple teams at some point in the next few years. Commissioner Adam Silver said late last year that the process had “begun internally at the league office,” with the intention to widen it to owners and potential bidders in the future.
Before that, however, certain goals had to be met. First, the league needed labor peace, which it achieved in 2023 with a new seven-year CBA. Then it turned to its media deals. The NBA signed $76 billion worth of deals last July. The Celtics sale could be viewed as a third hurdle, a new benchmark price from which to begin the conversations with potential groups looking to join the league.
The Celtics announced that a group led by William Chisholm has reached a deal to buy the team in multiple stages.
Expansion is essentially selling equity in the league. Expansion fees are shared directly among owners—to offset the dilution of NBA-wide revenue from things like sponsorships and media deals—and in this case could easily be a $150-plus million windfall for the 30 existing teams for each new franchise added.
Speaking at owners meetings in New York in September, Silver slow-played the expansion process.
“There was not a lot of discussion in this meeting about expansion,” he said. “It was something that we told our board we plan to address this season, and we’re not quite ready yet. But I think there’s certainly interest in the process, and I think that we’re not there yet in terms of having made any specific decisions about markets or even frankly to expand.”
It’s unclear if expansion will be a topic at owners meetings in New York later this month. That said, for many in the league it’s a matter of when, not if. And Silver has said that if it were to happen, he would expect it to be two cities.
Seattle and Las Vegas are by far the most discussed potential landing spots. Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Red Sox and Liverpool FC, are interested in Vegas as an NBA market. So too is Golden Knights owner Bill Foley. In Seattle, the $1.15 billion renovation of KeyArena, now Climate Pledge Arena, was viewed as a significant hurdle cleared.
The NBA last expanded in 2004, when the then-Charlotte Bobcats became the league’s 30th franchise. The fee at the time was $300 million. Previous reporting has speculated that the NBA’s next expansion fee might be in the $4 billion to $5 billion range, but that was back when the highest price ever paid for control of an NBA team was $4 billion.
The NHL has added two teams in the past decade—the Golden Knights ($500 million expansion) and the Seattle Kraken ($650 million). The latest expansion teams in MLS have been Charlotte FC ($325 million), St. Louis City SC ($200 million) and San Diego FC ($500 million).
The sale breaks the record of $6 billion paid for the NFL's Washington Commanders. The previous record price for an NBA franchise is $4 billion (what Mat Ishbia paid for the Phoenix Suns).
“Growing up on the North Shore and attending college in New England, I have been a die-hard Celtics fan my entire life,” Chisholm said in a released statement. “I understand how important the Celtics are to the city of Boston – the role the team plays in the community is different than any other city in the country. I also understand that there is a responsibility as a leader of the organization to the people of Boston, and I am up for this challenge.”
“Bill is a terrific person and a true Celtics fan, born and raised here in the Boston area,” team governor Wyc Grousbeck said. “His love for the team and the city of Boston, along with his chemistry with the rest of the Celtics leadership, make him a natural choice to be the next Governor and controlling owner of the team. I know he appreciates the importance of the Celtics and burns with a passion to win on the court while being totally committed to the community. Quite simply, he wants to be a great owner. He has asked me to run the team as CEO and Governor for the first three years, and stay on as his partner, and I am glad to do so.”
The sale still needs to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors (the other owners) but is expected to go through.
Chisholm is purchasing a championship team — Boston won the NBA title a season ago and is among the favorites to win this season. The team is set up to contend for seasons to come, but it's going to get very expensive for ownership to keep the team at that level.
The Celtics were put up for sale last summer by the majority owner Grousbeck family, which had a controlling interest in the Boston Basketball Partners, a group of investors who owned the team. Wyc Grousbeck is the face and team governor, but his father, Irving Grousbeck, 90, was the largest single owner in the family (about 20% of the team) and reportedly had pushed for the sale.
The Grousbecks surprised the NBA last July with the announcement they were selling a 51% interest in the team and want to do so in phases, starting now and running until 2028, with Wyc Grousbeck remaining the team's governor until then. Whether Chisolm or the NBA — which just saw a messy sale of the Milwaukee Bucks to Mark Lore and Alex Rodriguez in part because of a dragged-out sale — will want this sale to close sooner remains to be seen.
Chisholm is the managing partner of Symphony Technology Group (STG), a San Francisco-based private equity firm that invests in "market leaders across the mid-market software and software-enabled tech services landscape," according to its website. RSA and SurveyMonkey are among the better-known companies in the STG portfolio.
The NBA was hoping for a $6 billion or higher price tag for the sale because it will impact the buy-in price for expansion, if the NBA still plans to continue down that road. The Grousbeck and partners purchased the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million.
Beyond the purchase price, owning Celtics could be very expensive, both on and off the court, in the coming years.
On the court, keeping the Celtics' championship core together will send the team deep into the tax apron. Jaylen Brown's new max contract kicked in this season, and next season Jayson Tatum's already signed max contract begins (2025-26), plus next season there is $32.4 million to Jrue Holiday, $30.7 million for Kristaps Porzingis, $28.7 million for Derrick White and dealing with free agents like Al Horford and Luke Kornet. Payroll and taxes are expected to come out to $252 million for the Celtics this season (fourth most in the league), and that is expected to balloon up to more than $450 million for the 2025-26 season (when the repeater tax kicks in with a vengeance).
Off the court, the Celtics don't own TD Garden (it is owned by the same group that owns the NHL's Boston Bruins). There is speculation that part of the reason Chisholm purchased the team is to use them in a real estate deal to build a new arena (and likely some retail and other infrastructure around it, depending on the exact location).
The Boston Celtics are the reigning NBA champions. Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP
A group led by Bill Chisholm, the founder of private equity firm Symphony Technology Group, has agreed a deal to buy the Boston Celtics for $6.1bn, according to ESPN.
The deal would be a record sum for a US sports franchise: a group led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders for $6.05bn in 2023.
The Celtics’ current owners, the Grousbeck family, said last June that they intended to sell the team in 2024 or 2025. ESPN reports that Wyc Grousbeck will continue as the team’s CEO until the end of the 2027-28 season.
The sale would represent a huge return in investment for the Grousbecks and partner Steve Pagliuca: they led a group that bought the team for $360m in 2002. Pagliuca had hoped to take sole ownership of the Celtics but was outbid by Chisholm. On Thursday, he said he was “saddened to find out that we have not been selected in the process.”
The Celtics are one of the NBA’s blue chip franchises. They have won a record 18 championships, including their win in last season’s NBA finals over the Dallas Mavericks. Their core of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porziņģis are still in their prime but Tatum, Boston’s best player, is due a huge payday and keeping the roster together in the long-term could prove difficult. However, this season has been a strong one for the Celtics and they sit second in the NBA Eastern Conference.
The NBA is also in rude financial health. Although audience figures have been slightly down this year, the league agreed a new $76bn 11-year broadcasting deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon in 2024.
Last year, Forbes ranked the Celtics as the fourth-most valuable NBA team at $6bn. The Golden State Warriors were ranked No 1 with an estimated value of $8.8bn.
Chisholm is a Celtics fan and grew up in the Boston area.
