BOSTON (AP) — The ownership group that controls the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics says it intends to sell all its shares of the team.
In a statement released Monday, Boston Basketball Partners LLC said it intends to sell the majority of its shares in 2024 or early 2025. The balance of its shares would then close in 2028.
Wyc Grousbeck, whose family leads the ownership group, is expected to remain the team’s NBA governor until the sale is complete.
“The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations,” the statement said.
The Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last month to capture the franchise's 18th championship.
Boston Basketball Partners —- led by venture capitalist Grousbeck, his father and investor H. Irving Grousbeck, along with venture capitalist Steve Pagliuca — purchased the Celtics for $360 million from the Gaston family in 2002. The Gastons had previously owned the team since 1983.
One of the NBA’s original and storied brands, the Celtics were valued at $4.7 billion last year by Forbes, placing it behind only the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 million) and Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion).
The current ownership group was in charge when the Celtics won the NBA title in 2008.
In an email to Celtics staff that was obtained by The Associated Press, Wyc Grousbeck wrote they are “committed to finding a worthy incoming ownership group who will guide the Celtics to more decades of success.”
He added: “There will be a thoughtful and thorough process to find a buyer that recognizes the importance of Celtic Pride on the court and in the community.”
Last year, the Phoenix Suns were purchased by mortgage firm owner Mat Ishbia for $4 billion. That was followed by the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion. Last November, Mark Cuban agreed to the sale of the majority of his Dallas Mavericks' ownership shares to Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont, who operates the Las Vegas Sands casino company, for $3.5 million.
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Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck raises the trophy after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA basketball finals, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, right, and Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, center, celebrate their NBA basketball championship with a duck boat parade Friday, June 21, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters lined roads to keep flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on a growing wildfire Wednesday in Northern California that has forced at least 13,000 people to evacuate, with another day of extreme heat expected.
The Thompson fire broke out before noon Tuesday about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Sacramento, in and around the city of Oroville, in Butte County. It sent up a huge plume of smoke and grew to nearly 4.7 square miles (12.1 square kilometers) by Wednesday morning. It was zero percent contained.
A state of emergency was declared Tuesday night by the city of about 20,000 people along the Feather River at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. Evacuation centers were set up at a church and the county fairgrounds.
There was no immediate official report on property losses. An Associated Press photographer saw fire burn three adjacent suburban-style homes in Oroville.
The fire ignited sprigs of grass poking from the concrete edges of Lake Oroville as gusty winds whipped up American flags lining a bend of the state’s second largest reservoir and the nation’s tallest dam.
Residents stood on hillsides in the night, watching the orange glow, as aircraft made water drops to keep the fire from spreading. A crew of more than a dozen firefighters saved one home as goats and other farm animals ran to find safety.
The fire's cause is being investigated. Red flag warnings for critical fire weather conditions, including gusty northerly winds and low humidity levels, were in effect when it erupted.
The warnings were expected to remain in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday, said Garret Sjolund, the Butte County unit chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“The conditions out there that are in our county this summer are much different than we’ve experienced the last two summers,” Sjolund said in an online briefing. “The fuels are very dense, brush is dry. And as you can see, any wind will, move a fire out very quickly.”
More high temperatures above 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) were forecast Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Hot conditions were expected to continue into next week.
Authorities warned of full legal consequences for any illegal use of fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday.
“Don’t be an idiot, cause a fire and create more problems for us,” said Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea. ”No one in the community is going to want that. And we certainly don’t want this."
The governor’s office announced late Tuesday that federal funding had been approved to help with firefighting efforts. Gov. Gavin Newsom this week activated the State Operations Center to coordinate California’s response, dispatch mutual aid and support communities as they respond to threats of wildfire and excessive heat.
More than a dozen other fires, most of them small, were active in California, according to Cal Fire. The largest, the Basin Fire, covered nearly 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County and was 26% contained.
Antczak reported from Los Angeles.
Firefighters battle the Thompson Fire burning in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter runs while battling the Thompson Fire burning in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A home is seen engulfed in flames during the Thompson Fire in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Flames are seen on a ridge at the Potters Ravine Recreation Area near Lake Oroville during the Thompson Fire in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Rocco Olhiser, a firefighter with the Colusa Fire Department, carries a hose while battling the Thompson fire in Oroville, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Rocco Olhiser, a firefighter with the Colusa Fire Department, center, douses water on a burning tree while battling the Thompson fire in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A night flying helicopter drops water on flames as the Thompson Fire burns, Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Oroville, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A helicopter flies over the Thompson Fire as it burns above Lake Oroville in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames consume a garage as the Thompson Fire burns in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
