In A Shocking Twist, Wyc Grousbeck Will No Longer Stay On As Governor As Part Of The Celtics $6 Billion Dollar Sale

Billie Weiss. Getty Images.

Uhhhhhhhhh holy shit??????

OK, so there's a lot to digest here. For starters, how about that Shams bomb from the clouds? I swear to God every single Celtics related tweet from that guy this entire summer has been nothing but disaster after disaster (excluding the Joe extension). At what point is it enough? How much more can we take?

With reports that the voting to complete the sale of the Celtics is taking place right around now, so I suppose this is the time for details like this to come out, but make no mistake about it, this is massive. While the transition to a new ownership group is always a little nerve-wracking, at least for me there was always this sense of calm that Wyc was still going to be involved. Even if it was mostly for show, the fact that he was going to be in the room for things and could help guide Bill Chisholm through certain decisions was comforting. I mean, he's easily the best Celtics owner of my lifetime, he brought me two titles and some of the best teams in franchise history. I think it goes without saying that Wyc and his partners were about as ideal as it gets in terms of an ownership group that not only knew what it meant to own the Boston Celtics, but that they were committed to winning.

But I also think when we first heard the news of this $6B sale, that it wasn't a stretch to suggest that a guy dishing out that kind of cash was going to want to be the big dick in the room and be "THE GUY". It was maybe a little far-fetched to think Bill Chisholm was going to pay all that money just for Wyc to be the one making the decisions. So even though something like this was probably inevitable, that doesn't make it any less of a shock that it actually happened.

As a fan, I can't lie, this terrifies me. Something like this doesn't automatically mean Chisholm can't or won't be a good owner, but it does make me nervous. All the selling off pieces this summer were whatever, those were moves we knew were coming the second Brad handed out all those max extensions after the Celts title, but winning in the NBA is hard. Building a sustainable winner is even harder. Plenty of owners can come in, throw money around, think that solves everything, and that's just not how things work. Just look at the Suns since Mat Ishbia took over. 

For all we know, Chisholm wants to strip everything down and Wyc didn't, and that's why we're here. Or, maybe Wyc decided to just take the $6B and ride off into the sunset. Or maybe this is like a Mark Cuban situation where he thought he was going to be involved, only to be blindsided once the sale went through. My guess is we'll never know the full details of how this all went down, but it's certainly not ideal. 

I will say the pressure is now on Bill Chisholm. I think most fans are fine with this current reset and "gap year" given Tatum's injury and the 2nd apron penalties. That's all fine and good, for one year. But after 2025-26, it's time for Chisholm to step up and be the type of owner this fanbase and franchise deserves. He said all the right things when the sale first happened, and now Wyc is no longer around to be the shield for him. Anything and everything now falls on his shoulders. 

Now that we know this is truly the end for Wyc, as a Celtics fan all I can really say is thank you. The best owner of my lifetime, what he and Pags did for this franchise will be remembered forever. When it came time to spend, Wyc (really his Dad but whatever) spent. When it came to making blockbuster moves, Wyc made the tough calls. It sucks that his voice won't be in the room anymore given all his experience as an owner, but that's life I guess.

Keep this all in mind when it comes to the Lakers' sale too. That was another deal where they were sold for $10B, and Jeanie Buss was going to stay on and serve as governor. As we're finding out, that might all just be a crock of shit.