Celtics owner planning for interesting arrangement with sale of team

Wyc Grousbeck may be planning to take a step back, but he will not be stepping away entirely.

The Boston Celtics owner Grousbeck shared a noteworthy update on his planned sale of the team in an interview this week with the Boston Globe. Grousbeck said he intends to sell a 51 percent stake in the Celtics initially and remain as governor of the team until closing the rest of the deal in 2028.

“I’m planning to be in this position again, exactly this position as governor going forward for a while,” said Grousbeck. “The family and I have agreed that we’ll ask the eventual buyer for this transition period, and it feels right to me, and we hope that we can make it happen going forward.”

Grousbeck also said in the interview that the sale process is progressing and conversations are now being had with interested buyers (with bidding set to start within “the next month or so”). You can read his full interview here.

The 63-year-old Grousbeck first purchased the Celtics in 2002 as part of a group that also included his father Irv (who is now 90 years old). Grousbeck announced over the summer that he intended to sell the franchise, shortly after the Celtics won their NBA-record 18th championship.

It is unclear at this point who the front-runner is to purchase the Celtics as rumors of a Jeff Bezos bid have since been shot down and a possible run by Fenway Sports Group may be a non-starter too. But whoever the new buyer ends up being, it sounds like they will have to abide by the transition period that Grousbeck is planning for.