Bill Simmons Can’t Wrap Head Around ‘Crazy’ Part Of Celtics Sale

Bill Chisholm went from virtual unknown to one of the most intriguing people in recent Boston sports history on Thursday when he agreed to buy the Celtics for a whopping $6.1 billion.

On top of that record-breaking price Chisholm is willing to pay the Grousbeck family to purchase the most successful franchise in NBA history, there’s a perplexing development that came out of Thursday’s announcement. Even after the sale is finalized, current team governor Wyc Grousbeck is expected to stay on in that role for the next few seasons as the transition is made.

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, who knows as much about the Celtics as maybe anyone else on earth, was left scratching his head by the development. Simmons was puzzled by the odd power dynamic, even noting it was a bit strange to see Grousbeck’s statement come before Chisholm’s in the press release. In a discussion with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Simmons wondered aloud how long this temporary arrangement might last.

“Here’s one of the many things I don’t get about this — for that kind of price, you’re not going to quote-unquote be the governor for the first three years?” Simmons quipped. ” … I just find it hard to believe you’re going to buy this team, do the victory lap, do the press conference, figure out where your tickets are (and) then have these huge decisions like ‘Oh my god, if we get bounced in Round 2 of the playoffs, we’re losing a (buttload) of money on top of this $200 million luxury tax bill that’s coming, let me just turn all the decision-making stuff over to Wyc.

“That seems crazy, and we haven’t seen it happen in anything else.”

Mannix agreed, expressing a high level of skepticism that this arranged marriage could last three years.

“I’m skeptical,” Mannix admitted. “There are just too many personnel decisions, financial decisions, to just fork over to somebody who’s going to eventually sell you the rest of the team. … Eventually, something is going to come up to cause fissures between these two sides. There’s just too much money at stake for me to believe it’s going to be this lasting (partnership).”

As to why Chisholm would agree to that on top of the $6.1 billion, Mannix pointed to a robust bidding market for the team as proof Chisholm might not have even had the choice.

“There were people who wanted this team, and I’m sure Wyc leveraged that and used it to his advantage,” Mannix sad. “Said, ‘All right, if you want to buy this team and put up the valuation of $6.1 billion, but you’re also going to do X, Y and Z,’ and that’s what I think they were forced to stomach in order to gain control of this team.”

Both Simmons and Mannix agreed it was possible Grousbeck would stay on as some sort of limited partner with an ownership stake in the team. Regardless of that, though, how his partnership with Chisholm plays out over the next few years will be fascinating.