NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league is willing to consider a potential sale of the Boston Celtics that includes a stepped path to control, in keeping with the stated wishes of the team’s current ownership group.
That’s notable because the most recent NBA franchise sale to happen in set tiers—the one involving the Minnesota Timberwolves—is currently locked in a legal battle over the third payment, which would have transferred control of the team from Glen Taylor to a group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. Silver said in April that the league might have to “reassess” its approach to such transactions moving forward.
Speaking to reporters following owners meetings in New York on Tuesday, Silver said the league has told the Celtics that it would look at any proposed sale structure on a “unique basis.”
“Every one of these situations presents itself differently,” Silver said. “It remains the case of what I said philosophically about stepped transactions [in April], but the devil’s in the details.”
The Celtics ownership group, led by the Grousbeck family, announced in July it would sell control of the team due to “estate and family planning purposes.”
Wyc Grousbeck, the team’s governor, later said the family would like to sell the team in two phases: 51% immediately and then the rest in 2028, with the provision that he stay in control until the second transaction closes.
The group has retained JPMorgan Chase and BDT & MSD to assist with the transaction, which could set a record for the most ever paid for control of an NBA team. The franchise is worth $5.12 billion, according to Sportico’s most recent valuations, good for fourth in the league.