New Celtics principal owner Bill Chisholm gave his first press conference today, along with alternate governor Aditya Mittal, Wyc Grousbeck, Rich Gotham, and Brad Stevens. The extended press conference lasted about 40 minutes, covering a wide range of topics. Here’s all the big stuff he talked about, followed by my reaction.
ON THE POWER STRUCTURE OF THE OWNERSHIP’S MANAGING BOARD
“First I'd just say that my approach to leadership and the way that I've approached that all my life is through consensus. We've got a great team and both when you ask about basketball, but I'd also speak the same way about the business operations team as well. So Brad and Rich are great leaders. At the end of the day, I am accountable and there is a governor and the governor has the final say and that's me.”
FOLLOW UP: “BRAD STEVENS COMES TO YOU WITH A MATTER THAT REQUIRES OWNERSHIP APPROVAL, WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT GOES OR IF SEVEN OTHERS ON YOUR BOARD VOTE DIFFERENTLY, OR IS IT YOUR OPINION THAT MATTERS?”
“I think the way to think about it is that when we're kind of working through things, we're doing that as a group and really Wyc and myself are that final gate, but ultimately I'm the one that’s accountable. And to be very clear, that is the final say.”
KARALIS’ ANALYSIS: For clarity, these were my questions to open the festivities. The most important thing, to me, in this transition was to nail down who in the new ownership group had final say. Is it Chisholm as the primary owner and governor of the team, or can any number of the seven other members of the Managing Board band together to out-vote him on basketball matters?
Chisholm made it clear with his answer that his call is the final one.
This is important because I think we deserve to know who is making the final call. The last thing any pro franchise needs is a splintered ownership with mixed messages. This will be incredibly important as we move through these next few seasons.
Will they continue to pay the tax? Will they approve a major trade? Will the current coaching and front office staff have ownership support as they eventually wade through a rebuild? Chisholm has now accepted the mantle of responsibility, so he will be the one answering all the questions as to why certain things are happening.
And as a point of clarification, according to Chisholm, the second phase of the sale is just a matter of funding what has been agreed upon. His stake in the Celtics doesn’t change. My interpretation of this is that the entire structure of the deal is done, but the finer points of how certain people actually get the cash in hand is still being worked on. Essentially, the drawing is complete and they're halfway done coloring it in … as opposed to half the drawing being finished and they still have to outline the other half.
One of the things fans want from ownership is accountability. Chisholm has accepted that.
“Yeah, I think, you take the good with the bad,” he said. “I have to be accountable here, and I signed up for that. I thought long and hard about it. This took a year, that’s a lot of time to think about it. And yeah, I believe I’m up of that challenge. But I know it'll be challenging at times. And I thought about that. My family thought about that, and you know, we're all in.”
ON PAYING THE LUXURY TAX THIS SEASON
Brad Stevens: “It’s a good question. I think obviously, if you looked at this summer and you look at how we move forward, the summer demanded a reset under the second apron. If you go back to the Derrick White trade, the (Kristaps) Porzingis or (Jrue) Holiday trades when they came here, those wouldn’t be able to happen if you’re over the second apron because you can’t aggregate contracts and you can’t take more money back than you send out, right? So you have to give yourself the flexibility and opportunity to jump at the right deals. You don’t always know when those are going to present themselves. So the second apron was the key. After that, we’re looking at it from the standpoint of, let’s see what this team looks like, let’s put our very best foot forward, let’s let Joe (Mazzulla), the staff, the players — let’s all work to maximize ourself, with an attitude of no ceilings and no limitations, and go after it. And we’ll evaluate the roster like we always will as the year goes on, but there’s no tax goal. There’s nothing set in stone that we have to get to a certain level. Obviously, where we were earlier this summer, it’s not close to where we are now, and listen, we’ve said goodbye to awesome people and really good players. But I think we’ve added people that are excited to add their strengths together and see what we can do. And so we’re looking forward to that.”
Chisholm: “I mean, let’s go for it, but let’s do it in a reasonable way. My goal and my high-level direction to Brad and the team is let’s do whatever we can to win a championship and raise banners, and raise as many as we can, both in the near term and also in the medium to the long term, as well. So definitely taking that approach, and the flexibility that Brad talked about, I think that’s paramount to doing that. But ultimately, we’re going to do everything we can to win. That is job No. 1. And not just win games — win championships.”
KARALIS’ ANALYSIS: It doesn’t seem like there's a big push to get under the tax this season. The “do it in a reasonable way” might stand out, but I do want to make clear that this was also Wyc Grousbeck’s approach. I’ve made the “Wyc should spend more money this season” argument before and I’ll probably make one about Chisholm as well. I will also say that the Celtics' approach, in retrospect, has been reasonable. They have never let spending get in the way of building a contender, though there has been some middle ground where spending a little more probably could make the team better than it was.
Moving forward, though, under this system, that middle ground of spending can be much more damaging. Grousbeck, who helped create the current CBA, addressed that.
“We have to have teams competing on a basically even financial keel, no matter who owns them and then have the best front office and the best good luck, probably, as well, the best players,” he said. “It was very purposeful and intentional to keep building the parity in the league. … I foreshadowed this before the sale that you go up two years, maybe at most three and then you got to come back down. My prediction was you are going to see that for the next 40 years. As long as these rules are in the league, teams are going to pop up as best they can and then they are going to be so strangled on purpose.”
So spending for the sake of spending isn’t going to happen, nor should it in this current environment. At the same time, the Celtics don’t want to make a move this summer based strictly on finances that can cost them a useful player over their few remaining years of contention.
ON HIS LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT AS AN OWNER
“I mean on the day to day we have the right people in place to make those decisions, I want to be supportive of Brad and Rich and their teams. I'll do whatever it takes. On the patience point I would say I think patience is important and I think there's a strategy there's a gameplan we've kind of laid out here that makes a ton of sense. On the other hand like Brad says this and we agree, I don't want to put any ceilings on the team in terms of what we can accomplish. We can get better at everything every single day even without Jayson.”
…
“I’m a huge fan, first of all, so I'm so excited to be there and have the best seat in the house, frankly. So I will absolutely be (at games). I will do whatever it takes, whatever the Boston Celtics need me to do. If they need me to be doing press conferences every day, I'll do them. If they need to stay out of the way, I'll do that. I feel like I have enough self-awareness to know where I can be helpful and know where to get out of the way. And the biggest thing I think I can bring is support to folks on the stage.”
KARALIS’ ANALYSIS: I think everyone hopes he’s true to his word here.
I think the requirements of an owner are simple: Don’t get in the way.
That means spend when it’s time to spend and then let the people in their jobs do their jobs. Be there to support the team to show the players you give a crap, and everyone will be happy.
ON EXPLORING A POTENTIAL NEW EVENTUAL HOME FOR THE CELTICS
“I don’t have a specific point of view on it. I have some sort of philosophical perspective on it. So the first thing is, I really like Boston Garden, personally. I think that the team and the players really like the Boston Garden and equally importantly, the fans really like the Boston Garden. So that's a starting point. Second thing is, you know, I think the Celtics and the Bruins, they belong together, so that's another part of the equation as well. And then the third thing is, we are 100 percent committed to creating the best fan experience possible, and we'll take a look at it where that is, but we've got a great thing going right now.”
KARALIS’ ANALYSIS: This is the standard answer you’d expect for a team with another decade on its lease.
They are certainly happy where they are, basketball-wise. TD Garden is still one of the better buildings in the league and it’s in a great location.
The big issue, obviously, is getting some of the revenue from the days they don’t play. The key sentence in there is how the Celtics and Bruins belong together. If the Celtics are looking for something new, it might end up being something in partnership with their current landlords.
I’m not sure how that would work, but the TD Garden will … eventually … need to be replaced. I’ll be curious to see what kind of sales job Chisholm can pull with Delaware North and the Jacobs family to pursue something like that.
ON BRINGING THE WNBA TO BOSTON
"First of all I think Boston should have a team. This is the best sports city in the country and this is the birthplace of basketball so we should have a team. Getting this done, we've been at it now in this seat for a month or so it's definitely something we're going to look at and the NBA has a process, we'll do what we can to expedite things, but this is a process there. But philosophically it makes so much sense.”
KARALIS’ ANALYSIS: He danced around this as best he could. I don’t know how much he’s dying to light this powder keg right now, but he’s been roped into it by the league.
I think part of what makes Chisholm attractive as an owner of a WNBA team in Boston is that it will take a while for it to come together. The WNBA clearly has a plan, and that involves the Connecticut Sun moving to Houston, other expansion teams getting up and running, and then Boston paying an expansion fee to get a new team with Celtics ties.
Chisholm isn’t ready to get into that business quite yet.