Curry injured in Warriors win + New owners for the Boston Celtics

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – Episode Summary
Release Date: March 21, 2025

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Warriors vs. Raptors: A Narrow Victory and Curry's Injury

Game Overview
In a tightly contested matchup, the Golden State Warriors edged out the Toronto Raptors with a final score of 117-114. Despite the Warriors securing the win, the spotlight was firmly on Steph Curry, who sustained an injury during the game.

Steph Curry’s Injury
At [03:17], host Marcus Thompson highlighted the critical moment when Curry fell hard, "[...] Steph Curry fell just directly on his backside. And it was one of the louder falls that I've heard on an NBA broadcast."
Jared Weiss elaborated on the severity of the fall at [04:05], stating, "Like, we heard that in arena. It's one of them falls where the moment it happens, you immediately react like your body's like, oh, like, ah. Yeah, that. That hurt."
Despite the immediate concern, [04:25] Jared provided a glimmer of hope: "Steve Kerr says Steph was trying to get back in the game." However, with Rick Celebrini, Warriors’ Head of Sports Performance, known for his cautious approach, the team opted to have Curry undergo an MRI post-game to assess the extent of the injury.

Implications for the Warriors
The injury raises questions about Curry's availability for the upcoming games, particularly the Tuesday game in Miami against a returning Jimmy Butler. Jared Weiss speculated, "I see them holding them out at least until the Tuesday game in Miami, because that'll give them, like, they've got several days until Jimmy Butler's return."
The Warriors' strategy without Curry has been a topic of discussion, especially regarding Draymond Green's shooting performance, which was underwhelming at [06:21], "Draymond Green goes 5 of 14 from 3 in this game." This performance is part of a growing trend where Green takes more shots, impacting the team's overall dynamics.

Celtics Sold for a Record $6.1 Billion to New Owners

Details of the Sale
In a landmark deal, the Boston Celtics have been sold for a staggering $6.1 billion, marking it as one of the most expensive transactions in NBA history. At [21:17], host Marcus Thompson introduced the news, "The Celtics have sold for how much money? Record $6.1 billion."

New Ownership Group
The new majority owner is Bill Chisum, a native of Northern Massachusetts and a seasoned private equity investor from the North Shore. Chisum's commitment to the team is evident, as he plans to retain control until 2028 before fully transferring ownership. At [22:44], Jared Weiss added, "He grew up a Celtics fan. He went out west and made a lot of money as a private equity guy, and now he's coming back east to buy his boyhood club."

Implications for Team Management
Despite the change in ownership, the current management and coaching staff are expected to remain intact. [27:29] Jared Weiss assured listeners, "Brad is one of the most respected people in the basketball world and he is clearly proven that his approach has worked very well." This continuity is crucial for maintaining the Celtics' competitive edge.

Potential Challenges and Future Directions
The involvement of a private equity group, which already holds stakes in three other NBA teams, introduces complexities regarding managerial responsibilities and potential conflicts of interest. At [24:39], Dave DuFour noted, "That's why the guardrails on managerial responsibility have to be really strong."
Looking ahead, the Celtics face challenges related to player contracts and team composition, especially concerning aging stars like Jrue Holiday and the need for a sustainable starting center. Marcus Thompson speculated on the future, "They can take out some of the older guys, which is what you're supposed to do when you're trying to sustain a contender."

Other Notable NBA Developments

Knicks’ Disappointing Performance
The New York Knicks suffered a humiliating defeat against the Charlotte Hornets, losing 115-98. Marcus Thompson expressed his skepticism about the Knicks' playoff prospects, especially with key players like Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama sidelined.

Bucks vs. Lakers Blowout
In another game, the Milwaukee Bucks dominated the Los Angeles Lakers, primarily due to the absence of five of the Lakers' top six scorers. Despite the Lakers' struggles, Rahul Donning highlighted the broader issue of star players frequently sitting out games, which can undermine the competitive integrity of the league.

NBA Expansion Talks
The Celtics' record-breaking sale has reignited conversations about NBA expansion. With franchise fees soaring, discussions are underway about adding new teams in lucrative markets like Seattle and potentially Mexico City. Dave DuFour emphasized the importance of breaking existing records to set new standards for future expansions.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Athletic NBA Daily provided a comprehensive overview of significant NBA events, focusing on the Golden State Warriors' narrow victory amid Steph Curry's injury and the Boston Celtics' monumental sale to new ownership. The discussions between Marcus Thompson and Jared Weiss offered deep insights into the implications of these developments, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the teams involved.

Notable Quotes:

• Marcus Thompson [03:17]: "Steph Curry fell just directly on his backside. And it was one of the louder falls that I've heard on an NBA broadcast."

• Jared Weiss [04:05]: "Like, we heard that in arena. It's one of them falls where the moment it happens, you immediately react like your body's like, oh, like, ah. Yeah, that. That hurt."

• Jared Weiss [21:21]: "Yeah, it's a lot."

• Dave DuFour [24:45]: "They have conflicts of interest."

• Marcus Thompson [33:06]: "If you want to put your team in Seattle, put your team in Las Vegas."

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Stay tuned to The Athletic NBA Daily for more in-depth analysis and updates from the world of professional basketball.

Transcript

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[Marcus Thompson]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily. Coming up, the warriors survived The Raptors. But Steph Curry goes down in the process. We got Marcus Thompson here to talk about that. And a little bit around the night that was. And I caught up with Jared Weiss to talk a little bit about the Celtics sale. $6.1 billion, folks. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Marcus. Appreciate you staying up late there after the warriors beat the Raptors.

[Jared Weiss]

Look, this ain't late.

[Marcus Thompson]

It's late. Listen, it's late to me, man. I like to sleep. The biggest news from the game isn't that the warriors won. Look, they're supposed to win. They're supposed to beat the Raptors. As a matter of fact, we could maybe get into why this game was so close. But the biggest news, with about 3 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Steph Curry fell just directly on his backside. And it was one of the louder falls that I've heard on an NBA broadcast. You were in the arena.

[Jared Weiss]

You were.

[Marcus Thompson]

You were talking to these guys post game. What's the. What's the latest right after the game on Steph and. And his butt.

[Jared Weiss]

And his butt. Let's talk about Steph's butt.

[Marcus Thompson]

Usually it's Kyle Lowry when we're having these conversations.

[Jared Weiss]

Exactly right. First off, man, that thing. Well, he fell hard.

[Marcus Thompson]

Hard.

[Jared Weiss]

Like, we heard that in arena. It's one of them falls where the moment it happens, you immediately react like your body's like, oh, like, ah. Yeah, that. That hurt. And. And he definitely felt that he was down. Now, good news. The good news coming out of it afterwards is Steve Kerr says Steph was trying to get back in the game.

[Marcus Thompson]

Right.

[Jared Weiss]

Right. And perhaps in another scenario, he would have been able to play. But Rick Celebrini, the Warriors, like, head of Sports Performance, like, he. He's not. He don't play around with this stuff. Right.

[Dave]

He's.

[Jared Weiss]

He's the most cautious, and he's like, yeah, nah. So now the question becomes. He's having an mri. He was. He had one immediately after the game. So we'll get the results from that. But the question was, did he. Was he able to. Was he thinking about coming back? Because it wasn't that bad. It's just like a bruise. Or was he trying to come back because the adrenaline was kicking? And after the adrenaline rose off, we. We'll know how bad this thing was. We. We've seen both scenarios with Stephen. He has a lot of pride, Dave, a lot of pride. He just doesn't. He hates leaving games. He hates being hurt. You know, it's all like, PTSD from the early part of his career when he was always hurt. So if Steph could play, he's gonna try to play. So more on playing later. Yeah, he's gonna try to play, so they have to protect him from himself a lot. I just see. I see them holding them out at least until the Tuesday game in Miami, because that'll give them, like, they've got a. Several days until Jimmy Butler's return. It's gonna be tough to keep him off the court for that one.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah, I definitely think he's gonna want to be there for that. Let's talk a little bit about the game, because the warriors did wind up winning this. It was 117, 114. And. And I said, you know, look, it was closer than it needed to be. And part of that was because of the strategy that the Raptors employed. And, you know, we're seeing the. The Andre Roberson defense come back where it's pick the worst shooter on the other team, make them shoot. Draymond Green goes 5 of 14 from 3 in this game. And th. This is like another game. Like, it's now a trend. They're letting Draymond shoot, and he's just letting it fly. I. I think, number one, that's a great thing. Like, he's got to shoot. That's a big problem.

[Jared Weiss]

Jimmy said, yeah, right.

[Marcus Thompson]

He's got to shoot him. And especially this is the. This is the other thing, because Jimmy Butler's out there, and the space that he likes to operate and create from it interferes a little bit with the space that Draymond likes to operate in offensively sometimes. So I think this game is a pretty good example of how these guys can actually work together. If Draymond's willing to shoot, would you think about, you know, what we've seen from them between the. You know, the. The game without Steph where they won't get a win, and then this step. This game where they finish without Steph and pick up the win. What do you think about that so far, making up for Steph's absence?

[Jared Weiss]

It's. It's a little odd, you know, because I feel like these are games where. As old as they are.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

You might want to put teams away and chill out in the fourth quarter, Right?

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

And, look, I'm not saying Steph got hurt because it was a close game, but if you are much more comfortably ahead, you can start sitting guys and you can avoid, like, exposure to this type of stuff. But as it was, Steph is driving in a game that they're down and he's got to try to figure out a way to make something happens. Right. And to me, that's the type of thing that you would think like, hey, just beat these guys. And we've seen this the entire time, even with Jimmy. Even if they, even though they win just about all of these games, say for, you know, against Denver, it's, it's a fight. It's a fight to the end. So on one hand it's like you got a 37 year old, two 35 year olds, you might want to put some teams away. You might not want to let the Raptors shoot 60 from the field most of the game.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

The other part is, look, they got not a lot of new parts. Not only is Jonathan Kaminga basically new after missing, you know, 30 something, 30 games, Jimmy is new. Quentin Post is now basically in the rotation. So that's kind of new. And now they're all just learning how to win together. So the other part is like, yeah, they kind of might need these type of games. So it's a bit of a catch 22. I don't know how to play it, like how to. I guess we'll know later, like if this is bad or if this is like what they need. But they also just really got to get comfortable with what to do without Steph. Because I've been saying this all year, the dude is 37 and you could forget that just because the way he played, the way he moves, but injuries last a little bit longer. He's dealing with back, he's dealing with knee tendonitis. You just got to be smart about it. He shouldn't be playing 75 games anyway. So at some point he's gonna have to sit a couple. At some point, Drakemon's gonna have to sit a couple. At some point Jimmy's gonna have to sit a couple. And how do they operate with that? It's not as smooth as you would think with Jimmy. When Steph is out, you thought it would be they gots her number two, right. It's good.

[Marcus Thompson]

No, I didn't think it would be actually.

[Jared Weiss]

Mar you actually, I actually listen to you on that. A lot of people think, hey, you get another superstar, it's good. But Jimmy's not that kind of player.

[Dave]

Right.

[Marcus Thompson]

But the thing is he's a great, he's a great player. The ball's never going to get stuck. He's so. He's the one of the highest level connectors in the NBA. Like it's usually guys like Steve Kerr I know, but it's one of the guys, you know, like. But the thing is the space he operates in, you know, with him. And when you get Draymond and you get Kuminga out there at the same time, like we saw the other night, I mean, Gary Payton II was out there. That, to me, felt like Steve Kerr saying, hey, you know what? You guys were going to run into this at some point. We got to figure this out, so just go do it.

[Jared Weiss]

And.

[Marcus Thompson]

And I think they've done okay. Part of that is that you've got Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green as two of the highest IQ guys when it comes to just knowing spots to be on the court on both ends. Those guys down the stretch defensively, both made a play to. To win the game. Draymond Green breaks up that one transition pass. That was for an alley oop. Jimmy Butler gets a. A big block at the rim.

[Jared Weiss]

He pulled out the hops for that day. He was up there.

[Marcus Thompson]

That was impressive to me, Marcus. Like, this is the sort of stuff that I'm putting in my notebook, and I'm saying, all right, now the warriors have two guys that can do this defensively and not just Draymond all the time. And that's where I think that their ceiling is limitless. It's a defensive end. If the offense because. Because of the spacing concerns, I. I do think Steph obviously has to be out there, but I don't know that they have a solution. And Quentin Post going six of nine from three is a great sign. That's awesome. But, like, Marcus, do you think Quentin Post, come playoff time, as a guy that's going to be getting, like, minutes because he can make shots? I mean, that feels like that's a stretch, actually.

[Jared Weiss]

No, I. Do you know why? He's an older rookie.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

He's not, like, he's not 19, 20, like, the dude. Right.

[Marcus Thompson]

He's Dutch, too, by the way, so he's, like, well seasoned as a human being, no question.

[Jared Weiss]

Yeah. He's 24 going on 30, right? Like, there was a moment, you know, he's a rookie. He just really started playing. You know, it's a close game. He's at the free throw line, and he turns to the crowd, he gets everybody up. It's like, hey, you know, like, he ain't scared at a moment. He talks. He. He'll talk after he hits the three. And look, the dude is a shooter. Like, he's a real shooter. Like, he's a legit shooter. He's knocking him down if you give it to him. So I think he's gonna play. They just love the way he competes. To me, they're better. Like when Steph is out of the game, the IQ part you're talking about.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

Plays to their advantage because now you basically got a straight up defense, you know what I'm saying? So.

[Marcus Thompson]

That's right.

[Jared Weiss]

It's not a gimmick. So they can kind of manipulate that. The difficulty is when Steph is out there and now he's being face guarded and all the hell. Everybody's just so cued in to what to do. Like it hurts them when Steph is not there sometimes. Right. It just populates them in a sense. So I think that helps. My big question offensively for them is you just you Kevin. This was Kevin Durant's thought process. You're not going to trick good defense in a playoff, right? You're not going to get timely buckets because you're, you waited long enough for a mistake. At some point you just have to beat your man, right? And we just haven't seen Jimmy do a lot of that. He's like, he crushes matchups like crazy. If he's got a matchup, he's crushing you and he's going to make the right play. But we've seen a lot of in the shot clock grenades because they're moving it, they're waiting it, they're pump faking, nobody can turn the corner. And it's like, ah, if we just stick to it long enough, at some point they'll make a mistake and if they don't, you got the hand grenade. I want to see Jimmy say, you know what, I don't care who's in front of me. I'm about to get 30.

[Marcus Thompson]

I don't think he's got to be that guy. I, I don't know if it's because he's not quite in full basketball shape yet because he did miss a lot of time. But he, he may just not have it. I saw him in the game last night, you know, he, he had the ball on, on the empty side and he tried to get a drive and he kept getting cut off. And look, that's going to happen quite a bit, especially when you're playing the Raptors. They've got some quick guys that can stay in front of you. I'm of the opinion that, that Jimmy Butler can play a little bit like Steph when Steph's not on the court but inside the three point line. You know, Santos had a great Pass to Steph. They were top locking. Stuff Steph works on to get on the inside, right? Like their front. Their front guarding. And he gets that little layup by essentially, like, faking the. The up cut and going back. I think Jimmy Butler does so many of those things so well that there's. There's stuff there that. That he can do off the ball, even when Steph's not on the court to. To create some buckets.

[Jared Weiss]

No question. I. I agree with that 1,000%. Yeah.

[Dave]

All right.

[Marcus Thompson]

That's a lot of warriors talk, but it's, you know, it's Marcus Thompson. That's what we got to do. Hey, Marcus, look, let me fill you in. The Knicks lost to the spurs last night. My guy Mamu just went off. He had one of the greatest games in under 20 minutes that you possibly have. LaMelo Ball went off against the Knicks, and the Hornets somehow beat them, and it wasn't even close. 115 to 98. LaMelo Ball goes five attempt and three. LaMelo Ball was dancing on these guys. And look, they don't have Jalen Brunson, but the playoffs are coming up. The Knicks are supposed to be a serious contender. You can't be losing to San Antonio with no Dear and Fox, no Wemby, and then going to Charlotte and letting LaMelo Ball do stuff like this. I mean, I just. I think that I'm at the point where the Knicks are having a really nice season, but, man, I don't trust them.

[Jared Weiss]

I mean, they're untrustworthy. Why should you trust them?

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah.

[Jared Weiss]

Break the Knicks, by the way. Oh, no, they haven't been the same since everybody said, what's up to him after he. His beef with Cat, you know, that was the talking point, right? Like him and Cat going at it. They arguing. You know, Draymond gets the game winner, and, you know, night nights, him. Cat walks off the court, and then half the Knicks roster spins. Sit there like, you know, saying, what's up to Draymond, hugging Draymond. Since then, they've taken two brutal losses. It's like, hey, don't let, don't let. Don't let Draymond find out he broke the Knicks. But isn't this kind of the dicks, though, without.

[Marcus Thompson]

Without Brunson, it is, right? Like, so their issue right now is it's the offense, you know, Deuce McBride just not stirring the drink enough. And then, you know, frankly, like, Carl Anthony Towns puts up 24 points, but they don't have the defense around the basket, right? So then the, the three. The three pointer opens up and you wind up with this situation where Charlotte goes 15 of 32 from 3. And you can chalk this up to, hey, you know what? They had a great shooting night and they did, they did. But it's the Hornets. Like you still should be able to withstand that if you're the Knicks and find a way to win.

[Jared Weiss]

I don't know. I think, oddly enough, I think the Knicks are much more playoff team. They're much more playoffs.

[Marcus Thompson]

You just think that they're just folk. That's it. Just get to the playoffs.

[Jared Weiss]

Number one. I do think the minutes are a problem. And without the adrenaline of playoffs, of Madison Square Gar going crazy, of the. The big road matchup. Like none of that's happened in Charlotte. Right? Like none of that's happening. Matter of fact, let me make sure they were in Charlotte. That's right. Yeah. None of that's happening in Charlotte. Right. So I do feel like their, their team makeup though, like Josh Hart's value elevates in a postseason matchup. Half court dab like some of that stuff. I do think they'll figure it out being a Mikhail Bridges, being able to lock in on a guy for a series. You know, to me that, that type of stuff, they're more built for that. They're not built to like be Cleveland, you know, or Boston. But I think the better part of the Knicks is much more built for the playoffs. I can see them if, especially without Brunson and just not having the energy or the, the cachet to say let's just go impose our will on Charlotte. But you know, you get them in a series, like, I just feel like that's what they're built for. Right.

[Dave]

Right.

[Jared Weiss]

I, I feel much better about them upsetting the team in the playoffs. Then I feel about them like winning regular season games. They should win handily because they're just. They're not mature enough for that as a basketball team. I don't think.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah, I think they need Jalen Brunson just to be. He needs to be healthy. Otherwise they, they would have a scary first round series if he's not 100%. Especially if they wind up catching the Pistons because they're really good.

[Jared Weiss]

It might be scary for them if.

[Dave]

They catch the wood Brussels.

[Marcus Thompson]

All right, before we go to break quickly, the Bucks blew out the Lakers, or at least it was sort of the Lakers. The lakers were without five of their top six scorers in the game. Brian James scored 17 points. If you want to know what kind of Night it was for the Lakers. Lucas sat, Austin reeves sat. Obviously LeBron and Rui both out still. Dorian Finney Smith was out. Jared Vanderbilt was out. Damian Lillard missed the game on a night where we watched 37 year old Steph Curry laying his body on the line, you know, laying his tail on the line. Marcus, I see what you did there. Well, how come like is this the problem that people like when they're talking load, man, it's not, it's just they're. The Lakers were just okay to throw this game away.

[Jared Weiss]

You know what? To me, I, this whole idea of like Kawhi Leonard, right, That's the one off of a guy who just has chronic issues, right? Or, or Steph is going to sit a game. LeBron's gonna sit a game. I don't think that's the problem. To me, games like this is the problem when you literally show up to a game and nobody's playing nobody on a team full of stars. In Los Angeles, by the way, you're in LA and look, God bless Bronnie James who pulled up, you know what I'm saying? Dropped a smooth little 17, you know, played 30 minutes and he's, you know, he's got some star quality to him. You saw something. But there's a lot of this in the NBA or not a lot. It's just a little bit more than you would want. To me, this is a much bigger issue that on any given night you might show up and see the G League affiliate playing. That's just, it's just too much, it's too much to say, yeah, you know what? Everybody's sitting like, we're not, we're not doing this. And you know what? Shout out to Dave though, because if I'm looking across the lineup and I'm seeing nobody, I'm sitting down and it.

[Marcus Thompson]

Worked out for the Bucks, you know. Yeah, maybe that, maybe that closed door meeting with Dame and Giannis and Doc, they were like, hey, look, if these guys are resting, we'll, we'll take the night off.

[Jared Weiss]

Hey, the warriors did not do that. When, when Jokic and Jamal Murray said, did they play it? Everybody?

[Dave]

Probably.

[Marcus Thompson]

Huge mistake. Huge mistake. In hindsight, Marcus. Thanks for hanging out with me, guys. Stick around. After the break. Jared Weiss and I went pretty deep on the sale of the Celtics and I got him to tell me what he thinks that it means for NBA expansion.

[Jared Weiss]

Hey, man, I had 5.9 billion and they, they sun my offer, man, I, I had the offer. I don't know why they Going to come over, over top me like that.

[Marcus Thompson]

You can't mess with that private equity money shady man. We had some big news yesterday on the business side of basketball. And here to talk about it with me, one of my favorite people to talk about basketball with, Jared Weiss. He covers the Celtics, amongst other things, for the athletic. Jared, thanks for joining us. The Celtics have sold for how much money?

[Dave]

Record $6.1 billion. That's. Billion.

[Marcus Thompson]

That's a lot.

[Dave]

It's a lot.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah, it's quite a bit. So talk to me about what exactly is happening with the Celtics. Okay. They're being sold. There's a new owner. They're not going to be moved or anything like that. It's the Boston Celtics. So fill me in on kind of the details of the sale and then who the new owner is.

[Dave]

Yeah, so it's. It's funny because Wick Grossbeck, who's the managing governor of the Celtics, when he announced that he was putting the team up for sale after they won the championship, very shortly after they won the championship, it was like parade. And then I think like the next day was the sale announcement. He is. He said that he was going to sell the majority stake around this time, early 2025, and then complete the deal in 2028, and was going to retain management control until that point in 2028. And we all kind of laughed at that because we're like, Adam Silver has already shot this stuff down. We just saw this go. We saw the two phase sale blow up in their face in Minnesota. We just saw Mark Cuban try to do the I'm still in charge thing. And then he disappeared. And he didn't. He didn't acknowledge he was disappeared until the Luca trade happened. And then he proudly was telling everybody, oh, I'm not in charge anymore, that that was all them. And so Wick appears to have gotten his wish with this, which is just, I can't believe that he pulled this off. But the deal first 51% gets done. They're going to close this deal in a few months once they dot all the T's, cross all the eyes, draw all the commas between the zeros. And then in 2028, he. He'll. He will be in charge of the team through that year, and then the sale will complete, and he will not be a part of it anymore. And it will be fully Bill Chisum in his group. And he's a. He's a local guy from Northern Massachusetts, the North Shore, if you know Massachusetts at all, grew up a Celtics fan. He went out west and made a lot of money as a private equity guy, and now he's coming back east to buy his boyhood club.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah, I spent a fun weekend in Gloucester once and went on an old wooden boat. But Gloucester's gorgeous. Yeah, it's amazing. Okay, so one of the other contributors to the, to the purchase of the team is a private equity group that has ownership in three other NBA teams. Now, look, that stuff seems fishy to me anytime you throw out private equity. You know, I'm thinking about Joann Fabrics. You know, somehow 97% of their stores are profitable, and yet they're in bankruptcy. So allay my fears with private equity getting involved with another NBA team.

[Dave]

I mean, they, they, they have a small enough share that they appear to not have managerial responsibilities. So it's just, it's, you know, maybe they're shorting the value or something like that. Who knows? Or they're going long on the value, presumably.

[Marcus Thompson]

Probably not, because these teams, I mean, how much? The team was purchased for 360 million and is selling for 6.1 billion. So I like, when I look at the private equity getting involved in sports, to me, it's just, well, that actually is a place where if you park some money, it seems like you're going to make it. So the weirder part is just the league allowing this group to actually invest in three separate teams, it does kind of feel as if that's a murkier gray area.

[Dave]

And that's why the guardrails on managerial responsibility have to be really strong.

[Jared Weiss]

Right.

[Dave]

Because they have conflicts of interest. And so they have the Spurs. Right. And the spurs are a team that a couple years from now, hopefully will be competing and maybe competing against the Celtics if they're able to somehow keep at that level. So, you know, I don't know how that's supposed to be handled fairly reasonably. You know, sovereign wealth funds are also starting to buy in. They're able to get up to 20%. That seemed like something that could have happened in this deal. It appears not to have, as far as we know now, who knows? But if they had a large enough stake, that probably would have been announced as well. So who knows? We'll see. But like, this is. This is how a lot of deals get done. Most deals get done where it's a large. A large investor who may not even have 50%, few other people in like, the tens or maybe the 20s, and then like a bunch of small names, too, to round it out. A lot of ownership groups are like 50 people or something like that. So it's kind of inevitable. Inevitable you're going to get private equity involved. I thought it was funny that Steve Pagliucco, when he made his announcement that he wasn't the one who won it and he's the current co owner of the Celtics, he was considered the favorite by a lot of reports in the last few months to retain the team. He mentioned in his letter to the fans that his proposal was all financing and I guess, cash. And so there wasn't going to be debt taken on. There wasn't going to be private equity involved. And so he, you know, and that's, I guess, to say that this was going to be a more reliable cash transaction. There was going to be more control over the future of the franchise and things of that nature. And so he wanted to make that point. But also keeping in mind he was the vice chairman of Bain Capital. So it's like. Right, yeah, a lot of these people involved have their fair share of private equity blood on their hands, but too much. Yeah, but Padlyuka is one of the best owners that we've seen in this league. He's been, he's been great. They've been, they have been the paragon of consistent success and quality management in this league in a way that very few teams have over the course of like 20 years now. Yeah.

[Marcus Thompson]

Oh, well, if, if the Celtics had sold or any part of it to a sovereign wealth fund, they, the league would have had to answer questions that it just hasn't had to face with the Wizards and, and their, you know, kind of affiliation with the sovereign wealth fund. Let's get to the basketball part of this because the business side is going to affect that. What does this mean for how the team is going to be run in the next few years? I mean, you say that Wick Gr back is going to continue to be, you know, essentially the head, the figurehead of, of the team. Brad Stevens, assume, assuming is still going to be running the basketball side for, for years to come. Do you expect any sort of changes with, with new management essentially, or new ownership, I should say.

[Dave]

Well, that's the big, the big question is, you know, they have a pretty small front office. Remy Cofield, who is I number four on the org or number five on the org chart, he's leaving to be the GM in Arkansas now for their college programs. So they already have one opening. Maybe there's more shuffling around. You know, Austin Ainge was, I think, one of the finalists for the Charlotte Hornets job last year that went to Jeff Peterson. So he'll continue to interview. So they're probably going to need more people with senior level experience in their front office anyway. But the, the top of the org chart where it's Brad Stevens and it's Mike Zarin, there's no reason to believe that will ever change. You know, Brad is, Brad is one of the most respected people in the basketball world and he is clearly proven that his approach has worked very well. I, I can't imagine that there's anything that could happen that would take him out of that position out of his own volition that isn't out of his own volition. And you know, I reported earlier today in our, in our report on the athletic that he was interviewing the finalists when the bidding was happening. At once they got to that final stage like it was part of it was for him to be with them. And, and I would imagine that gross back and the ownership group that was selling, they probably wanted to make sure that whoever they sell to is going to keep Brad around because if there's anything that they can do to make sure that the franchise is in good hands after they make the sale, it's to make sure that Stevens is still running the ship.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah. What about on the court right after you, you mentioned the, the sort of timeline of events when the title put the team up for sale and then right after that they locked all these guys up to, to long term, big money contracts. We know the new. I guess at some point we got to just start calling it the CBA that we live under. Right now the repeater tax just gets to be tremendous. By the time you get into year three and year four, do you expect this team to stick around or do they have to win a title to run this back next season?

[Dave]

I do wonder if that matters so much is that they got to look at these individuals because if they're going to break this team apart, it's not like you shattered the whole thing.

[Marcus Thompson]

It's.

[Dave]

You're just swapping out some pieces. You're just trying to reduce salary, to reduce tax burden, maybe even get out of the second apron in a year or two so they can start resetting some of those penalties down the road with the draft picks. They. So I think the most interesting deal that they did last year was they signed Jrue Holiday who is going to turn 35 in a few weeks. He's actually a day older than me. So now I'm feeling old and my knee is hurting a little bit right now after doing some yoga. So I Can I can empathize with the fact that Drew Holiday is getting older and they signed him to a long term deal. It was a good value deal, but it's still a lot of money. It's what, like 26 mil a year on average or something like that for four years. So they're signing this guy until his late 30s. This year he's had a shoulder issue and it's been affecting his shot all year. He has not been himself offensively at all. And so they could win a title next year. And then they still decide Drew is just not going to be healthy and be himself for the length of his contract. It's worth us biting the bullet and dumping him for whatever we can, whether it's short term money or even find a way to get off of him entirely, which probably is not possible with his salary, but who knows? Just to deal with the tax bill. And they live with the fact that they still have Derek White in his prime. You have Peyton Pritchard starting to enter his prime and like really turning the corner into being a like a pretty high level starting caliber player at this point. Like he seems like a starter on any contender kind of level player at this point and he's only making like 7 million a year that the contract they got him to is ridiculous. So they maybe they get rid of Drew, they get rid of KP and they find a way to develop a center which they have currently nobody in the pipeline to be their legitimate starting center in the future. So that's an issue they have to figure out because Horford presumably will retire at some point or maybe he'll just die of old age while still in the Celtics uniform 50 years from now, who knows? But you know, Luke Cornett, the Mish K, Xavier Tillman, all guys, you can put your rotation, but they're not going to win with those guys as their starters. So like they need a solution at starting center. And Porzingis relatively healthy as far as like since he came back from his ankle surgery this year. Aside from this mystery virus that kept him out for a few weeks, he's been fairly healthy. But we know the story with KP at this point. We just don't know how he's going to hold up, especially over a playoff run. And he's on the is heading to the other side of 30 and guys of his size that have these lower body injuries, they can, they can lose their pop very quickly. So Porzingis not looking like a 10 year play at this point. They're looking at keeping him until his late 30s, the way they were with Jrue Holiday. So maybe that's how they do this. They don't have to trade Jaylen Brown and stick to one supermax player. If you can have two supermax players that are worth it, you don't get rid of that. That's the holy grail of team building here. They know that those guys are good because they just want a championship. Like, there's nothing we don't need to overthink. This whole Jay's thing, it's really worked. It's a question of would Jaylen want something different? Would Tatum want something different? Probably not. And I think we. It's pretty clear that Tatum is the guy if they have to choose anybody just because of how completely well rounded his game is at this point. But so like, I don't think they have to just. They don't, they don't have to completely blow these things up. They can take out some of the older guys, which is what you're supposed to do when you're trying to sustain a contender. And Brad Stevens had like made it a point during the summer last year to say, we're looking at this as like a ten year thing. And there's going to be ups and downs over the course of that 10 years to try to be consistently competitive, which I think implies that a lot of these guys that they love, they might have to dump them in order to manage the salary and build back up.

[Marcus Thompson]

Yeah, quickly, before you, before we get out of here. This sale of the Boston Celtics been looming, you know, since the summer. $6.1 billion. It's a great anchor for the NBA for franchise owners. But what about for the league? And this being the first domino in an expansion move. Right. You now have this $6.1 billion mark. I assume that we're starting at 5 billion for a new franchise at this point. You know, now that you've established this level, do you think that we're going to see the expansion talks get heating up as we go into the summer?

[Dave]

This, it all hinged on this. It was, I remember hearing probably three or four months ago that some of these, some of these bids for the Celtics were coming in under 5 billion and the league was sweating because if the, if one of the, like, what three marquee franchises, maybe we can put the warriors up there. At this point, four marquee franchises in the NBA is fetching less than what you want your franchise fee to be. You're in huge, huge trouble. You. It's got to be, it's got to clear that by a bill. And that's what they got. So if they want a $5 billion fee for each of these teams, and presumably at this point, Vegas and Seattle, they needed the Celtics to clear that 6 billion hurdle, ideally break that record for North American teams, which they did. And now the NBA can be like, look at that, everybody. Our last sale broke the record. We need to be breaking records here. We, we need earth, earth shattering prices. If you want to put your team in Seattle, put your team in Las Vegas. I'd love Mexico City. That'd be pretty great. Or even.

[Marcus Thompson]

It's not going to work.

[Dave]

Yeah. But I love the food in Mexico City is the best. So hopefully one day. But this is a huge win for the NBA. This is a huge win for all the other owners because they, when the expansion fee goes, all of them. Right. So this is, this is huge because they can get that revenue in there. It can help offset some of the money that they probably didn't get in the TV deals that they were hoping for. So we're like a little bit below what they were hoping for. And then obviously, just like getting into Vegas is going to be big for the league financially, might be, might be terrible for the rest of humanity, but it's at least good for the people that own stock in the NBA. Yeah.

[Marcus Thompson]

And a return to the Seattle media market, you know, that'll be a pretty good one.

[Dave]

Yeah. At least Kevin Pelton will be happy. Yeah.

[Marcus Thompson]

Let's not forget those franchise fees. The owners and the league do not share that as a part of basketball related income with the players. They get to keep that pie.

[Dave]

That's.

[Marcus Thompson]

That's a pretty nice pie. You know, I, I'd have a slice of that. Thank you so much. Appreciate your work. Again, guys. Go and read him at the Athletic. He's gonna be covering this story. It's not over yet.

[Dave]

And.

[Marcus Thompson]

And I think as expansion looms, Jared's probably gonna be on that beat too. Thanks to Marcus Thompson for joining me in the first part of the show. Uh, that's gonna do it for today. Thank you guys for listening. As always, this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[Host]

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[Marc Maron]

Hey folks, it's Marc Maron from WTF. It's been more than 15 years now, and I'm still talking to all kinds of people in my garage every week. Sometimes it's Bill Burr, sometimes it's Ariana Grande. She just looks at me because she's always going like, dad, it's not that big a deal. Yeah, I go, sorry, I lost my temper. I go, I still love you. You know, Daddy has issues.

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[Marc Maron]

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