Warriors owner Joe Lacob says he won’t try to buy hometown Celtics: ‘That ship sailed a long time ago’

Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, a Massachusetts native and former Boston Celtics minority owner, said in a recent interview that he has no interest in trying to buy his hometown team, which was put up for sale earlier this summer. 

Lacob was a minority owner of the Celtics from 2006 until 2010, when he left to buy the Warriors for $450 million. In the 14 years since then, he has turned Golden State into one of the league’s premier organizations and has overseen four championships. He wants to continue building his legacy in the Bay Area rather than return to the Bay State. 

“No chance,” Lacob told David Aldridge and Marcus Thompson on “The Athletic NBA Show”. “No chance, sorry. That ship sailed a long time ago — a long, long time ago. I’m a Warrior, this is my identity, it’s our identity. I love what we’ve done. I love our fans, our arena (and) the last decade, and I just wanna do more. I just wanna create an even longer and even greater legacy for this organization.”

Just weeks after the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks to win the franchise’s record-setting 18th championship, the team released a statement regarding its planned sale:

“Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, announced today its intention to sell all the shares of the team. The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations. 

“The managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028, and expects Wyc Grousbeck to remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028.”

NBA franchise values have skyrocketed in recent years, and Forbes’ most recent valuation in October of 2023 had the Celtics at $4.8 billion. When Grousbeck and his group purchased the team back in 2002, they did so for $360 million. That is certainly one reason for Grousbeck and Co. to get out. 

Another is the Celtics’ impending luxury tax bill, which will be even steeper under the punative second apron in the new collective bargaining agreement. 

Earlier this summer, the team gave Jayson Tatum the richest contract in NBA history, a five-year, $314 million extension, which surpassed the five-year, $303 million deal Jaylen Brown got last summer. In addition, Derrick White earned a four-year, $125 million extension. Add in $30-plus million a year for Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, and the Celtics’ payroll will be over $200 million by 2025-26. Assuming they keep the team together that long, the expected luxury tax would be $250 million, bringing the total for that season to north of $450 million, for that year alone. 

In the coming years, whomever owns the Celtics will either have to foot a historic tax bill or break up a title-winning team. Whlie Grousbeck has declined to go into further detail regarding his family’s decision to step away, it’s clear that they don’t want to be the ones to make that decision.