Good News

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

No, not the Celtics beating a subpar Orlando team
missing its best player, but the fact that Steve Bulpett
reported in Saturday's Herald that Gaston may be willing
to sell the club.  This is truly good news, especially
the possibility of LL becoming involved. Just as
you don't want Pitino making trades or picking
draft choices, you don't want Gaston to choose the
next guy to rebuild the team...

Sale scenario not far-fetched
Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Saturday, November 25, 2000






While people in the financial world insist Paul Gaston's purchase of
Celtic
stock is a prelude to selling the team, the club's chairman of the board
is
apparently open to offers.

Gaston has said repeatedly he is not looking to sell, and while that may
be
the case, sources said a recent offer for the club went beyond the tire
kicking stage. The sides spoke first through an intermediary and
interest
from the prospective buyer was said to be strong. But when the talks
settled
in on a price between $320 million and $340 million, the buyer thought
again
and backed off.

It is known that the potential purchaser was not Larry Bird, but sources
close to the Celtic legend say he is still very much interested in
putting
together a group to buy the franchise. They add Bird is waiting to see
which
way the Rick Pitino regime plays out. If the club reshuffles the deck
after
the season, Bird may come hard at that point.

Pitino would seem to be in the best position here. His contract
stipulates
that if control of the club is changed, he can take the lesser amount of
$22
million or whatever is left on his deal. After this season, those
figures
would be similar.