Re: Thoughts on the sale

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

> ---------- Initial message -----------
> 
> From    : owner-celtics@igtc.com
> To      : celtics@igtc.com
> Cc      : 
> Date    : Fri, 27 Sep 2002 16:55:09 EDT
> Subject : Re: Thoughts on the sale
> 
>      Sorry, I can't get all this excited.  A group of 
businessmen buying a 
> team can be a good thing or a bad thing.   Contracts 
are locked in for this 
> year, and the only flexibility the Cs have is to sign 
some still-available PG 
> for help.  And what do we have to tell us that these 
guys know squat about 
> basketball?  Why should we think they are any better 
than Sterling or worse 
> than Paul Allen?
>      I checked out the website.  Damn, all those guys 
look like they're 25.  
> And each one probably has more money than I'll ever 
make in my life.
>     Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
> 



Douglas, I'm cautiously optimistic. The two principal 
guys are young, but Irv Grousbeck is in his late 60s and 
has a distinguished background. The question is whether 
this trio bought the Boston Celtics because the team is 
profitable, or because of a love of the game.

When they praise the management team, are they including 
Richard Pond?

And when they hint about recruiting more names to the 
ownership group, is Larry Bird a possibility?

Look, I'm glad Gaston's gone. I hope Pond is too, frankly.

But Kestas is right about this. I'm going to open a nice 
bottle or something. Smoke a good cigar, that's for sure.

One thing is that all these guys have local ties. "Wyclef 
Jean" Grousbeck went to school at Nobles in Dedham MA, 
and his company is in Lexington, MA. The other guys 
passed through Boston for business school. 

The thing with Gaston is that he painted himself into a 
corner by publicly stating he wouldn't go into the luxury 
tax. He kind of martyred himself as a defender of "fiscal 
sanity" standing up on behalf of small market teams (even 
if Boston was not one of them, as great sports markets 
go).

My sense is that the new owners obviously aren't wealthy 
enough to just kick back and pull a Mark Cuban. But at 
least they aren't in the same "read my lips" situation 
Gaston was in.

Next summer, there's almost no question we'll have to go 
over 52 million just to field even a ten-man roster.

Wyclef and the other new owners can then bite the bullet 
and go into luxury tax range without appearing to have 
done an about face or gone against principal. 

Once Boston's crossed that threshold, its pretty safe to 
assume there'll be no going back. NJ beat us to that 
basic realization by one year, which is why they have 
Rodney Rogers on the bench and we don't. Enough teams do 
it and there probably isn't going to be a luxury tax as 
we know it.

But there IS one thing Boston has that people overlook. 
We've got two very likely All Star game STARTERS (Antoine 
started last year). That's the bottom line. Our two best 
players, at 25 and 26, have entered the cusp of their 
prime years. We've all been waiting a long time for that.

So I'm not going to get overly neurotic about players 3-
12 or our pointguard, anymore than I'd write off the 
Lakers for being vulnerable on both those counts 
(although their "two All Star starters" are qualitatively 
better than ours). 

Plus Boston has the strongest team in the East at center, 
with Battie and Baker for 48 minutes. I'm not sure 
there's even a close second...now that we've "stolen" the 
Sundov Music from the Pacers. ;-) 

Oh yeah, and the Patriots ownership only has one HBS grad 
in Bob Kraft. Now the Celtics have two of them, one of 
whom is ranked by Fortune among the "top ten minds" in 
small business.

So, basically, it can be said that Boston has developed a 
solid basketball organization again. Its a club that 
might show it can beat teams consistently on talent and 
heart alone, over this upcoming season. No lead is that 
safe, against our two captains.

Moreover, the Celtics are also an organization that could 
make another 10-win jump if it addresses some addressable 
problems. But if this team continues to win this year, 
the cheap veteran FAs will come. If we can win 50 and go 
two rounds into the playoffs again this year, I bet 
ownership will either spend or split that 4.5 million 
exception next summer(to rebuild our bench or sign a 
point guard). 

So I say let's enjoy the moment. Let's hope its just the 
start of what we've all been waiting for as fans.

Joe H.



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