Boston Herald report on Bird coming to Celtics

["Lance Jacobson" <lancejacob@xxxxxxxxx>]

Does this smack of shoddy journalism or what?  The article starts out stating
Bird's demands, then states that Bird hasn't commented and that the headline
refers to the words of Jill Leone, a "close associate".  The only one chirping
is Belkin, who's referenced a meeting but is covering all the bases.

If Bird rejoins Celtics he wants control

by Scott Van Voorhis
Monday, September 30, 2002








Former Celtics great Larry Bird yesterday laid out the price of his return to
the storied franchise he led to three world championships - or any other NBA
team - indicating that he wants total control over basketball operations.


But not wanting to wade into a major controversy in his debut as Celtics
owner, Wyc Grousbeck said last night he is happy with the team's current
management.

Bird and Boston businessman Steven Belkin have set up a tentative meeting
early this week with the new Celtics owners-in-waiting, who on Friday
unwrapped a record shattering $360 million deal to buy one of the NBA's most
well-known franchises.

Grousbeck would not comment on such a meeting.

``The new owners have illustrated an interest to talk and we are going to sit
down and talk,'' Belkin said. ``We don't know where that is going to go.''

If the conditions are right, an agreement ``could happen in a matter of
weeks,'' Belkin said. ``I am not optimistic or pessimistic,'' he added.

Bird could not be reached for comment. But a close business associate, Jill
Leone, confirmed that the former Indiana Pacers coach wants to be chief of
basketball operations of his next NBA team.

After playing and coaching, Bird is interested in moving to the next level,
she said. ``It is a dream of his.''

Belkin said that the NBA wants Bird back in the league, whether in Boston or
Charlotte, N.C., where Belkin and Bird are currently bidding to buy an NBA
franchise.

``I think the NBA would really want Larry back in the league,'' said Belkin.

Belkin indicated he's willing to pony up as much as $20 million to become one
of the team's new owners, and suggested that Bird also would be interested in
taking an equity stake in the team. A source said the prospective new owners
plan to put somewhat less than $100 million of their own money into the team,
and are looking to raise $150 million more from other investors.

``They are trying to raise a pretty healthy chunk of capital,'' said one
Boston sports business expert. The new ownership group is expected to borrow
the rest of the agreed-on $360 million purchase price.

But Belkin cautioned that he and Bird are still focusing mainly on their
efforts to buy the Charlotte franchise. The one-time Hub hoop king huddled
with Belkin Saturday night at the wealthy businessman's Weston home to discuss
their Charlotte bid, but the sudden change in Celtics ownership also came up.

Grousbeck, the would-be owner who will take charge of the team, said the last
time he spoke with Belkin, the latter said he was ``focused on Charlotte and
we wished him well. In the end, we hope that we both end up owning teams in
the league.''

Grousbeck's father, H. Irving Grousbeck, reached in California, yesterday
referred questions to the younger Grousbeck. Their partner in the Celtics
venture, Stephen Pagliuca, could not be reached yesterday.

However, while the new owners have expressed interest in bringing Bird into
the mix, actually putting together a deal with the one-time NBA superstar may
be more complicated.

Sources close current Celtics management and the new owners say that such a
deal would be far from a slam dunk to pull off and may never come together.

One sports industry source compared efforts to bring Bird on board to the
tortured and unsuccessful attempts by new Red Sox owner John Henry to court
popular Hub businessman Joe O'Donnell. Henry liked the idea of bringing
O'Donnell into the ownership group, but was unable to share control of the
team with the concessions czar.

Bringing Bird into the fold of the new ownership group would require
``complex'' negotiations with no guarantee of success, predicted one local
sports industry source.

In fact, there may be reservations on the part of the new owners as to whether
they want Belkin in the deal, according to one source familiar with the
group's plans.

Belkin said that he and Bird would be inseparable when it comes to new NBA
ventures.

For the would-be Celtics owners, whose deal must be approved by the National
Basketball Association, bringing back Bird would yield undeniable advantages,
said local sports industry expert and former FleetCenter chief Larry Moulter.

``Larry Bird has a proven record, on the court as well as off the court. From
a management perspective as well as a player's perspective,'' Moulter said.

By snagging Bird to run the team's basketball operations, the prospective new
owners could very well unleash a tidal wave of investor interest by sports
crazed corporate heavyweights, predicted Lyman Bullard, a Boston sports
industry lawyer.

``It seems like these guys will bring some passion and emotion and re-energize
the team,'' Bullard said.

However, the prospective new owners should be able to close the deal with the
money they have on hand, whether or not they bring other partners into the
fold, sources said.

By bring in additional investment capital, the new owners may be looking to
simply reduce their own exposure and decrease the amount of debt they will
have to take on to finally close the deal. That's not unheard of.

Henry, as he scrambled to close his record $700 million Sox deal, eventually
cobbled together a small army of close to 20 different investors, including
several with local ties.

Bullard said the capital raising combination of two high-powered Hub venture
capitalists and Bird could be formidable.

Steve Bulpett contributed to this report.