PHOENIX — It’s not unusual for Brad Stevens to travel with the Celtics on the road.
It’s just, usually, it’s not in the midst of the franchise’s sale.
On Wednesday morning, at the Celtics’ shootaround in Phoenix, the general manager addressed a handful of reporters for the first time since the sale to William Chisholm was first announced.
Here’s what to take away from Stevens’ first media availability on the sale.
Brad Stevens’ initial impressions of Bill Chisholm are very positive
Stevens hasn’t spent a ton of time with the new Celtics owner, but he’s liked what he’s seen so far. The two first spoke on the phone a couple of weeks ago when Chisholm was one of four finalists to purchase the Celtics. He then met him in-person in Sacramento on Sunday, when Bill and his wife Kimberly attended the Celtics-Kings game.
“He seems like a great person and seems super excited about the Cs,” Stevens said. “He’s always been a big fan.”
Stevens, who assumed the role of general manager in 2021, also noted that he expects Chisholm to be himself and bring his own authenticity to the role of being the Celtics’ owner. He’s also gotten the impression that Chisholm, who comes from the private equity world, is eager to learn about the way the organization has been run thus far.
“When you buy a team, and when you are invested like that, it’s going to bring great ideas. And, we’ll operate and execute plans if, ultimately, he wants to, right?” Stevens said. “But I’m really impressed with how committed he seems to be to learning more about this whole, how we’ve done things — both the business side and the basketball side.”
Brad Stevens expects things to proceed ‘business as usual’
An open question has been how much the sale will impact day-to-day happenings, as well as the future of the team. It’s obviously early days, but Stevens said it appears that Chisholm appreciated how things have been done so far.
“I think he recognizes that we’ve got a good thing going,” he said. “And so for me, the most important thing in this whole transition is just that the people that I work with feel comfortable. And I think that clearly, from every indication of every conversation I’ve had with Bill, I do [feel comfortable] and I think everybody should.”
At the same time, Stevens recognizes that more clarity will come in the coming days as he spends more time with Chisholm and Grousbeck.
“Every indication is, it’s pretty much business as usual,” he said. “And so excited about that. But, again, you spend a lot of money on these things. And so you have every right to come in and put your stamp on it however you want. And so looking forward to working with them.
“My only thing is just continuing to be kept in the loop on anything I need to know from the standpoint of making decisions here and now — and moving forward.”
Brad Stevens played a very minor role in the sale process
Stevens met with each of the four finalists for an hour or two a few weeks back, and that was the extent of his involvement.
“It’s not my say — it’s ultimately, the Grousbeck family’s say,” he said. “And so it was more just ‘meet some of the people that worked in basketball ops and just ask any questions that they had.’”
When he met with each of the finalists, he noticed different groups had different aspects of the sale they were most interested in. In talking to Chisholm, his deep-rooted Celtics fandom stood out most.
“It was really clear talking to Bill how much he loves the Celtics and how much it means to him,” Stevens said. “And that’s really cool.”
His initial reaction to the sale was to consider team personnel
Stevens confirmed he found out the team was up for sale about 12 hours before it was announced to the public in July. He immediately wondered how the team would impact the franchise’s many longtime employees — not just the players themselves.
“My initial thought goes to not the team, not, anything, but the sixty people in Basketball Operations. Just like [team president] Rich [Gotham’s] initial thought goes to the corporate side, right?”
Stevens said that ensuring trust in the organization has been key.
“Ultimately, I want to see all of our people do well and continue,” he said. “And I’m surrounded by such talented people, to be honest, that carry my ass every day. So I want to make sure that all of them feel good and feel good about the transition. Based on everything — meeting Bill, Wyc being around, hearing from both of them — they’ve given us every indication that that’s going to be the case.
There’s a bittersweet feeling to parting ways with Steve Pagliuca and the other owners
When Grousbeck selected Chisholm, it meant that Steve Pagliuca, a longtime, visible part-owner of the team, would not be an owner moving forward.
“Joe mentioned this, and I think some of our players have, too — there’s also all the people that we’ve had a chance to be fortunate enough to work for my first 12 years here that have owned the team the last 20 plus [years].”
Stevens noted that while Grousbeck will be sticking around as Governor, the Pagliuca family is also a relationship he’s cherished.
“That’s hard when you see those relationships not be a part of it,” he said. “But I’m just really thankful that we’ve gotten a chance to spend time with all these people, and we’re really looking forward to working with Bill and his group.”
