Bill Chisholm joins the Boston Celtics at an interesting time in the franchise’s history, to put it mildly.
The Celtics have made 11 straight postseason appearances and have played in two of the last last four NBA Finals, winning their 18th championship in June 2024. But Chisholm, who officially became the Celtics’ lead owner in August, takes over a C’s team that just parted ways with four members of that championship squad (Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and Al Horford) and will be without its best player (Jayson Tatum) for most if not all of the 2025-26 season.
As president of basketball operations Brad Stevens confirmed earlier this summer, Boston’s roster overhaul was necessitated by the NBA’s second apron, which imposes harsh financial and roster-building penalties on teams that exceed the luxury tax by a certain amount.
While the previous ownership group led by Wyc Grousbeck was committed to spending whatever it took to compete for championships, it’s fair for fans to wonder if Chisholm and his investor group will have the same mindset, especially as the Celtics enter a season with significantly lower expectations.
Our Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg posed that question to Chisholm in an exclusive interview with the new C’s owner on the Celtics Talk Podcast.
“It’s complicated, but I think the spirit of what it’s trying to do is a positive thing,” Chisholm told Forsberg of the second apron’s restrictions. “And as you think about, ‘How do you build champions?’ — not just for one year, but for multiple years — you look at, over the last seven years, I think there’s been seven different champions.
“I want to be a champion every year, and that’s what we’re shooting for. And that’s why you need people like Brad and Joe (Mazzulla), and you need leadership on the court with Jayson and Jaylen (Brown) and Derrick (White) and folks like that.”
In short, Chisholm is well aware of the challenges presented by the second apron and the league’s new collective bargaining agreement. But just like Grousbeck, his goal is to raise banners.
“There (are) some ins and outs there,” Chisholm added. “But at the end of the day, as an investment group, we’ll do whatever we can to make sure this team is a champion, and we’ll work around it.”
That’s a refreshing message for Celtics fans to hear. And even if the C’s take a brief step back in 2025-26 while Tatum recovers from his Achilles surgery, it sounds like Chisholm will give Stevens and Boston’s front office free rein to put together a championship contender as soon as possible.
Check out Chisholm’s full interview with Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast.
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