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Senior NBA Insider- Shams Charania is a senior NBA insider for ESPN. Charania reports NBA news and information across ESPN platforms and also contributes to ESPN's exclusive coverage of the NBA draft. Charania has previously worked for FanDuel TV, Stadium, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, RealGM and ChicagoNow. He is a Chicago native and graduated from Loyola University in 2017.
Wyc Grousbeck will no longer stay on as governor as part of the Boston Celtics' $6.1 billion sale to Bill Chisholm, sources told ESPN.
Grousbeck is expected to retain the CEO title, as planned, and be an alternate governor after the sale is complete, according to sources.
According to multiple league sources, Chisholm and Grousbeck plan to run the team together as originally planned.
The change in structure was due to league rules, including minimum ownership, sources said. Grousbeck will end up owning slightly less than the required 15% given final funding for the transaction.
Operations of the team should remain consistent, with Brad Stevens and Rich Gotham continuing to run basketball and business operations, respectively.
When the sale was announced in March, it was stated that Grousbeck would remain as governor and CEO through 2028.
But the NBA's board of governors was informed in recent days that Chisholm will now assume the governor title moving forward, sources said.
The sale is expected to be complete within the next week.
Grousbeck, whose family leads the group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million, told ESPN in March that Chisholm asked him to stay on as CEO and governor for the next three seasons, adding that he was "glad to do so."
Chisholm and his wife, Kimberly Ford Chisholm, are taking a hands-on approach within the Boston community as they begin their ownership.
The Celtics have won an NBA-record 18 titles -- trailing only the New York Yankees (27) and Montreal Canadiens (24) among all North American professional sports leagues.