Bill Chisholm gave his first news conference as the owner of the Boston Celtics Thursday as the team enters a new era — one that will have many questions to answer.
Chisholm’s purchase of the team became official in late August, finalizing a $6.1 billion offer that is the second-most expensive team sale in NBA history behind the Lakers’ $10 billion offer this summer.
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While many of the questions around the Celtics this offseason involve the health of star forward Jayson Tatum and how the team will bounce back from an underwhelming offseason, Chisholm also offered his insight on where the new era of Celtics basketball will take place.
Since it opened in 1995, the Celtics have played at the arena currently known as TD Garden, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals nine times, the NBA Finals three times and winning two championships in the thirty-year stretch.
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Unlike many other sports franchises, the Celtics do not own TD Garden, instead leasing the space from Delaware North, the parent company of the Boston Bruins. The lease runs through the 2035-35 NBA season. Chisholm did not seem to suggest any haste at which the Celtics are moving to get out of the TD Garden and into their own arena.
“I don’t have a specific point of view on (the possibility of finding a new arena),” Chisholm told reporters. “I have some sort of philosophical perspective on it. So the first thing is, I really like Boston Garden, personally. I think that the team and the players really like the Boston Garden, and equally importantly, the fans really like the Boston Garden. So that’s a starting point.
“Second thing is, you know, I think the Celtics and the Bruins belong together, so that’s another part of the equation as well. And then the third thing is, we are 100 percent committed to creating the best fan experience possible, and we’ll take a look at it where that is, but we’ve got a great thing going right today.”
The Bruins have been played at TD Garden alongside the Celtics since the arena’s opening. Based on Chisholm’s tone, it seems that the new Celtics ownership group is committed to remaining in partnership with the Bruins.
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