Aside from Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, no one took more heat from the fanbase when the team traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 36-year-old Paul George, a 2028 first-round pick swap, the 76ers’ 2031 first-rounder, and two seconds than Bill Chisholm.
Chisholm, the leader of the investment group that bought a majority stake in Celtics ownership from the Grousbeck family last year, has seen the roster undergo plenty of change under his regime. Last summer, it was Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet who headed to new homes as the front office evaded the second-apron threshold.
With the Brown blockbuster, the big brains in the fanbase put their thinking caps on and decided that Chisholm, the ownership group, and their private equity funds were entirely to blame for the exodus of talent.
It’s a fair assumption for those who haven’t familiarized themselves with the league’s latest collective bargaining agreement and the financial penalties that coincide with it. Simply put, spending above the second-apron like the Celtics did in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons is not a sustainable way to operate anymore.
Five days after Stevens and the front office shipped out the longest tenured Celtics player and 2024 NBA Finals MVP, Chisholm sat next to his president at the podium and faced the media -- something that he did not remotely have to do.
The majority of the questions went to Brad, with the lone memorable answer from Chisholm, albeit a nervous-sounding one, was that he and his partners are committed to building a winning team in Boston.
He doubled down on this sentiment during his Tuesday appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show as part of the station’s annual Jimmy Fund radio telethon.
"We're not playing for second. We're playing to win and to raise banners,” Chisholm said. “Someone joked and was calling me in the beginning 'Billy Banners' because I said that, and I want to earn that, and I haven't yet. I think we have the ingredients to do it, and certainly the commitment... We'll do whatever it takes. I'm desperate to win."
Bill Chisholm reiterates to @TheGregHillShow that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win:
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) August 18, 2026
"We're not playing for second. We're playing to win and to raise banners. Someone joked and was calling me in the beginning 'Billy Banners' because I said that, and I want to earn… pic.twitter.com/jXkYRpL9Kz
It's tough not to believe Bill Chisholm
Frankly, it’s tough not to believe him. Chisholm grew up on Boston’s North Shore and has been a lifelong Celtics fan. He and his family can consistently be seen sitting courtside for home games at TD Garden.
With how bummed out the general public was when the initial news broke that the Grousbecks were looking to sell their stake in the team, you’d have to imagine that Chisholm the fan understands the responsibility that he and his partners have to keep the Celtic tradition going. Good ownership can make or break a franchise, after all.
Just look across town at the Boston Red Sox. John Henry was seen at Fenway Park during the team’s historic winning streak this summer, for what felt like the first time in years. He loves to show face when things are going well, but when they’re not he won’t be around.
Now, we fortunately haven’t encountered a truly bad time as a Celtics fans in over a decade, certainly not yet under Chisholm. The Jaylen trade truthfully is the worst it’s been. Just the emotional blow alone. Not to mention the feeling that the team didn’t maximize their return for an All-NBA talent.
To Chisholm’s credit, again, he hasn’t hidden during this. He’s even said he had to be convinced to greenlight the deal by Stevens and Co. Though the league’s CBA has put the Cs in a tough spot over the past two summers, ownership shouldn’t be at the forefront of the blame and fans don’t yet have a concrete reason to dismiss what Chisholm is selling them.
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