Celtics Governor, Wyc Grousbeck, joins the show!

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Live from Sam Adams Boston Taproom, Celtics Governor, Wyc Grousbeck, joins the show!

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00:00Our next guest was one of the first who agreed to be on this show, and so he joins us this morning,

00:06the governor of the Boston Celtics, Wick Grosbeck. Round of applause for Wick,

00:10please, everybody. Wick, good morning. Yo, man. Yo, man. How are you? How are you?

00:16Well, you know, you make it sound like a big surprise I agreed to go on the air. I'm not

00:20exactly publicity shy, but you guys have always been the best. Well, we appreciate always the

00:27support that you've given this show and you gave us on the old show, and certainly I think it must

00:34be, I'm sure for you, the sadness that existed with kind of what's going to go on over the next

00:42few years here must be comforting. You must enjoy the fact that the people at some point

00:46are going to miss you. You know, I don't even really focus on that too much. I'm

00:55being straightforward about it. I'm on such a roll from winning and the way we won in 24. I

01:03think this team was really, really special, and like of all the teams that I've been a part of

01:09for 22 years, this one is just extraordinary. It took a long time to build it up, and we hung in

01:15there, and the guys got it done. Yeah, I was going to ask you, like, are you over the, like, when you

01:21had that parade and the city showed up, like, you know, arguably never before, are you

01:27over that yet or do you still think about it all the time? I think you mean 2008. I'm not even over

01:332008. I'm not kidding. People ask me all the time, you know, is it wearing off? I'm like, it hasn't

01:41worn off from from 08. That's the way I'm wired. I just, I'm so happy that we got it done twice

01:48and we're looking for more. Do you find it as odd as we do that Steve Kerr is not playing Jason

01:55Tatum in these Olympics? I mean, I wouldn't play Steve Kerr. Let me put it that way.

02:04Like, what's going on? I mean, it's a mystery. It's a complete mystery, and

02:10I mean, I think Jason doesn't deserve anything but praise, kudos, and playing time. I think

02:17he and Jalen led us to this unbelievable championship, and they're not apparently

02:24helping out the Olympic team. They're not a bit, you know, not able to be helpful in the Olympic

02:28team, and just leave it at that. It's mystifying. Yeah, it is. It is mystifying, although I guess,

02:36you know, Courtney brought this up during her lead. Maybe it's something, and I'm sure you're

02:40hoping for this too. It's something that those guys can use as they get ready for this upcoming

02:45season from a chip-on-the-shoulder perspective. Exactly, and I was on that duck boat with Jason,

02:52and Amelia and I were up there, and you know, he's wearing a shirt that says, you know,

02:57don't stop disbelieving. That was his, you know, motto even in the parade. It's like,

03:03you know, how do you like me now? And hopefully this is fuel. I mean, the schedule's going to

03:08come out in like five or six days, and we're going to see who we play opening night when we get our

03:13rings and put the banner up, and it's going to be on. Let me tell you, they're going to be coming

03:17after us. Wick, we've been so surprised though by the disrespect that people have shown this team

03:25almost immediately after the parade, whether it was they had an easy road to the championship,

03:29then Jalen not getting the nod to Paris, and now Jason not playing. It feels like a disrespect I've

03:36never seen before, and something that I don't understand. Do the players feel that? Does Joe

03:41Mizzoula feel that? Are they ready to just absolutely rip everybody's heads off?

03:47Well, I'm going to see all that crew just about, you know, a lot of them this weekend because

03:51Peyton Pritchard's getting married on the Cape, so we're kind of going to reconvene a lot of us

03:56down there and probably talk about this. Here's what I think though. In the aftermath of the win,

04:02what's really happened is people have been putting this team into perspective and looking

04:06historically at the record of 80 and 21, which is the total all-in record for the year,

04:11and beating people by double digits and beating Dallas by, I think, three-tenths by like 16 or

04:16seven, 16 points, was it? I mean, you know, here's our playoff run. 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 4-1.

04:25Nobody has anything to say about that. We went 16 and 3 in the playoffs, and we won the championship,

04:29and this one, this team's going down in history. It has gone down in history,

04:33and that's how it'll be remembered. Speaking of Peyton Pritchard's wedding,

04:37I'm assuming that the trophy will be there. Where's the weirdest place that it's been

04:42that you know about? This one so far, all I know is I gave it to Joe Mazzulla for two days,

04:48and it came back with dents in it, so I don't know what he was doing with it.

04:54There are a couple of dents on the trophy. I don't know what happened, what Joe decided. He did some,

05:00you know, taekwondo with it or whatever he does, but he's hilarious. If he were coaching the Olympic

05:07team, it'd be a different story. Let me just put it that way. For the better, but I do know the

05:14last trophy was at the bottom of a pool on the vineyard because Ray Allen got married, and there

05:19was the trophy at 2 in the morning in the bottom of the pool, on the bottom of the pool. So this

05:25one still probably hasn't, that probably hasn't happened yet, but the night is young. We'll see

05:30what happens over the weekend. Wick, you said how this has been a long time coming in the

05:35championship, and you're not still over the high of 08 and building this team. I just marvel at the,

05:42I think the reason why it has been so successful is that you and your group have put basketball

05:49and winning above all else, despite the people that have come and gone. Is there a decision,

05:54whether it's Brad in his current job after Danny left, or Joe Mazzulla to remain as the head coach,

06:00or whatever, is there a singular moment that you look back to, or is it just everything built on

06:05each other that allows you to get this second dominating championship? Well, thanks for the

06:12question. The two decisions you mentioned were two decisions that I had to make over the last

06:17few years that went well, obviously, to say the least, but clearly some decisions work and some

06:24don't, and you have to be humble, and you have to realize other people helped all the way along.

06:29But those two decisions, looking at Brad across the table, seeing who we're going to hire for GM

06:35to be in between us as lead owner, and then coach, you need a GM between us as a partner.

06:41I looked at the list with him, and I didn't really seem to be on the list that I knew well enough,

06:46or that I felt could be that partner. I just kind of didn't like the list. Then I looked at him and

06:51said, I think it might be you. Let's talk about it in the morning. Give me your thoughts in the

06:55morning. He came in the morning. He goes, all right, I'm up for it. I mean, that's how that

06:59happened, and I think that was a pivotal moment. Then Joe, hanging in with Joe after a good year

07:07with a great record, number one record in the league, but then a loss in the playoffs,

07:11hanging in there. He hanging in with us, and we hanging in with him, or however you say it.

07:17Yeah, those are two key things, but let's not lose sight of the players. All 15 of them bonded

07:23together. They put the team above themselves in every single case, and we kicked ass and took

07:29names. You told us early on in the season, last season, that there were cameras rolling. Now,

07:37I guess April is when we will see all of this, and what a season to do it. What can you tell us

07:44about that? Yeah, that worked out great, didn't it? Yeah, it's the HBO cameras. It's a really

07:54high-quality group. Great, a couple of great co-directors. I mean, just terrific people,

07:59and I can't wait to see it. Obviously, we know the ending, but it's a good ending,

08:07so we didn't really spoil it for anybody. I can't wait. It's going to be great. In fact,

08:11I went out to see Koozie the other day, and there they were, and we did not do it as a media event,

08:15but then they heard about it and came out. Bob Koozie is the best, and I mean,

08:21they really are taking, I think, it's going to be a great look at the Celtics, and it's not just

08:27us. It's all the way back to the greats that built the team and set the standard that we're just

08:32trying to live up to in our own average way. And Bob Koozie is going to be there, I think,

08:38opening night when the banner goes up? I hope so. I hope so. He's 96 now, and God love him. He's

08:45absolute inspiration and the best, and if he can't make it to that game, we'll go to him.

08:51But I'm really proud to know him and really appreciate everything he does.

08:57Well, speaking of appreciation, I so appreciate the fact that you're an owner in the city who

09:03has always come on this program, has always talked to the fans, has always been great to us. So

09:08if I could, cheers to Whit Grosbeck here, Jim Cook.

09:14Today's the day to cheer. Thank you. But today's the day to celebrate you guys in five years and

09:19many, many more. And you guys are the gold standard and really proud to be your friend

09:23and also an occasional guest. So thank you. Congratulations.

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