At $314 million, Jayson Tatum has signed the biggest NBA contract to date.
The Boston Celtics player, who helped the franchise win its 18th championship last month, is reportedly close to signing a five-year, supermax contract extension that will last through the 2029–2030 campaign, sources informed Shams Charania of The Athletic on Monday.
The five-year, $304 million contract that Jaylen Brown, his teammate, signed last season is superseded by the 26-year-old’s agreement. Brown’s contract was the highest-paying NBA contract at the time.
In two of the previous three seasons, the duo has assisted in leading the team to the NBA Finals. Most recently, the team defeated the Mavericks 106-88 to become the most successful team in league history.Tatum took the stage at the Celtics’ post-game celebration two weeks after winning the game and reprised a passage from the now-famous Kanye West 2005 Grammys address.
“Everyone was curious about what would occur in the event that we lost.” He said, “I guess we’ll never know,” to applause from his teammates. It coincides with reports that the Celtics’ ownership group intends to list the team for sale.
Wyc Grousbeck, the team’s CEO, acquired the franchise back in 2002, and it is about to go up for sale.
A statement from the team stated, “Boston Basketball Partners LLC, the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, announced today its intention to sell all the shares of the team.”
“The controlling family of the ownership group has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations after much deliberation within the group.”
The statement went on, saying, “Wyc Grousbeck will continue to serve as the team’s governor until the second closing in 2028. The managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028.”
With а $4.7 billiоn vаluаtiоn, the Celtics were the fоurth-mоst vаluаble NBа teаm in 2023, аccоrding tо Fоrbes. аt the time оf purchаse, the frаnchise wаs vаlued аt $360 milliоn by its present оwners.
After buying the team from Paul Gaston in 2002, Boston Basketball Partners LLC has watched the team make four trips to the NBA Finals.