William “Bill” Chisholm was in Sacramento for the Boston Celtics game against the Kings. Chisholm and his wife, Kimberly, were in attendance for the first time since agreeing to purchase the Boston Celtics for a record $6.1 billion.
It was on Thursday when the news broke that the Celtics found its new owner and since the Chisholm family is based in California, this was the first opportunity for them to see their team in action. Bill and his wife Kimberly talked about the emotions of winning the bid to become the next Boston Celtics owner with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin.
“Honestly, it’s emotional for me. As a kid growing up in New England, I didn’t even know to dream about this, and then to have it happen — it was really emotional,” Chisholm said. “Shout out to our kids Will, Aidan, and Quentin. It’s just really special and emotional. I really understand what this is about and what it means to the people of Boston, because I’m one of them. I’m going to do it right.”
It seemed like Celtics fans gave the Chisholm family a warm welcome. Kimberly mentioned that Celtics fans at the Kings arena “mobbed” them when they were getting a tour of the facility and even gave Bill a nickname.
“Bill got a little bit mobbed in one corner. They wanted to give us a tour of the arena and they kept having to stop and stop and stop because there were so many people in green. Calling him ‘Billy Banners’, it was really an amazing embrace even here in Sacramento,” Kimberly said.
The Celtics return to TD Garden on April 2 when they’ll host the Miami Heat. Bill said he would be in Boston for that game and the following game against the Suns two days later.
“That’s the plan. We’ll be there on the second, we’ll be there on the fourth. We’ll be there a lot,” Bill said. “It’s a great homecoming for me and I just had to pinch myself thinking of that. A lot of friends in the Boston area that I haven’t maybe spoken to in a while reached out. It’s a really, really special thing. I’m looking forward to really digging in with the community as well.”
Bill was seen talking to Jayson Tatum and Brad Stevens pregame and Abby asked what his message to the team has been since meeting them. Bill kept it simple.
“The message was to keep doing what you’re doing. And if there’s any way that I and we can play any role, be a little helpful, we’d love to do that,” he said. “I’m just so proud of what they’ve accomplished and we hope to build on that.”
From this interview, it seemed like there’s another fan of Joe Mazzulla. Kimberly spoke about how much she’s “obsessed” with the man in charge.
“It’s actually weird because I said to Bill at some point like, ‘Bill you need to tell Joe that I’m obsessed with him.’ and he goes, ‘That would actually be a little weird,” Kimberly said. “But I am because he’s doing such an incredible job, and he has such an intensity. He’s very funny but he has a way that I’m always waiting for what’s going to come next. He’s just an incredible visionary. We love Brad Stevens as a coach… It was big shoes to fill, but I was very very happy to get to know him better.”
