Silicon Valley Celtics

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I love reading stories on how NBA teams were purchased or the quirkiness of owners and ownership groups. You know, just daydreaming about if it's even remotely possible something like that could happen to me or another dreamleaguer.

Those of you in the Bay Area may have recently read the San Jose Mercury News article by Scott Duke Harris about the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, which is comprised of some venture capitalists from Silicon Valley. My favorite quote is about renowned VC Jim Breyer and how he used to be the paperboy of one of his senior partners of "Banner 17" (read the article if you want to know why it's called that)...

"I was the Sunday Boston Globe delivery boy for the Grousbecks,' recalled Breyer, now better known as an early investor in Facebook and a director of Walmart.com. "I remember that they gave me excellent tips at Christmas."

There's actually a better article written a few weeks earlier in the Wall Street Journal by Peter Lattman. My favorite quote...

Is this good business or good fun? It depends who you ask. Earlier that night, Mr. [James Pallotta], the hedge-fund investor, described his investment philosophy above the din of the Boston crowd:

"Am I hoping for a return? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I ever get my money back. I used to sneak in when I was a kid. It's much better to be able to walk in through the front door."

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NBA China: 12 arenas

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This is really staggering news. Last week, John Lombardo of the SportsBusiness Journal reported that NBA China has entered the following agreement with AEG...

The two will join forces to develop and operate up to 12 arenas in China, representing another key step in the NBA’s vision for its own league in Asia, while adding more facilities to the global expansion effort under Tim Leiweke at AEG.

Who is AEG? Well, let's just say the Staples Center is one of the many different sports arenas around the globe that they run (yeah, 'nuff said).

Logic would dictate that the NBA expects to have at least 12 franchises in various cities in China. Oh yeah, and with only the Beijing Olympic arena built, NBA China with its projected Chinese audience is currently worth -- I kid you not -- $2.3 billion!...

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