A dispute within the Grousbeck family sparked the surprise decision to sell the Celtics, according to a new report.

The New York Post’s Josh Kosman on Friday reported H. Irving Grousbeck grew fed up with the team’s string of big-money player contracts and “demand(ed) his free-spending son sell the iconic franchise.”

That son, Wyc, is the public face of Celtics ownership but personally owns only around 3% of the team, per the Post’s report. His father, who turned 90 in July, reportedly owns “a controlling roughly 20% stake.”

Over the last 14 months, the Celtics have handed out the two largest contracts in NBA history to stars Jaylen Brown (five years, $304 million) and Jayson Tatum (five years, $315 million), with those deals including more than $560 million in guaranteed money. Boston also signed starters Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White to new deals and locked up key role players like Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser. The guaranteed money in those five contracts exceeds $345 million.

The Celtics “barely broke even last season,” per the Post report, and are “expected to lose roughly $80 million” for the upcoming campaign. Those fines will become even more onerous the following year. Boston’s 2025-26 roster is projected to be the most expensive in NBA history – north of $500 million between salaries and tax penalties.

Wyc Grousbeck said just a few months ago that he and his ownership partners would be “paid in parades” for their investment in the Celtics, like the one Boston enjoyed in June after knocking off the Dallas Mavericks to snap its 15-year championship drought.

The elder Grousbeck evidently does not share that opinion.

“Wyc says we’ll spend whatever it takes, but dad wasn’t into losing money,” a source told the Post.

Wyc Grousbeck denied the existence of any such rift, reiterating his initial statement that “estate and family considerations” are driving the sale.

“The Grousbeck family is selling the team for estate and family planning considerations. To say the sale is in any way related to losses is completely incorrect,” Grousbeck told the Post.

“There has not been a capital call from ownership, or any additional investment of any kind, in the 22 years since Boston Basketball Partners bought the team and we don’t anticipate there being one.”

The Grousbeck-led group bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. The most recent Forbes estimation pegged the franchise’s value at $4.7 million, and that was released before the C’s championship run.

It’s been speculated the sale could fetch as much as $6 million – which would shatter the current NBA record of $4 billion set when Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns two years ago – though the fact the Celtics do not own their arena could give some potential suitors pause. TD Garden is owned by the Bruins ownership group, meaning the Celtics must lease the venue from their NHL siblings and are unable to profit from other events held there.

The Grousbecks plan to sell 51% of the team in the coming months and the balance in 2028, with Wyc Grousbeck remaining on as governor until the second closing. Among the interested buyers is co-owner and managing partner Steve Pagliuca, who’s owned a stake in the franchise since 2002. Pagliuca said in a statement that he “will be a proud participant in the bidding process.”

Other reports suggested John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group and billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could be interested, as well, but those were unconfirmed as of Saturday.