Bill Simmons Floats Wild Celtics-Amazon Stadium Idea as Jeff Bezos 'Buzz' Grows

After winning their 18th NBA title in June, the Boston Celtics ownership group announced on July 1 that the team would be put up for sale .

In a 12-minute segment on Monday's August 19 edition of "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Simmons revealed growing speculation that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will be heavily in the mix as the Grousbeck family seeks upward of $6 billion for the franchise.

"I happen to have a bunch of information on this because this is a huge, huge topic right now," Simmons said. "I don't care about being aggregated about this because I'm right. ... In the last few days, there's been some, I think, legitimate buzz about Jeff Bezos buying the Celtics and I think it's real. I think he's going to be one of the suitors."

Bezos, Forbes' No. 2 wealthiest person in the world with a net worth north of $195 billion, also made a bid to purchase the NFL's Washington Commanders in 2023.

Simmons spent a few minutes trying to identify motivating factors behind Bezos' interest in purchasing a "crown jewel" sports franchise.

"So why would you do it? Simmons questioned. "Then I was thinking, their arena, their lease is like eight or nine more years. Is the play for him some sort of Amazon stadium? We're already kind of seeing this with (LA Clippers owner Steve) Ballmer and some of these other like touchless stadiums where you just go in and grab things and walk out.

"Is the ultimate play for this to build some sort of state-of-the-art stadium that's never been done before for concerts and for basketball and it's like the Amazon Dome? And you put it in downtown Boston and that just becomes another thing he did?"

Simmons' bold idea may be further off into the future than he suggests, however. On August 13, Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs confirmed to WEEI that "the Celtics have signed a lease with the TD Garden for another 12 years or so."

That would push a new stadium timeline to 2036, at the earliest.

Related: Celtics Insider Gives Thoughts on Team Sale