The good people of the Commonwealth survived a chilling scare this week.

It had nothing to do with a “big miss” in the weather department. Or a major chemical spill.

But it certainly would have been one of the biggest man-made disasters in the history of the Bay State.

For a few hours on Monday, we were being told by something called NBC Sports’ Basketball Talk Page that John Henry and Fenway Sports Group were indeed going to make a bid to buy the Boston Celtics.

Lucky marries Tessie. Or Wally. Or both.

And Henry thinks it’s expensive to have baseball players?

For some in the Bay State, the only reality more terrifying than Donald Trump becoming the 47th president is Henry & Company buying the Celtics. For others, the only outcome more puke-inducing than John Henry and Linda Pizzuti calling the shots on Causeway Street would be President Kamala Harris.

The antipathy toward the current ownership of the Red Sox cuts across the political spectrum. In the same way the Red Sox success has for decades brought together those of all races, classes, political ideologies, and religions, the malfeasance and apathy of the current owners is now the greatest tie that binds.

And they say sports don’t matter in the real world.

Thankfully, we were told by Masslive first and other media outlets subsequently, that the owners of the Red Sox, Penguins and Liverpool Football Club won’t be dabbling in the NBA – at least in Boston.

We’ve previously written here how the presence of LeBron James the player complicates any holdings he would have as part of an NBA ownership entity.

The bottom line across all pro sports – including Tom Brady “playing” for the Raiders and LeBron owning a piece of any NBA team is this – there is no players’ union that will sign off on any player’s contract if he/she/they/them are part owner of a team.

Period.

So for LeBron and FSG, the wait continues most likely for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas. LeBron is running on fumes – as compared to Brady at age 40, for example – and it’s becoming more difficult to imagine him playing beyond this season. The Celtics will face LeBron (or what’s left of him) tomorrow night in Los Angeles.

The Celtics visit the Clippers’ new palace in the SoFi Stadium parking lot tonight. The Intuit Dome is one of the modern sports wonders of the world. It features a 35,000-square foot video board and 51 rows of seats behind the visitors’ bench exclusively for Clippers’ fans.

We’re not sure if they’ve found 51 rows worth of Clippers’ fans yet.

Those who want to buy the Celtics and have $6 billion burning a hole in their pocket, first-round bids are due tomorrow.

Good luck, Pags.

Will the Celtics next owner(s) have the money and the stomach to absorb the upcoming luxury tax hits the Celtics face moving forward?

We never knew how good we had it when Wyc Grousbeck was spending his dad’s money to lock up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for max deals. Keeping Derek White in the fold. And adding Kristaps Porzingis.

The luxury tax doesn’t mean anything when it’s not your money.

With each step of the Celtics sale moving forward, fans are one step closer to the very real prospect of the band being broken apart.

This time, it won’t be Yoko Ono. But rather, “How much? Oh, no!”

Even your favorite oligarch won’t spend $6 billion on a team that is carrying a $210 million luxury tax hit without planning to do something about those numbers. The 2023-24 Celtics produced one the most-glorious seasons in team history. Yet, ownership barely broke even. The Celtics in their current form will lose $80 million next season thanks to that $210 million luxury tax hit. That holds whether they win Banner 19/20 or finish 0-82.

As this reality grows in probability, it puts more pressure – at least from fans – for this iteration of the team to capture another title this season.

For the Celtics, one championship is merely the price of admission into the discussion of greatness. Boston hasn’t won 2 championships within the same score since 1986.

One title satisfies the minimum requirement necessary to rebuke those who hate on the Jays. At the same time, it deepens the yearning for what is or was possible.

This is/was never supposed to be a one-and-done crew.

Thus, whenever the Celtics disappear against Atlanta in overtime, or get thumped by Oklahoma City, the cortisol spikes.

Boston has settled for the No. 2 seed in the East. There’s no need to sweat losing home court against Cleveland in a series that won’t begin for another 4 months.

Steve Kerr tried to talk Celtics Nation off the ledge on Monday before Boston flattened Golden State 125-85. The scary thing is that the Warriors became what the Celtics aspire to be, only to see it all crumble in less than 2 years.

“But what I would expect is, come playoff time, they’ll be ready to roll. They’ve got guys in their primes, well-oiled machine, well-coached. They know who they are. So I wouldn’t worry about the Celtics if I were one of their fans. This is normal,” Kerr said.

So, for now, count on the Celtics being ready to roll at playoff time.

And count on anything and nothing once the team is sold.

Bill Speros (@RealOBF and @BillSperos on X) can be reached at bsperos1@gmail.com.