If you were in the market for an eighteen-time NBA champion franchise, the cost will run you $6.1 billion. This was the price paid by the new ownership of the Boston Celtics in late March 2025. That astronomical price tag makes it the most expensive sale of a sports franchise in North American history, beating out the last previous sale by $500 million. But what does buying an NBA franchise actually grant the owner in terms of property rights? This paper will examine the process which NBA ownership is acquired and the rights and responsibilities conferred to the new owner. The NBA is more like a fancy New York City Co-op apartment building in more ways than one.