In the aftermath of the Donald Sterling scandal, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers could be forced to sell the franchise after being banned for life by the NBA. There will be a lot of hurdles ahead in terms of the Clippers officially being up for grabs, but plenty of interested parties have come forward in the meantime.
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One of those interested parties appears to still be Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners. Magic tried to put an end to the rumors that he was interested in buying the Clippers on Twitter earlier this week, but then said the following at the Milken Global Conference on Wednesday according to Ben Bergman of 89.3 KPCC:
“I will be owning an NBA team sometime,” Johnson told a gathering of business leaders Wednesday at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills. “Is the Clippers the right situation? Of course. It’s one of the premiere franchises.”
Magic becoming an NBA owner after successfully taking over the Los Angeles Dodgers seems to be a foregone conclusion as he basically suggests. Johnson continued to insinuate being interested and that the fans want it to happen via 89.3 KPCC:
“I think the fans have already spoken,” Johnson said. “They would like us to own the team. But we have to wait and see.”
At this point in time, the Clippers are still own by Sterling and may be for quite some time. NBA commissioner Adam Silver let it be known that he’ll be doing everything within his power to force the sale of the team during the press conference to announce the lifetime ban, but reports of Sterling being reluctant have surfaced according to Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News:
Donald Sterling won’t go down without a fight, according to an NBA executive who is close to the disgraced owner of the Clippers, and will sue the league if the other 29 owners vote to force him to sell.
With the future still uncertain for the Clippers, Magic and his partners will likely be paying close attention to the way things pan out in Los Angeles.
Other notable celebrities that have shown interest in buying the Clippers are Oprah Winfrey, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sean “Puffy” Combs to name a few.
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Bans Clippers Owner Donald Sterling For LIFE
