The Donald Sterling/Los Angeles Clippers saga finally looks like it will be coming to an end. According to the LA Times, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will buy the Clippers for $2 billion:
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the Clippers for $2 billion
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 29, 2014
This is a huge move and will bring an end to what could have been a long, drawn out process for the NBA.
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Ever since Sterling was banned for life from the NBA because of racist remarks that were captured in a recording with his mistress V. Stiviano, it had seemed as if Sterling would fight the ruling.
He didn’t help his own cause in an interview with Anderson Cooper in which he attacked Magic Johnson, claiming he was not a good role model for children.
Recently there were a number of conflicting reports regarding the possible sale of the team. It seemed as if Sterling was set to sale the Clippers, allowing his wife Shelly to handle it, but in the meantime Sterling hired an anti-trust lawyer and threatened to sue the NBA.
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Sterling’s lawyers then wrote a 32-page report to the NBA, detailing what was wrong about Sterling’s punishment, even using Kobe Bryant as a reference point. But none of that matters now that this sale is set to go through.
This is not Ballmer’s first attempt to join the NBA. He was part of an ownership group that tried to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle in 2008, and also tried to purchase the Sacramento Kings in 2013.
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