The pressure on Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers is only going to increase by the day. The NBA wants him out, and league commissioner Adam Silver is expected to make a decision on possible disciplinary action against Sterling by Tuesday. If the most stubborn owner in the NBA does decide to sell the team, Magic Johnson reportedly wants in.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Johnson is “absolutely interested” in purchasing the Clippers with the help of his billionaire backers the Guggenheim Partners. Sterling would never go down without a fight, but it is within the realm of possibility that Silver and the NBA could force him to turn over the team.
As Wojnarowski noted, Johnson and his people are looking to build a sports empire in Southern California. After cleansing the Los Angeles Dodgers of what had become a miserable ownership group in recent years, Johnson and Guggenheim inquired about purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers. The Buss family made it clear that the team is not for sale, but you get the point.
“This is 100 percent Magic’s plan,” a league source familiar with buying and selling franchises told Yahoo! Sports.
Sterling is always going to be viewed as a racist, and deservedly so. If you didn’t already know he was a bigot, the recent audio recordings that were released should remove all doubt. Unfortunately, Johnson was specifically targeted during Sterling’s rant. If there is a “best thing” Sterling can do in this situation, it would be to move aside and allow one of the people he disrespected to take over the franchise.
