Report: Shelly Sterling in talks to sell Los Angeles Clippers
May 27, 2014, 11:05 PM | Updated: 11:05 pm
Reports Tuesday indicate co-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Shelly Sterling, and her representatives are hoping to sell the team, caught between media cross fire and racist remarks, by the end of this week.
According to CNN.com, three-fourths of NBA owners will have to approve of any sale by the Sterlings.
Shelly Sterling has been reportedly speaking with several potential buyers, such as ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Shelly Sterling is also interested in fielding offers from billionaire businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong; (Grant) Hill’s group; entertainment mogul David Geffen and Oracle founder Larry Ellison; and entrepreneur Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners, which two years ago teamed up to buy baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has remained very involved in dealing with the Clippers ownership.
Silver banned Donald Sterling, Shelly’s estranged husband, for life and fined him $2.5 million shortly after his racist comments went viral.
As of 2:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, Sterling still hadn’t responded to the NBA’s charges against him, nor had he paid the $2.5 million fine, a well-placed source said.
Donald Sterling’s deadline to respond to the NBA’s sentencing is midnight Tuesday.
The well-placed source predicted the team could sell for between $1.5 billion and $2 billion; if it’s sold, the NBA wouldn’t want either Sterling to have any stake. Shelly Sterling previously had said she wanted to own at least part of the franchise, but doesn’t want to be a controlling partner.
As of now, the NBA is still planning to vote on whether to force the Sterlings to sell the team by June 3.
