If you thought the current owners of the Los Angeles Clippers were annoying, just wait.
Justin Bieber is among several big names who could be in the mix to purchase the team from Donald Sterling, Sam Amick of USA Today reported Monday. Singer Rihanna or Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson also could be part of a prospective ownership group.
There is no shortage of interest in the club, which the NBA plans to force Sterling to sell after he was banned from the league for life by commissioner Adam Silver. Sterling was caught in a recording making racist comments, leading to his banishment, and while his wife, Shelly, wants to take control of the franchise, the NBA is determined to keep that from happening.
“People like Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, were in attendance,” Amick said in a video. “Magic has been rumored to have interest in the Clippers. Justin Bieber, Rihanna. A lot of money, a lot of fame, in this town. A lot of people very interested in this Clippers situation right now. Shelly’s going to have an uphill battle. She is not going to win this fight.”
Shelly Sterling is not without her own public relations issues. She has been caught on video illegally posing as a health inspector to record the ethnicities of her tenants. The NBA will go to great lengths to remove the Sterling name from the league entirely — even if the Sterlings stand to gain financially due to the high interest among buyers.
