In this arena, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a pretender… not that I’d say that to his face.
It didn’t take long after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver dropped the hammer on Clippers owner Donald Sterling over his racist comments and said the league was going to try to force him to sell the team that potential suitors lined up with an interest in purchasing the team. (No, Shelly Sterling, Donald’s estranged wife, is not in that group.)
Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Group (which already own the Los Angeles Dodgers) are already trying to get in the front of the line, according to multiple reports. But they have a lot of company.
Mayweather said he was serious about his interest and that he had spoken with his adviser, Al Haymon, about teaming with Mayweather Promotions chief executive Leonard Ellerbe, Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer and possibly others to make a bid for the Clippers.
“I called Al today about that to see if me, Leonard and Al, and hopefully Richard and a couple of other guys, a couple other of my billionaire guys, we can come together and see what we can come up with,” Mayweather said. “Hopefully, we can do it, and it’s not just talk.
Let’s set aside Mayweather’s gambling history and his ability to clear the league’s background check for owners, Mayweather would need a lot of help — his net worth is estimated in the $150 million range and the price tag for the Clippers is likely going to be in the $1 billion range (according to sources and other reports). Same with Oscar De La Hoya, who also is interested but worth roughly $200 million. In this ring, Mayweather and De La Hoya are not big time.
Oprah Winfrey is (estimated net worth around $3 billion). Entertainment mogul David Geffen is ($6.2 billion). And those two may be teaming up, reports Darren Rovel of ESPN.
Larry Ellison has been looking to buy a team and move them to San Jose, but it’s hard to see that outcome here — these partners wouldn’t want to move the team. Plus, if you move a team out of the nation’s second largest media market you are doing it wrong.
One fun name on the list — Matt Damon would love to be a minority owner.
Also on the minority owner wish list is Malcolm in the Middle’s Frankie Muniz.
There also will be a lot of names you don’t know who will have a serious shot at this. For example Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is one of the richest men in Los Angeles with a net worth of $7 billion, and he is the guy who bought Magic Johnson’s minority share of the Lakers. Soon-Shiong both has the money to get in this game and has already gone through the NBA’s vetting process for owners, there are no surprises there for the league.
It’s going to be a little while before a sale takes place. The NBA owners have to formally charge Sterling, have a hearing where both sides can present evidence, then the owners would vote. The NBA owners meet every July and this could happen then, except you can expect Sterling will fight this with lawsuits (plural) in federal court, dragging the process out. He’s a litigious person and is not just going to roll over for the “good of the game” here. That’s not in his nature.
When the sale process does move forward (and assuming the NBA runs it) expect a blind bid process (similar to how the Dodgers were sold out from under Frank McCourt by Major League Baseball). That process tends to bring in incredibly high bids as groups don’t know what others will bid. By the way, Magic Johnson and his group won the Dodgers in that process.
And yes, after league expenses, Donald Sterling will get that money. He bought the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million and will turn a handsome profit on this deal.
