Nothing But Net: Oprah Eyeing Bid for the LA Clippers If the NBA board of governors votes that Donald Sterling must sell the Clippers following his leaked racial tirade, none other than Oprah herself is poised to make a play.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you thought Oprah's collaboration with Starbucks came out of left field, the media mogul has just confirmed she's eyeing a brand new arena: the NBA.
After a racist tirade by Donald Sterling leaked on TMZ, the Clippers owner was subsequently banned from the National Basketball Association for life and fined $2.5 million. If a board of governors votes that he must now sell the team, then Oprah, film executive David Geffen and software entrepreneur Larry Ellison will join together to make a bid, reports ESPN.
A spokeswoman for Oprah confirmed the report in a statement to ESPN.
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Oprah's interests are more moralistic than anything, Geffen told the outlet in an interview. "She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise."
Though Oprah's may be the most illustrious name currently floating around, other interested parties are rumored to include Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sean Combs, real estate tycoon Rick Caruso, Magic Johnson, Guggenheim Partners' Mark Walter and many others.
Sterling purchased the Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981, though now the team could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
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