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Clippers for sale? Six potential celebrity buyers.

As the NBA begins the likely messy process of forcing Donald Sterling to sell his team after giving him a lifetime league ban and a $2.5 million fine, a big question looms:  If the NBA and its owners can get Sterling to sell, who will be the new Clippers owner? Several famous names have already thrown their hats into the ring, including sports superstars, titans of entertainment and business, and a former child actor. 

2. Magic Johnson

Neil Barris/The Saginaw News/AP/File
Businessman and former NBA star Magic Johnson smiles while speaking to members of the media during a press conference Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Saginaw, Mich.

Job: Basketball player (retired), business mogul (active)

Net worth: $500 million

What would make him a good owner? Few are more universally beloved in basketball or the Los Angeles sports scene.  Mr. Sterling’s taped comments were partially directed at Mr. Johnson, so him having an ownership stake in Sterling’s former team would be an interesting cap to the whole affair.

Additionally, he has the financial backing to make the buy. He is part of the Guggenheim Group, which bought the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012.  The only problem? He’s tightly associated with the Clippers’ in-town rival, the Lakers, for whom he played his entire NBA career.

Johnson took to Twitter on April 28 to deny reports that he was trying to buy the team. For now, at least:

“To NBA Fans, I want to put a stop to a rumor. I am not trying to buy the Clippers, they already have an owner,” he said.

But not for long, if the NBA has its way. 

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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