Sterling couldn’t have scripted the sale of the Clippers better, if he had PLANNED it. A team he bought for $12.5 million a few of decades ago now has an offer of $2 billion! I don’t know about you, but I wish we could let this white racist run America!
According to Shelly Sterling, Donald Sterling’s wife, Former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer has agreed to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, according to Shelly Sterling. Talk about “making him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Ballmer’s bid price is three times the record price for an NBA franchise, and the only potential sticking point is that Sterling must agree not to sue the NBA. Pretty good price for his silence, I’d say.
If I were Sterling, I would agree not to sue the NBA, if the NBA gave me back the $2.5 million fine they imposed. I would then demand a public apology for how they handled things. Oh, and I’d demand they lift the “lifetime ban.”
Sterling received four offers for the franchise, all of which seem like low-ball insults at this point. A $1.6 billion bid from entertainment mogul David Geffen and his “who’s who” list of partners was the next best offer, and a cool $400 million short of the offer that Ballmer made. Right now that difference is enough for Sterling to buy the WWE from Vince McMahon with a little wiggle room.
There was also a $1.2 billion offer from billionaires Antony Ressler and Bruce Karsh, who were joined by former NBA star Grant Hill.
To put this deal in perspective, understand that investors Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry paid $550 million for the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year, and this deal included the assumption of $125 million in debt.
I’d say Sterling has the Midas touch, and I further suggest he have more conversations with his mistress that get leaked. His approach might be unconventional, however results are what matter.
Too bad America’s head racist Barack Obama can’t pull a “Sterling” and make his racism profitable for America, and not just a few of his select friends. In the time of Obama, America couldn’t have gotten the $12.5 million purchase price.
