David Geffen Wants To Buy Los Angeles Clippers From Donald Sterling
Sell Now: Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder David Alt joins protest against owner Donald Sterling outside Staples Center. Image by getty images
Billionaire media executive David Geffen is interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, according to a person with knowledge of Geffen’s thinking, following a decision by National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver to ban Clipper owner Donald Sterling for life.
Silver said he would urge other NBA team owners to force Sterling to sell the pro franchise.
The NBA on Tuesday banned Sterling from the game for life and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments that drew a storm of outrage from players, fans, commercial sponsors and even President Barack Obama.
Geffen, who started two record labels and the Dreamworks film studio with Jeffrey Katzenberg and director Steven Spielberg, had expressed interest in the past in buying the Clippers but never made an offer.
He has a net worth of an estimated $6.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Sterling, the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 NBA teams, will be barred from any role in the operations of his team or be able to serve as one of the league’s governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference in New York.
The controversy began over the weekend when the celebrity website TMZ.com released an audio recording ostensibly of Sterling criticizing a woman friend for associating with “black people.”
The recording included Sterling asking his friend not to invite former Los Angeles Laker star player Earvin “Magic” Johnson to games.
Preaching the mantra of unity, the Los Angeles Clippers got back to winning ways against the Golden State Warriors just hours after disgraced team owner Donald Sterling had been banned from the game for life on Tuesday.
With the National Basketball Association having also fined Sterling $2.5 million for racist comments that drew outrage from players, fans and commercial sponsors, the Clippers rocked their home Staples Center venue as they beat the Warriors 113-103.
Two days after being pounded 97-118 in Oakland, where they were clearly distracted by the first reports of Sterling’s divisive comments, the Los Angeles players were energized as they seized a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.
Chants of “We Are One! We Are One!” echoed around the arena during the fourth quarter as empassioned Clippers fans roared their team on to victory, center DeAndre Jordan pouring in 25 points, a playoff career high, along with 18 rebounds.
All-Star guard Chris Paul weighed in with 20 points while Jamal Crawford contributed 19 from the bench but it was the sense of closure following NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s tough stand against Sterling that set the tone.
“I think it put a lot of guys’ minds at ease in that locker room,” Paul said of Sterling being barred from any role in the operations of his franchise or from serving as one of the league’s governors.
“It’s definitely been tough the last few days, but we’ve been getting through it.
“When we ran out for warm-ups, it was one of the most emotional things I think I’ve ever been a part of. We have a tough locker room, all of us are tough, but it almost brought tears to your eyes just to feel the support from our fans.”
‘SAFE HAVEN’
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers had predicted before the game that a soldout Staples Center would be a “safe haven” for his team, but even he was taken aback by the crowd’s high-octane energy.
“They were awesome, that’s as good as I’ve ever seen them,” Rivers told reporters. “They’re unbelievable. Everybody was going through this. It’s almost like everybody wanted to exhale tonight. It was good.”
Repeatedly during Game Five, the public address announcer kept reminding the fans: “We Are One”.
In response, the crowd kept raising the decibel level while waving placards ranging from “For Sale. Racists need not apply” and “I’m here for Griffin, not for Sterling” to “Everyone is Different, Respect the Differences.”
Clippers guard J.J. Redick paid tribute to his team mates for rebounding from their lackluster display in Game Four on Sunday, and also to the crowd for pulling together in the wake of the Sterling controversy.
“Our team showed some great mental toughness,” said Redick. “It’s crazy to me to think that a team as good as Golden State didn’t get our full attention for three days, and that’s human nature, but we were distracted (for Game Four).
“You could tell tonight. We had a great crowd and we were locked in. We were focused and it was still a battle. They’re a great basketball team and it’s going to be tough to close them out.”
The Clippers will aim to wrap up their Western Conference quarter-final series against the Warriors when they return to Oakland for Game Six on Thursday
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