NBA Rumors: Bids to buy Los Angeles Clippers due today
By Bryan Rose
It appears the NBA is moving quickly on the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers.
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While many still don’t even know how the process is going to iron itself out (is the NBA selling the team? Is Donald Sterling? Is Shelly Sterling?), it appears all parties interested need to figure things out quickly as Bill Simmons of ESPN reports that bids to purchase the franchise are due by 5pm EST today.
Simmons goes on to suggest that many wanting to enter a bid on the franchise have yet to even speak to the wife of Mr. Sterling, making an already crazy situation even more absurd.
As if that wasn’t enough, late Tuesday evening the lawyer for Donald Sterling hinted that Mr. Sterling would not be giving control of the franchise to his wife and that he was prepared for a legal battle to retain the team he pruchased in 1981.
The NBA meanwhile has yet to make any public announcements regarding their early June meeting in which the Board of Governors will convene (in the presence of Mr. Sterling) and vote on his status in the league, so that appears scheduled as planned.
Multiple big names have expressed interest in purchasing the Clippers franchise, though two of the more serious bidders appear to be a group headed by former NBA All-Star Grant Hill (along with multiple billionaires) and Patrick Shoon-Shiong who is the richest man in Los Angeles. He just so happens to also own a near 5 percent stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, so he’s already been vested by the league.