Report: Clippers sale to Ballmer not done yet

There was a report late Thursday that the Los Angeles Clippers had been sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The reported price tag was a lofty $2 billion.

Well now there is a report from Los Angeles Daily News reporter Dakota Smith that the Los Angeles Times jumped the gun on the report and that Donald and Shelly Sterling have not picked a winning bid yet. Smith goes on to report that the news was leaked by another bidder.

Whether that is good news or not, there clearly is a motive behind the bidder leaking the report. What that motive is has yet to be scene. Maybe they’re trying to scare off other bidders with the high price tag or maybe the Sterling’s leaked it in an effort to drive up the bids from potential buyers who seriously want to buy the franchise.

One this is for certain, Ballmer is interested in buying the Clippers and reportedly met with the Sterlings over the weekend.

“I love basketball, and I’d love to participate at some point in the NBA. If the opportunity is outside of Seattle, so be it. I will learn about any team that comes up for sale at this point,” Ballmer said before news of the sale broke in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“If I get interested in the Clippers, it would be for Los Angeles. I don’t work anymore, so I have more geographic flexibility than I did a year, year-and-a half ago. Moving them anywhere else would be value destructive.”

[UPDATE:]

[UPDATE:]