http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2014/05/01/morning-shootaround-may-1/#clippersMagic Johnson Vows to OWN NBA TEAM Report: Johnson expresses interest in owning Clippers — On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime NBA ban to Clippers owner Donald Sterling as the league is going through the process of removing him as the team’s owner. Seemingly hours after that announcement, potential purchasers of the team were bandied about, with famous folks like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Rick Ross, Floyd Mayweather, Oprah Winfrey and others making the unofficial list. Former Lakers star (and Lakers part-owner) Magic Johnson was also thought to be on that short list, too, but on Monday Johnson tweeted that he wasn’t interested in buying the team. That stance seems to have changed after Johnson addressed business leaders at a conference in Beverly Hills. Ben Bergman of 89.3 KPCC has more:
The Donald Sterling saga could be coming full circle: What began as the owner’s racist rant about not wanting Earvin (Magic) Johnson attending Clippers games could end with Johnson owning part of the team.
“I will be owning an NBA team sometime,” Johnson told a gathering of business leaders Wednesday at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills. “Is the Clippers the right situation? Of course. It’s one of the premiere franchises.”
Johnson said that — whatever you may think of Sterling — he ran a good business, one Johnson and his partners at the Guggenheim Investment Group would like to buy if the price is right.
“I think the fans have already spoken,” Johnson said. “They would like us to own the team. But we have to wait and see.”
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Johnson cautioned that any possible purchase “is a long way off,” and he told KPCC he that expects Sterling to fight to block the sale of the Clippers.
Johnson praised NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s lifetime ban on Sterling and said without it, the Clippers and the Warriors wouldn’t have taken the court and the entire NBA playoffs would have shut down.
“If the decision would have come down differently than it was, you wouldn’t have seen that game last night, or any other games from here on in the playoffs,” said Johnson. “The players were ready to boycott. This was much bigger than a basketball game or the NBA.”