Magic Johnson Admits He Wants to Buy the LA Clippers

There will be stiff competition once the Donald Sterling’s LA Clippers are put up for sale, and despite some initial denials, Magic Johnson now admits that he’s very much interested in buying the franchise. Per 89.3 KPCC:

“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.”

Johnson cautioned that any possible purchase “is a long way off,” and he said that he 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.”