May 29, 2014

CNN: Steve Ballmer Reaches Deal to Buy Clippers for $2 Billion: Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has signed a binding agreement to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion from the Sterling family trust, CNN reports. Ballmer, who attended several Clippers playoff games, told the Wall Street Journal this month he would not move the team from Los Angeles.

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:47 PM - 11 comments

Words fail me. It's an entirely imaginary valuation.

At least Ballmer isn't insanely overpaying with much of my money. I ran Win 98 until it nearly sent me into group therapy, and I'm still running XP. Have avoided feeding the beast by buying refurb laptops with pre-loaded OS and app suites along the way.

posted by beaverboard at 12:01 AM on May 30, 2014

I didn't think LA's second favorite NBA team could possibly be worth that much.

If the deal happens, it will put the Lakers in an interesting predicament. Struggling on the court and with a big money, high profile, racist vanquishing owner in town looking to prove himself with the Clippers.

posted by rcade at 08:37 AM on May 30, 2014

Wow. I'm amazed that the NBA let it get that high. I genuinely believed they'd step in and more or less force the sale to a non-white guy (or at least a consortium of white guys headed by a non-white guy) for about $600M as a penalty to Sterling.

posted by Etrigan at 09:12 AM on May 30, 2014

I didn't think LA's second favorite NBA team could possibly be worth that much.

I am as well, but I did see a link yesterday saying part of the value of the team is their local TV contract is about to expire (plus the trend in the national NBA deal).

as a penalty to Sterling

Yeah, this is more of an end to achieve a quick end than a punishment. On the plus side, if it means I don't have to read any more of his lawyers' purple prose on the ESPN ticker it would be nice. The sum total of what I know about the law comes from watching Law & Order* and I still can see logical holes in their media arguments.

* This does mean if you need to know about the Fruit of the Poisoned Tree doctrine, I'm probably better versed than most law students at this point.

posted by yerfatma at 09:39 AM on May 30, 2014

That's the greatest thing I've ever seen, yerfatma.

posted by Hugh Janus at 10:13 AM on May 30, 2014

big money, high profile, racist vanquishing owner in town looking to prove himself with the Clippers.

I know he says he plans on keeping the team in Los Angeles but it was just a year ago he was trying to move the Kings to Seattle. I'm not sure whether it's better to split the LA market or own the Seattle market or how much that even matters to Ballmer.

posted by tron7 at 10:20 AM on May 30, 2014

I figure that his preference order is:

  1. Seattle NBA team
  2. big-market non-Seattle NBA team
  3. no NBA team
  4. small-market non-Seattle NBA team

posted by Etrigan at 10:32 AM on May 30, 2014

Wow. I'm amazed that the NBA let it get that high. I genuinely believed they'd step in and more or less force the sale to a non-white guy (or at least a consortium of white guys headed by a non-white guy) for about $600M as a penalty to Sterling.

At the end of the day, the NBA as an organization serves the interests of the owners, and it's hard to say that the interests of the 29 other owners are not served by getting $2B for a team and thus continuing the trend of skyrocketing valuations for NBA teams.

posted by holden at 12:18 PM on May 30, 2014

Yeah. *sigh*

posted by Etrigan at 12:45 PM on May 30, 2014

I say we null 'n void this transaction and let Priety Zinta or Nita Ambani buy the Clippers.

posted by NoMich at 02:40 PM on May 30, 2014

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