Donald Sterling is out. Floyd Mayweather wants in.
Because, of course.
New NBA commissioner Adam Silver dropped the hammers of all hammers on Tuesday afternoon when he banned the Los Angeles Clippers owner for life while laying out his intent to force Sterling into selling the team. All of this comes after Sterling was recorded on tape making racially charged, utterly despicable remarks to Girlfriend V. Stiviano. The tape was first released by TMZ.
During his press conference, Silver indicated he had spoken with Sterling, who apparently confirmed that it was his voice on the tape without showing any signs of remorse or regret.
(Related: Sterling isn’t alleged scum. He is scum.)
Forcing Sterling to sell the Clippers won’t be easy. Sterling seems to get off on drama and litigation, so he’s expected to fight tooth and nail to keep his team. But Silver appears to have the support of every owner, otherwise he wouldn’t be going through with this unprecedented punishment (that came complete with a record $2.5 million fine).
If Sterling is ever officially ousted—please, oh please, let him be ousted—there will be no shortage of interested buyers. Magic Johnson’s financial group could be among them. The people that tried to move the Sacramento Kings from Seattle could get involved too.
And so could Mayweather, according to USA Today‘s Bob Velin:
Floyd Mayweather Jr., the world’s top pound-for-pound boxer, said Tuesday that he and some other investors would be seriously interested in buying the embattled Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling, who was banned for life by the NBA for racist comments and may soon be forced to sell the franchise by NBA owners.
“I can’t come in here talking about Mayweather only going to get 3% or 4%,” Mayweather, a huge Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers fan, said at the MGM Grand. “I got to get a solid percentage.
“But do we want to buy the Clippers? Yes we do. We’re very, very interested in buying the Clippers.”
Oh, snap.
The idea of Mayweather (partially) owning an NBA team feels weird. Then again, compared to the idea of Sterling continuing to own his team, it feels right.
Mayweather is notorious for his gambling habits, which I’m assuming would have to stop if he became an NBA owner—at least at the NBA level itself. He would also need backers, because his net worth isn’t going to cover the Clippers, who could realistically sell for $1 billion.
Maybe him, Magic and those Guggenheim guys can team up to form one of the most wonderfully unconventional ownership groups the NBA has ever seen. Who wouldn’t be down for that?
The Clippers could have boxing glove night. Oversized bling night. Burn c-notes like it ain’t nothing night. Mayweather could be the halftime show, offering non-NBA gambling advice at halfcourt over a microphone while fake-boxing an inflated replica of Sterling. The possibilities are endless.
And yes, weird.
Almost anyone is better than Sterling, though, so let Mayweather and whomever else he’ll team up with do their thing. The end result is bound to be better than current conditions.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
