What Does The Sterling Sale Mean?

This week in the ongoing Donald Sterling saga, there was some news made. Sources report that Sterling has commissioned his wife to look for suitors in which he can sell the Los Angeles Clippers. After that new release there were a few people out in the media who looked at this as a win for the NBA and the rest of us for getting rid of Sterling. Really it’s not any kind of victory for anybody except for maybe the NBA and Sterling.

Now I am not saying we as a society will not be any better for Sterling remaining the owner of the Clippers but his sale will not force any kind of social change. The NBA would love for him to get rid of the team and not go into a long legal fight. The other owners don’t want to spend the money for courtroom judo it will take to snatch the team. The NBA needs to get rid of the public relations nightmare and remove what they want you to believe is the last racist in their ranks.

For Sterling all of this is a win for him. He may want to sell right now because have the Clippers ever been hotter. They have Doc Rivers under contract as a coach and superstars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul to compete for a title for the next few years. They are the hottest team in the 2nd largest television market in America. The Milwaukee Bucks sold for 550 million dollars and they suck and don’t even have an arena at the moment. A team that Sterling purchased for 12.5 million dollars 33 years ago can now sell for over 1 billion. That may very well be the one of the greatest profits in the history of business.

There are no shortages of suitors who want to purchase the Clippers. Rumors have floated around with names like Oprah, Magic Johnson, David Geffen and Grant Hill putting together teams to purchase the club. That does not include how many non-celebrities who have money to burn that wants to invest in professional sports, which might be one of the safest business deals going right now. That will give an 81 year old man a lot of more cash to buy buildings that minorities can’t live.

Keith B. Holt

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