We Want In: Possible Investment Groups for the Clippers
These heavy hitters should team up to bid on the team.
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These Heavy Hitters Should Team Up to Bid on the Clippers - Today, an NBA owners’ advisory/finance committee meeting will be held to discuss the next steps in the removal of Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for making egregious racist remarks against African-Americans. As NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated Tuesday, if three-fourths of the league’s owners vote against Sterling, then the disgraced owner will have to sell the Clippers. Upon hearing that news, heavyweight celebrities such as Magic Johnson, Diddy, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Dr. Dre, Rick Ross and Matt Damon have each expressed interest in purchasing the Clippers. However, with Forbes estimating the sale of the team at up to $1 billion, even powerfully wealthy celebs will need some help. Oprah Winfrey has the right idea, reportedly forming an investment group with music/film mogul Davi...
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Magic Johnson and Ice Cube - Magic Johnson already expressed interest in buying the Clippers, and we like the idea of pairing him with Cali ambassador Ice Cube to lead an investment group. After all, there aren’t too many loved more in LA than these two.(Photos from Left: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images, Christopher Polk/Getty Images for MTV)
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Dr. Dre, Diddy and Rick Ross - Hip hop moguls Diddy and Dr. Dre each expressed interest in possibly owning the Los Angeles Clippers. Ditto for Rozay. But we like the idea of all three combining to lead an investment group. What a power move this would be. And think of all the product placement these three can apply with Beats by Dre, Sean John, Ciroc and Belaire Rose filling up the Staples Center suites. Take that, take that!(Photos from Left: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for Beats by Dre. Daniel Tanner/WENN.com, Noam Galai/Getty Images for Beats by Dr. Dre)
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Denzel Washington and Jack Nicholson - So what if they’re die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fans? The opportunity to own an NBA franchise doesn’t come along too often and the Clippers share the same city as their beloved Lakers anyway. Imagine the kinds of conversations these two veteran actors would have courtside while Chris Paul leads a fast-break. And we all know that no fellow-NBA owner would ever try anything slick with these two. Denzel Washington channeling Alonzo Harris from Training Day and Jack Nicholson giving them Jack Torrance from The Shining would have anybody shook!(Photos from Left: Keith Tsuji/Getty Images, Al Bello/Getty Images)
Photo By Photos from Left: Keith Tsuji/Getty Images
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50 Cent and Robert DeNiro - These two have built a solid friendship through the years, with 50 co-starring alongside De Niro in films like Freelancers (2012) and Righteous Kill (2008) before that, so why not them? Already astute businessmen, owning an NBA team in a huge market like LA would be another boss move. (Photo: Rune Hellestad /Landov/UPI Photo)
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James Goldstein and Billy Crystal - Veteran actor/comedian Billy Crystal is an unabashedly die-hard Los Angeles Clippers’ fan. James Goldstein, who the Wall Street Journal once speculated made billions in real estate, is an NBA super fan, catching nearly all the Clippers’ and Lakers’ home games live for several years now. This combination leading an investment group together just makes sense. They’re tried and true Clippers’ fans who were fans even when the Clippers were losing, which was seemingly always.(Photos from Left: Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
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Shark Tank cast: Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec and Daymond John - There’s no doubting the capitalist acumen of the business investors on hit television show Shark Tank. Being that the highly rated show already counts one NBA owner on its cast — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban — all the others would have to do is use their colleague as a blueprint on how to run a successful basketball team. That’d be the hard part because we already know there are deep pockets amongst these magnates. (Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
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Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya - The former boxing rivals turned business partners could keep their money-making ways going in a huge way by becoming majority owners of the Los Angeles Clippers. After Mayweather expressed interest in purchasing the Clippers, De La Hoya followed by saying that he’d be willing to form an investment group with the undefeated champion. Mayweather is a regular at both Clippers and Lakers games and De La Hoya is Los Angeles native. Knockout! (Photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com, Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon - Matt Damon told CNBC that he’d like to be a “super tiny minority” stakeholder with the Clippers if Magic Johnson were to successfully put together an investment group. We have a better idea, though. Why not pair Damon with big Lakers fan Leonardo DiCaprio? If the two thespians have executive chemistry that even comes close to their flawless acting in The Departed (2006), then they’ll be winning.(Photo: Evan Agostini/Getty Images)