Big-name personalities are already expressing their interest to make a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers franchise from troubled owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life by the NBA for his racist remarks.
ESPN reported on Wednesday that Oprah Winfrey was among a group of prospective buyers, which also includes music and film mogul David Geffen, and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
According to Geffen, Oprah is not interested in running the team, but will become a major investor. Geffen said that he and Ellison will run the Clippers, saying that the team needs to have a better group of owners.
"Oprah is not interested in running the team," Geffen said. "She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise. The team deserves a better group of owners who want to win. Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry's a sportsman. We've talked about this for a long time."
Geffen's statement about Winfrey's interest was also confirmed by Oprah's spokesperson Nicole Nichols, who said that the popular talk show host is in talks with Geffen and Ellison about the possible purchase of the Clippers.
Winfrey's group is expected to face stiff competition, though, as reports indicated that boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. is also interested in buying the team.
Mayweather told reporters that he has already discussed the possibility of buying the Clippers with his adviser Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe of Mayweather Promotions, and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions.
"I called Al today about that to see if me, Leonard and Al, and hopefully Richard and a couple of other guys, a couple other of my billionaire guys, we can come together and see what we can come up with. Hopefully, we can do it, and it's not just talk," Mayweather said.
Another boxing icon, Oscar De La Hoya, also made it known that he is interested in owning a share of the Clippers, saying that he knows what it takes to successfully run a sports franchise with his experience with Golden Boy Promotions.
"I was born and raised in Los Angeles, I know what it takes to run a successful sports entity, and nothing would make me happier than to bring an NBA championship home to Southern California sports fans," De La Hoya said.
