Yao Ming wants LA Clippers, FOX Sports has learned. The retired Chinese basketball superstar is reportedly interested in buying the controversial Los Angeles Clippers such that he is now looking for potential investors before making a bid if embattled owner Donald Sterling is to sell the team.
But it's not Yao Ming alone who is very eager to buy the LA Clippers. Former NBA player Grant Hill is also interested and according to ESPN, he is also forming a separate ownership group before placing a bid.
Yao Ming, who became an NBA star with the Houston Rockets, and Grant Hill are the latest celebrities to be added to the list of those who are interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers since Sterling got involved into a racist scandal that was highly publicized in April.
TMZ and other US media outlets reported Friday that Donald Sterling has already surrendered control of the club to his estranged wife, Shelly, who is reportedly in talks with the league to sell the team.
The LA Clippers are reportedly valued at about $600 million, according to Forbes magazine, and the team is also projected to be valued at an even higher priceby by other experts given the current publicity it is going receiving.
Yao Ming and Grant Hill join the list of potential investors in the club. Other celebs who openly revealed that they are interested in the said team include: Justin Bieber, Magic Johnson, Oprah, Rihanna, Floyd Mayweather and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, among others.
While Yao Ming is reportedly planning to pursue the Clippers with a lineup of Chinese investors, Grant Hill is still in the process of assembling his own group, unnamed sources told ESPN.
Yao Ming, who was the first pick of the Houston Rockets in the 2002 NBA draft, is already the owner of the Shanghai Sharks in his native country of China. The 33-year-old has also expressed his interest in purchasing the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013.
As for Hill, he is just in his first year in retirement after a 9-season career that ended with the Clippers after seven All-Star berths Business Insider reported.
