Well, that was quick. According to the Los Angeles Times, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has now become the new owner of the Clippers. Ballmer reportedly has bought the NBA franchise for a cool $2 billion on Thursday, which comes a day after reports came out that the sale for the team was in the $1 billion range.
According to the LA Times, Ballmer "was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers."
Per reports, the Geffen group was bidding in the $1.6 billion range while the Ressler group was in the $1.2 billion range. With the team selling for $2 billion, it sets a record price for an NBA team. The sale makes it nearly four times higher than just the previous NBA sale when the Milwaukee Bucks were sold for $550 million.
The Clippers are behind another Los Angeles franchise, the MLB's Dodgers, as the highest-selling North American sports team. The Dodgers sold for $2.1 billion in 2012 to a group that features Magic Johnson. Johnson was rumored to be bidding for the Clippers franchise, but it looks like that may not be the case.
The major question now is what Ballmer will do with the franchise. Ballmer was part of a group that was looking to buy the Sacramento Kings and relocate them to Seattle to become the SuperSonics. Could he do this with the Clippers?
Sources for weeks have said that it would be best for the Clippers to change their name at the very least, removing any dark past that features Donald Sterling. A relocation could also make sense, but we'll see Ballmer's intentions about the franchise once the news progresses about the sale.
As of right now, we just have to wait for the all the NBA owners (including Sterling) to sign off the deal and make it official.
