Magic Johnson is interested in buying the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Yahoo Sports.
Johnson, who said Sunday that Clippers owner Donald Sterling should lose his team after allegedly making a series of racist comments caught on an audio recording, is backed by a group of billionaires who already own the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Johnson and his Guggenheim Partners reportedly want a chance to purchase the team.
“Magic’s absolutely interested,” one source closely connected to Johnson’s business interests told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night.
Johnson and the Guggenheim group want to build a Southern California sports empire and have reportedly been trying to buy the Los Angeles Lakers, though the Buss family has no interest in selling.
They also bought the WNBA’s financially-struggling Los Angeles Sparks earlier this year after it faced the possibility of folding.
“This is 100 percent Magic’s plan,” a league official intimately involved in the buying and selling of franchises told Yahoo Sports.
Sterling could sell the team for more than $1 billion. The Guggenheim group is reportedly worth more $200 billion.
Commissioner Adam Silver has yet to make an announcement regarding possible sanctions toward Sterling. Only the owners can force Sterling to sell the team.