Will Donald Sterling Get a $1 Billion Payday for Being Racist?

What's This?

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling looks on during the first half of their NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, in Los Angeles.

Image: Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

By Sam Laird2014-04-29 22:15:23 UTC

When Donald Sterling bought the Clippers for $12 million in 1981, the NBA was a very different place, one yet to be changed by transcendent players, shrewd marketing and a global explosion in popularity. This season alone, for example, the Clippers' two biggest stars — Chris Paul and Blake Griffin — are earning $18 million and $16 million, respectively.

Forbes valued the Clippers at $575 million this January — a number that's almost certainly much lower than what the team would likely sell for. So if Sterling does indeed become the first owner in NBA history forced to sell his franchise, then he stands to make a healthy profit — perhaps more than $1 billion.

See also: NBA Players and Owners Applaud Donald Sterling's Lifetime Ban

NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday banned Sterling from the league for life, and fined him $2.5 million following widespread public backlash to racist remarks made by Sterling that were leaked to media in an audio recording. (Yes, that's nothing for a man whose net worth is estimated at nearly $2 billion, but Silver said it's the maximum allowed under league rules.)

Silver added that he will urge the league's other owners to vote Sterling into a forced sale of the Clippers. That would be a precedent-setting move, and one that would take a 75% majority of owners voting in favor, but it's something you can fully expect to happen, Silver said.

The sale of the Milwaukee Bucks — a team located in a less lucrative media market and with a much less talented roster — for $550 million earlier this month suggests the Clippers would actually sell for much more than Forbes valuation of $575 million. According to many media reports, including one from Yahoo's NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, bidding for the team is expected to soar over $1 billion:

We've asked the NBA whether a forced sale would preclude Sterling from receiving any portion of the profits from that sale, but have yet to hear back. However, any scenario like that does appear highly doubtful.

So for now, here's some simple math. Say Wojnarowski is correct and the Clippers sell for $1.1 billion. Take away the $12 million Sterling paid for the team, and what's left is $1.088 billion — a return more than 91 times greater than Sterling's initial investment in the team.

Meanwhile, Sterling told longtime sportscaster Jim Gray on Tuesday that the Clippers are "not for sale." Sterling also has a litigious history, so don't expect him to go down without a fight if his fellow owners vote, as most expect they will, for a forced sale.

Given the circumstances, that's a tough legal battle that will be very interesting to see play out. But rest assured the NBA and its owners will do everything they can to oust Sterling; they simply can't afford the stain he brings to the league's reputation.

Sure, there's something decidedly grotesque about a racist outburst resulting in a billion-dollar profit. But if that's what it takes to rid the NBA of someone many fans feel should have been gone a long time ago, then it will be but a side-note in a historic sports moment.

1. 


2. 


3. 


4. 


5. 


6. 


7. 


8. 


9. 


10. 


11. 


12. 


13. 


14. 


15. 


16. 


17. 


18. 


19. 


20. 


21. 


22. 


23. 


24. 


25. 


26. 


27. 


28. 


29. 


30. 


31. 


32. 


33. 


34. 


35. 


36. 


37. 


38. 


39. 


40. 


41. 


42. 


43. 


44. 


45. 


46. 


47. 


48. 


49. 


50. 

Topics: Entertainment, NBA, Sports, U.S.