Magic Johnson finally admitted publicly that he remains interested in purchasing an NBA team with the Los Angeles Clippers a possibility.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has reported consistently this week that Johnson and Guggenheim Partners would make a run for the Clippers if Donald Sterling is forced to sell.

“I will be owning an NBA team sometime," Johnson told a gathering of business leaders Wednesday at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills. "Is the Clippers the right situation? Of course. It's one of the premiere franchises." 

Johnson is encouraged by the sentiment expressed by many fans.

“I think the fans have already spoken," Johnson said. "They would like us to own the team. But we have to wait and see.”

Johnson cautioned that any possible purchase "is a long way off," and he told KPCC he that expects Sterling to fight to block the sale of the Clippers.

Oprah Winfrey is considering joining a partnership with David Geffen and Larry Ellison to bid on a purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The NBA is attempting to force a sale of the Clippers by Donald Sterling following the release of his racist remarks.

Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners is also believed to be lining up a bid on the Clippers.

Shelly Sterling, wife of Donald Sterling, would like her son-in-law to take over the Los Angeles Clippers' franchise, according to a source. Eric Miller is the Clippers' director of basketball administration.

The NBA banned Sterling for life on Tuesday and is beginning plans to force him to sell the club.

It is uncertain if Sterling's wife or any other family member will be allowed to retain the franchise.

National Basketball Players Association vice-president Roger Mason Jr., however, told Yahoo Sports that the players want completely new ownership and not a family member connected to Sterling.

"It doesn't sound like it, to be honest," said Doc Rivers, about the possibility of Shelly Sterling owning the Clippers. "And I think she knows that. But she still wanted to be [at Game 5]. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but to me it was right."

Rivers said he convinced Shelly Sterling to attend Game 5 and passed on a message from her to the players.

"She asked if she could come, which I thought was a very nice gesture," Rivers said. "And she just wanted the players to know, she told me to tell them that she loved them. I thought, 'Why not?'"

The Golden State Warriors planned on walking off the floor after tip-off in Game 5 if Adam Silver not banned Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling for life.

“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment,” Stephen Curry said. “We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”

The Warriors’ players wanted to protest previously, but decided to give Silver a chance to do the right thing. 

Curry, David Lee, Andre Iguodala and Jermaine O’Neal were behind the boycott idea. 

The idea included plans to reach out to the Clippers' players, hoping they would join them.

David Geffen is again interested in purchasing the Los Angeles Clippers following the NBA's decision to attempt to force Donald Sterling to sell the franchise.

Geffen offered $600 million for the Clippers four years ago, but hasn't been in contact with the NBA for many months.

Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners, along with Larry Ellison are also expected to bid.

The Clippers could have a sale price of $700 million to $1.5 billion based on various reported estimates.

The NBA has released a copy of their Constitution and By-Laws to the media:

The following are the excerpted portions pertaining to the termination of ownership that the NBA will pursue in regards to Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers.

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ARTICLE 13

TERMINATION OF OWNERSHIP OR MEMBERSHIP

The Membership of a Member or the interest of any Owner may be terminated by a vote of three fourths (3/4) of the Board of Governors if the Member or Owner shall do or suffer any of the following:

(a) Willfully violate any of the provisions of the Constitution and By-Laws, resolutions, or agreements of the Association.

(b) Transfer or attempt to transfer a Membership or an interest in a Member without complying with the provisions of Article 5.

(c) Fail to pay any dues or other indebtedness owing to the Association within thirty (30) days after Written Notice from the Commissioner of default in such payment.

(d) Fail or refuse to fulfill its contractual obligations to the Association, its Members, Players, or any other third party in such a way as to affect the Association or its Members adversely. (e) Wager or countenance wagering by its officers or employees on any game in which a Team operated by a Member of the Association participates.

(f) Willfully permit open betting, pool selling, or any other form of gambling upon any premises owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the Member or an Owner, except, subject to Article 8(a), for gambling activities that are lawful in the applicable jurisdiction and do not involve in any way, directly or indirectly, gambling with respect to any aspect of the Association’s games, events, property, players, or other personnel.

(g) Offer, agree, conspire, or attempt to lose or control the score of any game participated in by a Team operated by a Member of the Association, or fail to suspend immediately any officer or any Player or other employee of the Member who shall be found guilty, in a court of law or in any hearing sanctioned by this Constitution and By- Laws, of offering, agreeing, conspiring, or attempting to lose or control the score of any such game or of being interested in any pool or wager on any game in which a Team operated by a Member of the Association participates.

(h) Disband its Team during the Season, dissolve its business, or cease its operation.

(i) Willfully fail to present its Team at the time and place it is scheduled to play in an Exhibition, Regular Season, or Playoff Game.

(j) Willfully misrepresent any material fact contained in its application for Membership in the Association.

ARTICLE 14
PROCEDURE FOR TERMINATION

The Membership of a Member or the interest of any Owner shall be terminated on the occurrence of any of the events described in Article 13 by the following procedure:

(a) Any Member of the Association or the Commissioner may charge that a Member or Owner has violated one (1) or more of the provisions of Article 13. Said charge shall be made in Writing and shall be filed with the Commissioner, who shall, no later than three (3) business days after the charges are filed, cause a copy thereof to be served by a Writing upon the Member or Owner against whom such charges have been made. (b) The Member or Owner so charged shall, within five (5) days after receipt of the charges, file with the Commissioner its written answer thereto. The Commissioner shall thereupon transmit said charges and answer to each of the Governors of the Association and shall call a special meeting of the Governors to hear the charges, to be held on a date not more than ten (10) days after the filing of a Member’s or Owner’s answer, due notice to be given.

(c) Willful failure by a Member or Owner so charged to answer the charges during such five (5) day period or to appear at the hearing shall be deemed an admission by said Member or Owner of the total validity of the charges as presented.

(d) At such hearing, the Chairman of the Board of Governors shall be the presiding officer, except that if the Chairman of the Board of Governors represents either the complaining Member or the Member charged, then the Commissioner shall designate an alternate Chairman for purposes of the hearing.

(e) At the hearing, the Member or Owner so charged shall have the right to be represented by counsel. Strict rules of evidence shall not apply, and all relevant and material evidence submitted prior to and at the hearing may be received and considered.

(f) After duly considering all the evidence, the Board of Governors shall vote upon the proposition that the charges have been sustained in whole or in part. The affirmative vote of three-fourths (3/4) of all the Governors shall be required to sustain the charges.

(g) If, by a three-fourths (3/4) vote, the Board of Governors votes to sustain the charges, the Membership of the guilty Member or the Member in which the guilty Owner has an interest shall automatically be terminated, unless, following a motion duly made and seconded, two-thirds (2/3) of all the Governors vote instead to terminate the ownership interest of the guilty Owner or to invoke the provisions of Article 15. (h) Notwithstanding Article 14(g) above, in the case of a violation of Article 13 by an Owner who has an interest of ten percent (10%) or less in, and does not have effective control over, a Member, the Membership of such Member may not be terminated solely because of such Owner’s violation. In such case, if the charges are sustained against such Owner by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the Board of Governors, the ownership interest of that Owner shall be automatically terminated unless, following a motion duly made and seconded, twothirds (2/3) of all the Governors vote to invoke the provisions of Article 15.

(i) If any Membership or interest of an Owner shall be terminated pursuant to this Article 14, the provisions of Article 14A shall apply.

(j) The decisions of the Association made in accordance with the foregoing procedure shall be final, binding, and conclusive, and each Member and Owner waives any and all recourse to any court of law to review any such decision.

ARTICLE 14A
CONSEQUENCES OF TERMINATION

(a) When the Membership of a Member is terminated, such Member and its assets, properties and operations shall be placed under the management and control of the Commissioner, who shall have the following powers: to cause the Member’s Team to continue to play its Exhibition, Regular Season, and Playoff Games; to collect all revenues from every source payable to the Member and apply such revenues, to the extent available, to the payment of such Member’s debts and obligations; and, as directed by a majority of the Board of Governors (the Member whose Membership was terminated not being considered a Member of the Board of Governors for the purposes of this Article), either to transfer such Member’s Membership (including its Player Contracts and other assets) in accordance with and subject to Article 5 or to liquidate the Player Contracts and other assets of the Member in an orderly manner in the best interests of the Member and its creditors, and the Association, in each case at such prices and on such terms as the Commissioner shall deem reasonable and appropriate.

(b) When the interest of any Owner is terminated, that interest shall, unless the Commissioner has approved an alternative arrangement, be placed under the management and control of the Commissioner, who shall have the power to exercise all of the rights otherwise exercisable by the Owner of that interest, including, but not limited to, any management or voting rights and the right to transfer all or any portion of that interest in accordance with and subject to Article 5 at such prices and on such terms as the Commissioner shall deem reasonable and appropriate.

(c) All proceeds from any transfer of a Member’s Membership or the liquidation of its Player Contracts and other assets, or of an Owner’s interest in a Member, shall be applied first to discharge the liabilities and obligations to all creditors of the Member (or Owner), including the Association and its Members but excluding any Owner of the Member, second to discharge the liabilities and obligations to any Owner of the Member, and any balance shall be remitted to the Member (or Owner). The existence or implementation of this Article 14A shall not impose upon the Association or any of its Members any requirement to provide funds to any Member (or Owner) or any liability for any debts or obligations of any Member (or Owner). ARTICLE 15
ALTERNATIVES TO TERMINATION

If a charge that a Member or Owner has committed any of the offenses described in Article 13 is sustained, two-thirds (2/3) of all the Governors may waive the remedy of termination, and instead direct the Member or Owner to pay a stated fine in a stipulated manner and by a stipulated date, which fine may be required to be paid, in whole or in part, to any other Member or Members as compensation to such Member or Members for damages sustained by it or them by reason of such act or acts of omission or commission by such offending Member or Owner. Such fine shall be payable within five (5) days after its imposition. Moreover, the Board of Governors may, in its discretion, either in addition to, or in lieu of, such fine, direct the forfeiture of the offending Member’s Draft rights.

Donald Sterling has been banned for life as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Sterling has also been fined $2.5 million, the maximum amount allowed under the NBA constitution.

Adam Silver will also urge the NBA owners to force a sale of the franchise. Silver spoke to several NBA owners and he's confident he has their full support.

"As part of the lifetime ban, Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices, be present at any Clippers office or facility, or participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team," said Silver. "He will also be barred from attending NBA Board of Governors meetings and participating in any other league activity."

The lifetime ban is independent of a sale of the team.

Recorded remarks of a racial nature made by Sterling were released to the media over the weekend.

Sterling is the longest tenured owner in the NBA.

Sterling has a long history of racism and discrimination as owner of the Clippers and as a real estate businessman.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that a bidding war for the Clippers is expected to exceed $1 billion for the franchise.

Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners are expected to be one of the bidders for the Clippers.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reported that Larry Ellison will again bid for an NBA team.

Entertainment mogul David Geffen was interested in purchasing the Clippers in 2010.

Magic Johnson spent a good part of Monday publicly denying any interest in purchasing the Los Angeles Clippers, but sources say he and potential investors spent part of the day working behind the scenes to understand how they could be put in a position to make a deal for the franchise.

If the Clippers become available, Johnson wants to be positioned to make a purchase.

Johnson and his partners are owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers and also tried to purchase the Los Angeles Lakers. While Johnson claims they're focus is on bringing an NFL team to Los Angeles, the

Donald Sterling's profile as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers had decreased over the past few seasons following the arrival of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Doc Rivers.

"They're the stars of the Clippers show now, not Sterling anymore," one deposed Clippers official told Yahoo Sports. "They moved him aside and he didn't matter anymore.

"But now, this [scandal] has made him relevant again. In his mind, he's the star of the Clippers again. Everybody's talking about him again. In his own way, he'll revel in this. I would bet there's no way [Sterling] will give in and sell his team. There's no way that he's going to do anything but stay and fight everyone until the very end to hold onto this."

Several league officials have said they believe Adam Silver has been studying a provision in the NBA's bylaws that would allow him to summon a vote of league owners to strip Sterling of his ownership.

The NBA would run the Clippers until the team could be sold.

Minimally, Silver could implement a one-year suspension, a $1 million fine and an assignment to counseling.

David Stern had let Sterling slide for years on other issues and there's a fear he feared the Clippers' owner in the courts.

Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets, suggested to Adam Silver that he let all of the players on the Los Angeles Clippers become free agents as a punishment against Donald Sterling.

“I thought that there’s got to be a way to disrupt him from owning the team,” said Alexander, who after 20 years owning the Rockets is one of the longest tenured owners in the NBA. “I gave him the sword to deal with this. I said, ‘Let the players become free agents.’”

Alexander believes the owners can drive Sterling out of the NBA.

“This kind of behavior can’t be allowed in the NBA by owners, players or anybody,” Alexander said. “This guy has no place in the family of the NBA. Whatever it takes, we have to make sure this kind of event never happens again.”

The first step to ensuring that, he said, was to get Sterling out of the league.

“I mentioned that to Adam,” Alexander said. “I told Adam I don’t think he can be removed because the constitution (of the NBA) only allows him to be removed except for gambling. I’m not sure that legally can be done. But if he loses his players, nobody is going to want to go there. He’ll only be able to get a player that is worth $2 million and will play for $12 (million.) And who is going to want to coach there?

“If you’re a player in the NBA you don’t want to play for somebody like that. If you worked for a company, you would walk away and say, ‘I’m gone.” I think the players should have that right.”