--- description: In the wake of owner Donald Sterling's comments, NBA insiders say that Magic Johnson is interested in taking over the franchise title: Magic Johnson 'Wants to Buy' Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8f9d7ce25f4a29/69868cdb06f2c1506c32ea29/186799837.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NBA](/tag/nba/) ## NBA Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Magic Johnson Reportedly Wants to Buy the Clippers  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Apr 28, 2014 4:39 PM CUT  Former NBA player Magic Johnson attends a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on November 1, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Former NBA player Magic Johnson attends a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat at Barclays Center on November 1, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.Jim McIsaac—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Apr 28, 2014 4:39 PM CUT Magic Johnson is reportedly [eager](http://sports.yahoo.com/news/exit-strategy-for-nba--donald-sterling--sell-clippers-to-magic-johnson-073015142.html "undefined") to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers, as the controversy deepens over an audio recording which purports to show current owner Donald Sterling making racist remarks to his girlfriend. Yahoo Sports, citing anonymous sources, reported that Johnson and his investment backers the Guggenheim Partners are interested in purchasing the team. Johnson already co-owns the Los Angeles Dodgers with Mark Walter of the Guggenheim Partners. The group also purchased the WNBA team the Los Angeles Sparks in February when it was about to fold—possibly to win themselves favor with the NBA. “This is 100 percent Magic’s plan,” an anonymous league official involved with the buying and selling of franchises told Yahoo Sports. Johnson was directly referenced in the audio clip leaked by TMZ over the weekend. In the recording the man identified as Sterling admonishes his girlfriend for posting a photo of herself with the basketball legend to Instagram, saying she shouldn’t be promoting her associations with black people. On Sunday, Johnson said on TV that Sterling ought to lose his NBA team. Johnson played 13 seasons with Los Angeles’ more storied basketball franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers. But a championship-winning coach in Doc Rivers and a run in the playoffs could sway Johnson to take on the Clippers. \[[_Yahoo Sports_](http://sports.yahoo.com/news/exit-strategy-for-nba--donald-sterling--sell-clippers-to-magic-johnson-073015142.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/"},"headline":"Magic Johnson Reportedly Wants to Buy the Clippers","datePublished":"2014-04-28T16:39:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:32:15.701Z","description":"In the wake of owner Donald Sterling's comments, NBA insiders tell Yahoo Sports that Magic Johnson is interested in taking over the franchise","url":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/","keywords":["NBA","Basketball","donald sterling","magic johnson","Los Angeles Clippers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8f9d7ce25f4a29/69868cdb06f2c1506c32ea29/186799837.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e8f9d7ce25f4a29/69868cdb06f2c1506c32ea29/186799837.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Miami Heat v Brooklyn Nets","caption":"Miami Heat v Brooklyn Nets","creditText":"Jim McIsaac—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nba/","name":"NBA"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/","name":"Magic Johnson Reportedly Wants to Buy the Clippers"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"NBA speaks out against Don Sterling's Alleged Racism","description":"Past and present NBA starts react to Don Sterling's alleged comments.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/NKQpYP6u/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-27T22:08:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NKQpYP6u.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/","duration":"PT2M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/79463/magic-johnson-clippers-donald-sterling/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```