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Yao Ming, who was an NBA star with the Houston Rockets, is lining up a bid for the Los Angeles Clippers. Photo: Reuters

Yao Ming throws his hat into the Clippers ring

Former Chinese NBA star is lining up investors to make a bid for scandal-rocked franchise

AFP
Retired Chinese superstar Yao Ming is lining up investors to make a bid for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers if embattled owner Donald Sterling has to sell, ESPN.com reported.

Yao is just the latest celebrity to be linked to a potential Clippers bid since Sterling was engulfed in a scandal over racially charged remarks that became public in April.

ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said that Yao and another former NBA player, Grant Hill, were working separately to find investors to launch bids.

Sterling is reported to have surrendered control of the club to his estranged wife, Shelly, who is in talks with the league to sell the team.

The Clippers are valued at nearly US$600 million by magazine and could fetch substantially more given the publicity surrounding the team and their location in a major US market.

Yao became an NBA star with the Houston Rockets, who made him the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft.

He announced his retirement in July of 2011 following a trail-blazing career that made him China's best-known athlete and helped spur the game's growth all across Asia.

He owns a mainland team, the Shanghai Sharks, and maintains close ties with the NBA.

Hill is just completing his first year in retirement after a 19-season career that ended with the Clippers after seven All-Star berths.

Other big names said to be interested in purchasing the Clippers include software billionaire Larry Ellison, entertainment mogul David Geffen and television powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, along with former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson and unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Yao Ming throws his hat into the Clippers ring
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