姚明或成NBA第一个中国老板

RETIRED Chinese superstar Yao Ming is lining up investors to make a bid for the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers if embattled owner Donald Sterling has to sell, ESPN.com reported on Friday.

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.

Celebrity gossip website TMZ and other US media outlets reported on Friday that Sterling has 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 Forbes magazine and could fetch substantially more given the publicity surrounding the team and its 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 owns a team in China, the Shanghai Sharks.

Hill retired last year after a 19-season career that ended with the Clippers.

Other big names keen on the Clippers include software billionaire Larry Ellison, television powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, and unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather.

【新闻快讯】

北京时间5月24日，有消息称姚明有兴趣组织中国财团收购NBA洛杉矶快船队，在今天上午进行的NBA姚明学校首期毕业典礼上，姚明在接受采访时对这一流言进行了回应。

姚明说到：“现在有很多流言在那里传，我没有时间一个一个去应付，没有办法一个一个都去答复，这样会让我们的工作没有效率。现在全球化的体育，各种各样的可能都有。但是到目前为止，没有什么实质性的东西。”

早前有美媒体爆料，称姚明有收购快船的意向。据ESPN名记比尔-西蒙斯的消息，2011年从NBA退役的前火箭全明星中锋姚明，也是快船的潜在买家之一。西蒙斯表示，他已听到消息称，中国小巨人已在组建一支由数名投资者组成的团队，打算加入对快船的竞价，尝试买下洛杉矶球队。如果姚明此举能够成功，那么他无疑将再次创造历史，成为NBA第一个中国人老板。

快船老板因种族歧视言论受到重压，已经同意出售球队，目前对快船感兴趣的人非常多，其中就包括“魔术师”代表的古根海姆财团，亿万富翁房地产开发商里克-卡鲁索，由微软执行官史蒂夫-鲍尔默和投资人克里斯-汉森领衔的西雅图财团等等，可以说都在争抢这支NBA球队。