NBA: Yao Ming denies eyeing deal to buy Clippers

Former NBA player Yao Ming (L) of China takes part in a Special Olympics training camp in Taipei on June 14, 2014. From more than 20 countries, 50 top youth players have gathered for the 2014 Basketball without borders Asia Training camp from June 12 to 16. AFP/Mandy CHENG

TAIPEI–Chinese basketball star Yao Ming on Saturday denied a report that he was lining up investors to bid for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers if embattled owner Donald Sterling has to sell.

“I can’t confirm it because it is completely a rumor,” Yao told reporters when asked about the report at an NBA event in Taipei.

“Currently I don’t have such a plan” to buy any NBA team, said the former Houston Rockets star.

ESPN.com  reported last month that Yao was 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.

Yao joined the Rockets after he was selected as first pick of 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 across Asia.

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

NBC and ESPN reported Friday that Sterling is fighting back as the league tries to force a sale of the club or strip ownership of the Clippers from him.

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

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