That reminds me, I heard two incredible Sterling stories in the past month.
Story No. 1: Sterling's office is located in a six-story building in Beverly Hills. He is the only occupant. Why? He doesn't like being around people he doesn't know. Instead of sharing an elevator with a stranger, he'd rather the building was empty. I swear this is true.
Story No. 2: Nobody in Los Angeles believes that Sterling would ever sell the Clippers because, as insane as this sounds, they give him cachet out here. (Sure, it's "isn't that the guy who destroyed the Clippers" cachet, but still, it's cachet because you never know when things might turn around. You should have seen him during the 2006 playoffs. He was wandering around aimlessly with a giddy smile on his face like Kathryn Bigelow after she won the last two Oscar categories.) I did some digging in Dallas to find out if anyone has ever made him a "Godfather" offer for the team. The answer? Yes. In the middle of the past decade, when the economy was still thriving, Sterling was offered a billion dollars for the Clippers by somebody. The only part of this story I couldn't confirm was the identity of the person who made the offer. But it was definitely one billion dollars. Got it confirmed by an impeccable source.
One billion dollars.
ONE BILLION DOLLARS!
Now you're saying to yourself, "There's no way. That's a ridiculous price. That can't be."
Well … it's the No. 2 TV market in the league and a proven basketball market. The Lakers had already established that ridiculous revenue could be generated in Los Angeles, and at the time the Clippers were considered the "up and comers" and the Lakers were considered "Kobe and the Kobettes." And the buyer knew he had to overpay to get them. The point is this: The "Godfather" offer was made, and Sterling said no. He's never selling.
