Retired Chinese basketball great Yao Ming has set his sights on acquiring the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the top teams in the National Basketball Association or NBA.

If he succeeds in his bid along with a consortium of Chinese businessmen, Yao will give China its first NBA team. The Clippers, one of the most exciting teams in the NBA, is top billed by superstars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.

Like Us on Facebook

The Clippers, which made it to the NBA playoffs this year, are not yet for sale but multiple press reports said that Clippers' owner Donald Sterling has agreed that his wife, Shelly, negotiate a sale of the Clippers.

The Clippers are being put up for sale after the NBA and the NBA Basketball Owners Association decided to force Donald Sterling to sell the team following a spate of racist remarks made by Sterling that have been widely condemned.

Yao, who owns the Shanghai Sharks basketball team in China, is the point man in a group of as yet unidentified Chinese investors that want to buy the Clippers' franchise. The former star of the Houston Rockets has maintained a close relationship with the NBA after his retirement in 2011 through the NBA's different and popular promotional events in Asia, especially in NBA-mad China.

Yao previously tried to buy the Milwaukee Bucks but dropped out of the bidding. It is unclear if Yao and his investor-partners will move the popular Clippers to a new city.

The number of bidders for the Clippers is expected to number a dozen or more, said press reports. Among the more notable investors is former NBA star Grant Hill who has made no secret of his plan to buy the Clippers. He is currently in the process of putting a consortium together to do just this.

Among other possible and probable buyers are Magic Johnson, along with executives at Guggenheim Partners; former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, who could partner with billionaire talk show host and entrepreneur, Oprah Winfrey.

The sale of the Clippers, however, also hinges on Shelly Sterling, who co-owns the team. She said she would fight any attempt to force her to give up her interest in the team and saw no reason why she should be forced to sell.

TagsLA Clippers, Yao Ming