Donald Sterling loses court battle to retain Clippers ownership

Shelly recently sat down with Linda Deutsch of the Associated Press to discuss the sale to Ballmer. During the interview, Shelly felt the need to defend her estranged husband by saying Donald “doesn’t make racist comments”:

Shelly said she didn’t understand how V. Stiviano, the woman who recorded the racist comments, was able to bait Donald into saying what he did. Shelly thinks what happened was just “unfortunate”:

As Steve Ballmer takes over the L.A. Clippers, the NBA family breathes a sigh of relief at being rid of the holy embarrassment named Donald Sterling. There will be no boycotts, no protests, no whiplash legal observing. He’s gone and the league is better for it. The Sterling legacy is one of shame, disgust and gross racism.

The $2 billion Sterling and his wife will walk away with also leaves a legacy of its own.

Things will be different for the Clippers next season. Everyone on the team will be a year older, teammates will have to deal with Spencer Hawes demanding to listen to Sean Hannity at max volume in the weight room and of course the Western Conference will offer new challenges. Life will go on without exiled owner Donald Sterling, a medically induced erection sculpted out of expired Milk Duds, and will be much more pleasant for that.

And yet all the important things will be the same: there will be the leadership of Doc Rivers on the sideline, the restless virtuosity of Chris Paul on the court and a nightmarish leatherette bigotry sac with the last name Sterling sitting courtside, generally stinking up the joint with the full vinegary force of their repellence.

In the most difficult decision in the courtroom saga between the husband and wife duo of Donald and Shelly Sterling, the judge approved Shelly’s request for the court to utilize section 1310(b) of California’s probate code.

Here’s what that means:

The Donald Sterling saga may finally be over for good. A judge has ruled that Shelly Sterling did indeed have the legal standing to decide matters of the family trust on her husband’s behalf, clearing the way for Steve Ballmer to officially take over the team.

The sale window to Ballmer was supposed to end on July 15, but it was extended until August 15 so the trial could finish. Had the judge ruled in favor of Donald Sterling, the window could have expired, forcing the NBA to go through the termination process it was prepared to use until the sale to Ballmer happened. Were that to succeed, the league would have controlled the team and auctioned it to the highest bidder. But there was a risk that Donald Sterling wouldn’t officially be out of the picture by the start of the season, which is why players suggested they might boycott next season if a favorable ruling didn’t happen.

As testimony from Parsons poured out of the courtroom, it became apparent that the line of questioning was trying to prove how much Sterling’s racist comments have hurt the value of the franchise.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in the process of trying to buy the franchise for a record $2 billion, but the lawsuit has put a halt to that as they try to determine whether he and Shelly Sterling had the ability to agree to terms.

The trial to determine the fate of the Los Angeles Clippers pushed forward on Wednesday with disgraced former owner Donald Sterling providing more memorably outlandish testimony. Sterling continued his time on the stand in an attempt to prove he was wrongfully stripped of control of the family trust when doctors ruled he was mentally unfit to make business decisions.

Sterling is arguing the exam was conducted under false pretenses because he didn’t know the findings would be enough to strip him of his right to the trust. His wife Shelly would go on to sell the Clippers for a record $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Several notable reporters were in Los Angeles to cover the trial, including ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Arash Markazi, the L.A. Times’ Bill Plaschke and Nathan Fenno and the Orange County Register’s Dan Woike. Sterling’s cross-examination by veteran barrister Bert Fields was the main show of the evening, which got weirder and weirder as the day wore on.

At this point, Sterling might have lost his mind in addition to the team.

In the latest strange twist of the Donald Sterling saga, Shelly Sterling will seek a court order of protection for her, her lawyers and key witnesses from harassment by her estranged husband and his lawyers, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles.

Shelly Sterling and her lawyers are set to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday morning to present evidence that witnesses in the Donald Sterling case have been “threatened, intimidated and harassed” by Sterling and his team of lawyers in advance of a court hearing set for July 7-10. These witnesses include doctors who evaluated Donald Sterling and diagnosed him with a form of dementia that rendered him limited when making important decisions.

The NBA is currently trying to remove Sterling from the league for a series of recordings including offensive, racist comments by the Clippers owner. His wife, Shelly, has already agreed to sell the team to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a record-breaking $2 million, but Sterling continues to give mixed messages on his intentions regarding the sale.

While he could simply let the team go, rake in the billions and move on with the rest of his life, Sterling doesn’t appear willing to make things that easy. Instead, he’s decided to sue the league in federal court for $1 billion, and as a part of that, appears to be hoping to uncover some misbehavior by another owner that would make the league’s punishments, including attempts to remove him from ownership, look unreasonable or unfair.

A trial to determine whether Donald Sterling was rightly removed from his family trust by his wife Shelly is scheduled for July 7-10 in Los Angeles, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

The trial is being expedited due to a request from Shelly Sterling’s lawyers so that the NBA Board of Governors could still approve the sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Shelly Sterling agreed to sell the team to Ballmer for an NBA record $2 billion in May.

”We have to fight for the rights of all Americans. We have to fight these despicable monsters. THIS IS THE REASON I WILL NOT SELL MY TEAM.“It’s got everything: the appeal to the everyman, which is the opposite of what Donald Sterling resembles. Calling the NBA a despicable monster, when Sterling himself is a) despicable and b) a monster. AND THEN THE ALL CAPS TO DRIVE IT HOME. This is a tour de crazy force, and we should cherish it.

In his message, Sterling repeatedly appeals to his right to freedom of speech, which arguably is the most important right protected by the United States Constitution. However, at no point in this process has his freedom of speech been violated. The Constitution makes sure that you can’t be prosecuted for saying something (with certain exceptions) or prevented from saying something by the government. Sterling has been legally allowed to say all the things he’s said. He could say them with a bullhorn on a street corner. He could start a blog and write those things. And although the majority of Americans find the things he said repugnant, there would be nothing we could do to stop him from saying them.

Shelly Sterling took control of the Sterling Family Trust, which owns the Clippers, in the past month due to a reported declaration by doctors that Sterling was “mentally incapacitated.” Following that and Ballmer’s $2 billion bid, the NBA and Shelly Sterling announced a settlement in which the Sterling Family Trust would provide indemnity for the league in the case of any suit by Sterling. That means that if Sterling sues the league and wins, any penalty paid to him would be covered by the Sterling Family Trust. Which is Donald and Shelly Sterling’s money.

Last week, Sterling announced he would not pursue the lawsuit, clearing the way for the sale of the club. Had he done so, he would have walked away with loads of cash and notoriety. But on Monday, Sterling’s lawyer, Max Blecher, announced that the suit would go “full steam ahead.”

Donald Sterling has officially given up. The man who owned the Los Angeles Clippers for 33 years will not pursue legal action against the NBA and will agree to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles.

Sterling likely saw that the sale of the franchise was inevitable after his wife Shelly agreed to indemnify the NBA against potential lawsuits with the family trust. Sterling said in a charity appearance on Tuesday that he is ready to “move on”.

Amidst allegations of racism stemming from audio recordings released by V. Stiviano, Sterling at first battled to keep his franchise after being banned by Silver and fined $2.5 million. He did, however, recently allow his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, to sell the team to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

NBA owners will vote to finalize the sale of the Clippers, which sold for a record $2 billion, but Shelly Sterling and Ballmer confirmed their agreement of the sale on May 30.

Details from the AP:

TMZ caught Sterling leaving, but he didn’t say much except to incredulously ask what the fuss was about.

Silver had to act decisively and quickly to keep his players on board ... and he did. And he deserves all credit for that.

Few really expected Silver to ban Sterling for life from NBA activities or to push to strip him of his team. It seemed like the basketball world was prepared to be disappointed by Silver’s punishment. Sponsors abandoned the Clippers. There was growing pressure on NBA partners. We expected a $1 million fine and a postseason ban. Silver went much harder, showing palpable anger in the press conference that satisfied the players. He won that battle. He won over the players, sponsors and the fans.

On Thursday, reports emerged that Sterling had agreed to sell the family to Ballmer, but speculation surrounded a possible response from Donald Sterling and his lawyers. However, medical experts recently deemed the 80-year-old to be “mentally incapacitated,” leaving Shelly as the sole trustee of the franchise.

That development gave Sterling’s estranged wife the ability to sell the team without his permission, which apparently led to the quick deal with Ballmer and his group. Ballmer, who said he’s “honored to have my name submitted to the NBA Board of Governors,” for ownership approval, also offered an extended statement in the release:

The rushed effort is due in part to the NBA’s likely decision to force the Clippers’ sale, and could result in a new owner being named as early as the end of the week, per the report.

The move is consistent with the stance that the wife of long-time owner Donald Sterling was aiming to sell under her terms after her husband was banned by the league. If the other NBA owners agree and uphold the NBA’s decision at a June 3 hearing, it would force the family to sell despite their wishes to keep its asset and alienate only Donald for his actions.

The formal response, which was 32 pages in length, also claims that forcing the Sterling family to sell the team would result in an “egregious” capital gains tax bill while also stating offers to this point have come in north of $2.5 billion.

Sterling is facing a hearing on June 3 where NBA owners will vote to determine if they will go through with a forced sale.

Shelburne reports the one big hurdle is ensuring that the Sterling family sells its entire stake in the franchise:

In fact, the NBA released a statement Friday suggesting nothing has changed with their plans:

Based on information from the NBA’s investigation into the days and weeks prior to TMZ releasing audio of Sterling making offensive and racist remarks to girlfriend V. Stiviano, Rainey reveals some key information as to how things went down before commissioner Adam Silver laid out the lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine for Sterling last month.

It’s a lengthy piece with a lot to parse, but here are some of the notable aspects of the article.

The American public has spent two weeks praising Adam Silver’s first act of decisiveness amid the ugly, damaging and very public spectacle created by Donald Sterling. The NBA commissioner moved swiftly, firmly and within the legal confines of his job after recordings of Sterling’s racist remarks became public. Silver banned Sterling for life and fined the Clippers owner $2.5 million. These actions, completely within Silver’s right as commissioner, comprised not only the most severe penalty the league has ever seen, but one of the harshest levied on any team owner ever.

For this, Silver won praise from almost everyone, including myself. His decision, especially regarding the maximum fine, was brilliant. While many people -- including Silver, it can be assumed -- would have preferred to bury Sterling under a much larger fine, Silver knew as a lawyer to stick to the maximum penalty. Less restraint might have given Sterling reason to take the league to court, where he’s been characterized as “tyrannical.” (That he’s doing it anyway is surprising and may be a flawed legal strategy.) Silver was as severe as he could be without going over the top, and the result was one that everyone -- or everyone but Donald Sterling -- could cheer: a lifetime ban, $2.5 million fine, NBA stands strong against racism, fans rejoice.

Sterling recently hired Maxwell Blecher, a prominent antitrust lawyer, who wrote a letter to NBA executive vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan saying he would refuse the current sanctions as his client does not warrant “any punishment at all.”

Buchanan sent a letter to Sterling on May 14 telling the Clippers owner to pay the $2.5 million fine announced by Silver last month. At that time, the league also announced that it would attempt to remove Sterling from ownership following the release of tapes containing audio of Sterling making offensive, racist remarks to his girlfriend.

It is both exceedingly difficult and strikingly easy to own a professional sports team. The difficult part is finding enough ready capital to own a team. The easy part is everything else.

Teams cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars; better teams in bigger markets will sell for a billion and more. You do not come to own a team by investing responsibly or hitting Powerball. You come to own a team by dint of extremely fortunate heredity, or petroleum, or vast and fortunate real estate holdings, or by cashing out at the idiot zenith of some bubble or other. The rich are not like you and me, and they aren’t really like the people who own sports teams, either.