The Donald Sterling saga somehow appeared to be coming to a close last week when it was announced that the banished owner would withdraw his lawsuit against the NBA and agree to sell the team to Steve Ballmer for an estimated $2 billion.
All of that changed quickly on Monday when Sterling decided to flip a switch and go into attack mode once again. Here is his statement on the matter, from NBC News:
I would like to clarify some issues regarding the Los Angeles Clippers and affiliated matters. From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers. I have worked for 33 years to build the Team.
To be clear, I am extremely sorry for the hurtful statements I made privately. I made those statements in anger and out of jealousy all in the context of a private conversation. While this is not an excuse for the statements, like every other American, I never imagined that my private conversation would be made public.
Many things have been said about me in the media which are not true. I believe that Adam Silver acted in haste by illegally ordering the forced sale of the Clippers, banning me for life from the NBA and imposing the fine. Adam Silver’s conduct in doing so without conducting any real investigation was wrong.
The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans.
I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights. While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled.
I love the team and have dedicated 33 years of my life to the organization. I intend to fight to keep the Team.
The surprise here isn’t that he wants to fight back – everyone expected this situation to drag on from a legal standpoint the moment Adam Silver decided to ban him. The real surprise was his willingness to let it all go, sell the team and move on from a league that wants nothing to do with him.
If there is one lesson to learn from these apparent mood swings he seemingly goes through every other day, Sterling is not a man you can trust. Throughout the entire process (since the infamous recording became public), everything that came out of him was a contradiction from saying he’s not a racist despite everything he has said and done, to openly criticizing Magic Johnson (unjustly) after saying Johnson was someone he confided in. And now, he is doing everything the opposite of what he agreed to do less than a week ago.
Talk about a bad case of bipolar disorder. Jalen Rose of Grantland saw the report and summarized the situation in his own way:
Scorecard. No games were lost or delayed. Has not paid fine($2m)or sold team($2b). Owners did not vote him out. Plans to sue NBA. #Sterling
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) June 10, 2014
Hopefully, this case won’t drag beyond next season for the good of the NBA.
Tweet of the Day: Reaction To Derek Fisher’s Hiring
Tweet of the Night: Rasual Butler roots for California Chrome in the Belmont Stakes
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @Sheridanblog.