Donald Sterling cannot block the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, who will go to new owner Steve Ballmer for
the staggering record price of $2 billion.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled against Sterling on Monday, ending his attempt at blocking the sale of the team he had owned since 1981. He was forced to give up ownership by NBA commissioner Adam Silver after making recorded racist remarks against blacks.
Sterling sued in an attempt to block the sale of the Clippers to Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft whose bid dwarfed other 10-figure offers.
It is doubtful that this is the last we hear of Sterling, 80, who has vowed to legally fight for ownership of the Clippers until he dies. He already has sued the NBA for $9 billion.
“We are pleased that the court has affirmed Shelly Sterling’s right to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer,” NBA executive vice president of communications Mike Bass said in a statement. “We look forward to the transaction closing as soon as possible.”
In April, a recording of Sterling scolding his girlfriend for bringing blacks to Clippers games was aired on celebrity gossip site TMZ, touching off a firestorm that transcended basketball and sports and brought a stern response from President Barack Obama.
Sterling’s girlfriend first sent the tape to the Clippers. Team president Andy Roeser, a long-time ally of the owner, released a statement which questioned the authenticity of the audiotape. It was later learned that Roeser instructed a team employee to destroy the recording.
In an ensuing televised apology, Sterling bad-mouthed league icon Magic Johnson, calling him a bad role model because he had HIV.
Players from all teams threatened to boycott playoff games until being soothed by Silver, who banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million. Those actions put the team on the market and touched off a series of legal maneuvers.
During the trial, Donald Sterling called his wife “a pig.”
As the legal battle continued this summer, Clippers coach Doc Rivers and star point guard Chris Paul recently expressed doubts about continuing to remain with the team if the season began and Sterling had not been removed.
Interim CEO Dick Parsons, appointed by Silver to oversee team operations, also said companies were waiting to see if Sterling was removed as owner before committing to sponsorships, signage and the like.
“The sale will go through” is an overstatement, because this battle is not past the point of no return, even though on the surface it looks that way.
What’s certain right now is that Donald Sterling lost this round. But between now and Aug 15 he has several ways he can get the ruling set aside, delayed, or reconsidered. The Achilles heel in that ruling was the part (under 1310b) that said the sale can proceed prior to the result of an appeal, an order that is allowable but only in very limited circumstances.
Rest assured that once the final written ruling by Levanas is issued, Sterling and his attorneys will immediately challenge the applicability of 1310b and seek to have that determination either reversed or delayed until it can be examined more closely. If Shelly can keep Donald from winning a delay on that point, she should be assured of the sale going through.
But we’re not there yet.
Sounds like the Judge was a Clippers fan, but who cares. Ballmer should be a popular owner.
The irony of all of this, is that now that Sterling is officially deemed incompetent and suffering from dementia, what he said on Anderson Cooper and in private was that of an insane man, who didn’t have control faculties.
Sterling could have argued from the beginning that he was mentally ill as well as suffering from Cancer. He would have received much more sympathy.
One significance of this ruling is that the valuation of other NBA teams will now rise. Owners will be happy.
Sterling will have to settle for his $1 billion, before taxes, share of the sale of the Clippers.