Sterling: Down, and out
Banned NBA owner giving control of franchise to his wife, who will sell it
LOS ANGELES Donald Sterling is turning his ownership stake in the Los Angeles Clippers over to his estranged wife, and she is in talks with the NBA to sell the team, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday.
The individual, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the deal, said the couple reached the agreement after weeks of discussion.
“Donald Sterling is out, and there will be new owners,” the individual told the AP.
Neither Shelly Sterling nor her attorney had any comment Friday. They have been in talks with NBA lawyers for the last few weeks.
“She wants to be able to say, ‘I’m selling the team, not the NBA is selling the team,’ and have meaningful control over that transaction,” the individual told the news service.
Donald Sterling was banned for life and fined $2.5 million by NBA commissioner Adam Silver after the release of a recording last month in which Sterling made racist remarks involving blacks, who comprise the majority of players in the league.
Sterling told female friend V. Stiviano not to bring blacks to Clippers games during a recorded conversation.
Earlier this week, the NBA charged Sterling with damaging the league and its teams with his comments, and said he has engaged in other conduct that has impaired its relationship with fans and merchandising partners.
Sterling has until next Tuesday to respond to the charge.
He has the right to appear at a New York hearing on June 3 in front of the other owners and make a presentation before the league’s board of governors votes on terminating his ownership.
It will take three-quarters of the owners to terminate Sterling’s ownership, and the league says those rules would also apply to Shelly Sterling.
“She has no plans to sue the NBA,” the individual told the AP. “She’s trying to make nice.”
If three-quarters of the other 29 owners vote to sustain the charge, Donald Sterling will be forced to sell the team he has owned since 1981.
Silver has said he is confident he has the 23 votes that are necessary.
If Sterling does not respond to the charge within five business days, or does not appear at the hearing, it would be deemed an admission of the “total validity of the charges as presented,” according to the NBA constitution.
Sterling’s attorney had asked for a three-month delay, which the league rejected. His attorney had no comment Friday.
Article 14a of the NBA’s constitution, which deals with the consequences of termination of ownership, allows the interest of a terminated owner to be placed under the management and control of the commissioner.
Ultimately, any sale of the team would have to be approved by the league’s owners.
“We don’t want this to linger around our sport,” Miami Heat star LeBron James said Friday after practice.
“The quicker it gets done, the sooner we can move on.”