Clippers owner racist?

[WestCoastJoe]

Amazing offer of $2B by Steve Ballmer. More than double what was anticipated.

Oprah, Geffen and Ellison offered $1.6B.

Who can turn that down? Well, Sterling might be able to reject the offer made to his wife.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/29/us/nba-cl ... ?hpt=hp_t1

And as noted in the video, it might make the owners more determined to rid themselves of "this Donald."
..........

Headlines from the side of the above page.

Sterling: I was 'baited' into 'a terrible mistake'

updated 3:03 PM EDT, Mon May 12, 2014

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling says he's sorry but feels he was "baited" to make racist comments.

NBA commissioner bans Clippers owner

updated 10:29 PM EDT, Tue April 29, 2014

The NBA's commissioner orders Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling out of his team's business over racist remarks.

Soccer star eats banana thrown at him

updated 5:31 AM EDT, Tue April 29, 2014

Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off during an AC Milan soccer match in Italy, but Dani Alves turned to humor in dealing with racist abuse during a Spanish league game.

Stars show solidarity with Alves

Dani Alves' response to a fan throwing a banana at him during Barcelona's trip to Villarreal on Sunday drew huge praise from the football world.

NBA players protest owner's alleged racist talk

updated 8:27 AM EDT, Mon April 28, 2014

The players in the National Basketball Association spoke out Sunday about racist comments attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Sterling has history of fighting discrimination claims

updated 6:36 PM EDT, Mon April 28, 2014

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is a billionaire real estate mogul who's owned the team for more than three decades.

Home of soccer at odds over tackling racist abuse

updated 8:48 AM EDT, Mon March 24, 2014

England prides itself on being the home of football, but is the nation dysfunctional in dealing with racist abuse?

Prosecutor: 'Auschwitz' football chants are not anti-Semitic

updated 9:49 AM EST, Thu January 16, 2014

"Move on, Jews! Your home is at Auschwitz! Send you to the gas (chamber)!"

Soccer star quits team following 'quenelle' punishment

updated 7:24 PM EDT, Fri March 14, 2014

French soccer star Nicolas Anelka has decided to quit English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion following his punishment for making a controversial "quenelle" gesture.

Redskins: A slur or term of 'honor'?

updated 4:11 PM EDT, Sat October 12, 2013

Team owners strongly dispute any racism behind the mascot and won't change it, saying the Redskins name honors "where we came from, who we are."

Football Association issues 'yid' warning

updated 4:14 PM EDT, Thu September 12, 2013

English football fans have been warned they face criminal prosecution if they continue to chant a word which has been deemed anti-Semitic.

FIFA adopts stricter punishments for racist behavior

updated 2:09 PM EDT, Fri May 31, 2013

FIFA approved tougher penalties for racist behavior, including possible relegation, in a move that one anti-racism organization said will bring soccer "in line" with other sports.

[TheLionKing]

$2 billion offer. Astounding. Can he resist such an offer ?

[South Pender]

$2 billion offer. Astounding. Can he resist such an offer ?

Well, he could, according to this article. Evidently, the money doesn't matter to Sterling as he's a billionaire already. This is not a done deal. Sterling may just dig his ornery heels in and not sign. Stay tuned....

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... 2-billion/

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has pointed out how this stupendous offer could throw all team values for a loop. Evidently, the previous highest offer for an NBA team came within just the last few weeks for the Milwaukee Bucks--$550M or a little over 1/4 of the reported $2B offered for the Clippers. Does the $2B offer make all pro sports teams suddenly more valuable? How much will the Bills go for?

[WestCoastJoe]

No. Yes. No. Yes.

Sterling seems ready to sell. Hard to swim upstream against all that opposes him.

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=453999

ATTORNEY: STERLING AGREES TO SELL CLIPPERS; WILL DISMISS LAWSUIT

6/4/2014 8:24:37 PM

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling agreed Wednesday to sign off on selling the team he has owned for 33 years to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, bringing the possibility of a resolution to weeks of rumours, uncertainty and looming possibilities for legal action.

The agreement hadn't been officially signed Wednesday afternoon, according to an individual with knowledge of the negotiations who wasn't authorized to discuss them publicly. But Donald Sterling's attorney, Maxwell Blecher, said he "has made an agreement with the NBA to resolve all their differences." Sterling gave his consent to a deal that was negotiated by his wife, Shelly Sterling, to sell the team, Blecher said.

Representatives for Shelly Sterling and the NBA declined to comment.

The agreement was an about face for Donald Sterling, who just last week filed a $1 billion suit against the NBA in federal court alleging the league violated his constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording that publicized racist remarks he made to a girlfriend. It also said the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling $2.5 million and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale. Blecher said that as a result of the agreement, the federal suit will now be dismissed.

Sterling's comments to V. Stiviano included telling her to not bring black people to Clippers games, specifically mentioning Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. They resulted in a storm of outrage from the public and players and even prompted President Barack Obama to comment on what he called Sterling's "incredibly offensive racist statements."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver ultimately decided to ban Donald Sterling for life and began efforts to force Sterling to sell the team.

For weeks, Donald Sterling said through his attorneys that he would fight the NBA's decisions to try to force his ouster as a team owner. But last week Shelly Sterling utilized her authority as sole trustee of The Sterling Family Trust, which owns the Clippers, to take bids for the team and ultimately negotiate a deal with Ballmer.

Ballmer beat out bids by Guggenheim Partners and a group including former NBA All-Star Grant Hill. Ballmer made more than an hour-long personal visit to Shelly Sterling's Malibu home last week and laid out his plan.

If the NBA owners approve the sale, it will be a record-high sum for a team that cost Donald Sterling about $12 million in 1981. Blecher's co-counsel, Bobby Samini, said the vote by league owners is expected to take place in mid-July.

This is not Ballmer's first foray into potential NBA ownership. Ballmer and investor Chris Hansen headed a group that agreed to a deal to buy the Kings from the Maloof family in January 2013 with the intention of moving the team to Seattle, where the SuperSonics played until 2008.

But Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson lobbied the NBA for time to put together a bid to keep the team in California, and though the Ballmer-Hansen group later increased its offer, owners voted to deny the bid for relocation and the Kings were sold to Vivek Ranadive.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/09/us/sterli ... ?hpt=hp_c2

(CNN) -- The deal is off. The suit is on.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is withdrawing his support for the sale of his team, and is asking his lawyer to go ahead with a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA, according to multiple media reports.

"From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers," Sterling said in a letter obtained by ESPN.com.

Referring to the NBA commissioner, Sterling added, "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. ... 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."

CNN has reached out to both the Sterling camp and the NBA for comment.

It is precisely such a move that had Silver wary of the litigious Sterling.

"He's unsold his club several times over the years," Silver told CNN's Rachel Nichols in an exclusive interview this week.

"There's well-noted incidents in the league when he was right there at a closing and at the last minute decided not to sell."

Sterling, 80, has been embroiled in controversy since a recording of a conversation with friend V. Stiviano revealed he made a series of racist comments.

The comments spawned outrage among NBA players, executives and fans. The commissioner fined Sterling $2.5 million and pushed to terminate all of his ownership rights in the franchise.

Almost two weeks ago, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laid down a $2 billion offer to buy the Clippers. Sterling's estranged wife and co-owner of team, Shelly, agreed to sell the franchise to Ballmer. Sterling had agreed to the sale.

LOL

The old goat ... He seems to follow his moods and whims. Very difficult character. Big headache for the NBA. I had a hunch he would not go quietly into the night. It seemed he might have heeded the will of the other owners, but, No, he heeds his own will. And he does not want to sell. And he no doubt wants to exact some pain for the league.

[TheLionKing]

Stirling is upset that the NBA is not going to lift the lifetime ban even if he sold his Clippers.

[Sir Purrcival]

Well, at his age, he has more than enough money so that holds no meaning to him. However, getting banned by a quasi legal tribunal of a league that has had more than few unsavoury characters and being fined 2 million for essentially making some ridiculous but not unexpected comments would stick in a lot of people's craw. Ban me? Fine me? Who the hell do you think you are kind of mentality. This is not some patsy who is used to rolling over at the first sign of adversity and has successfully used the courts to his advantage before. The NBA is monumentally stupid. Sounds like they were on the verge of getting everything they wanted but have let an over inflated sense of who they really are get in the way of some sensible decision making. 2 million dollars is peanuts and if they don't want to lift the ban because they are afraid he may try to get another franchise, well doesn't the league have to approve all sales and purchases? Stirling is in his mid 80's. Chances are in the next 2 or 3 years he will be done. He doesn't look that spry. The league should just get the deal done by any means and put an close to this chapter of it's history.

[WestCoastJoe]

Well, I wouldn't want to do a business deal with the old goat. But he is tough.

Yes. No. Yes. No.

His latest mood swing is to fight the NBA for trying to force him to sell his franchise. He makes some valid points about hypocrisy. But he is going to have to fight against his estranged wife also, it seems.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/10/us/sterli ... ?hpt=hp_t3

Donald Sterling says NBA officials are 'bullies,' 'hypocrites,' 'monsters'

By Brian Todd and Steve Almasy, CNN

updated 8:29 PM EDT, Tue June 10, 2014

(CNN) -- A defiant Donald Sterling calls the NBA "a band of hypocrites and bullies" in a written statement the long-time Los Angeles Clippers co-owner sent to the media through one of his lawyers. He also wrote that the NBA needs to examine its own "discriminatory practices" rather than try to take away his personal property.

"We have to fight for the rights of all Americans. We have to fight these despicable monsters," Sterling wrote in the statement, provided to CNN by Bobby Samini.

In Sterling's 420-plus word statement, he says the NBA has been able to "exact its reign of terror" through revenues from the fans.

He slams new Commissioner Adam Silver, who has worked for the league since 1992 but took over the top spot in February. Sterling said Silver is "focusing his energy on violating my rights, attempting to take my property, and signing autographs for TMZ."

Sterling lawyer: NBA missed opportunity

Sterling said the NBA has been sued many times for discrimination. He said Silver and the NBA need to look at their own conduct and the conduct of the other 29 owners in the league and they are centering their attention on him to "draw attention away from their own discriminatory and repulsive conduct."

The statement comes as a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN that Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, intends to ask a California probate court on Wednesday morning to "verify her standing" as the head of the family trust and rule that she had the right to sell the Clippers.

Shelly Sterling announced May 30 that she had reached an agreement to sell the franchise that her husband bought in 1981 to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a record $2 billion.

Technically, a family trust owns the Clippers. Last month, two sources with detailed knowledge of the situation told CNN that two neurologists have deemed Donald Sterling to be mentally incapacitated.

According to one of the sources, there is a provision in the Sterling family trust that says if either Donald Sterling or Shelly Sterling become mentally incapacitated, then the other becomes the sole trustee.

Donald Sterling is mentally sound, another lawyer, Maxwell Blecher, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

"It strikes me as totally incredible to argue that this man -- I talk to him every day -- is incapable of making decisions and is mentally incompetent," Blecher said on Tuesday afternoon. "And I don't believe any court is going to make a finding to the contrary."

Donald Sterling initially vowed to fight the sale and filed a lawsuit against the NBA, then said he was going along with the sale -- until Monday, when he again pulled his support. "From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers. I have worked for 33 years to build the team," Donald Sterling said.

Sterling, 80, has been embroiled in controversy since a recording of a conversation with his friend V. Stiviano surfaced. The recording included a series of racist comments.

The comments, first posted on TMZ, sparked outrage among NBA players, executives and fans. The commissioner fined Sterling $2.5 million and banned him for life from the NBA.

In Tuesday's statement, Sterling said he has apologized for the remarks and his apology is sincere.

He also made inflammatory comments to CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" about African-Americans, which the NBA had planned to use as part of its evidence against Donald Sterling in an owners' meeting where a vote would be taken on whether to terminate Sterling's ownership rights. The meeting was canceled.

His lawsuit makes clear that he believes the NBA has no right to force such a sale, and the league was wrong in banning him for life and fining him.

In addition to damages, the lawsuit seeks a restraining order.

[Sir Purrcival]

I don't know what the competency standard is down there but that is always a tough nut to crack. Traditionally courts are very reluctant to have someone declared incompetent. If he knows, his name, what year it is and what city he is in, chances are mental incompetence is not on the table. Unless there is some blatant concrete evidence that he is incompetent, then his ex is going to be unsuccessful. So far, I haven't seen or heard anything that goes beyond eccentric.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/06/ ... er-source/

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling hires private investigators to dig up dirt on NBA owners, commissioner: source

Tami Abdollah, Associated Press | June 13, 2014 11:26 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s team of lawyers has hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA’s former and current commissioners and its 29 other owners, said a person familiar with Sterling’s legal strategy.

Investigators were given a six-figure budget over the next 30 days to examine the league’s finances, allegations of previous discriminatory conduct and compensation to past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday night on condition of anonymity. The person wasn’t authorized to talk publicly.

The person said the investigators also are looking into whether other owners made any off-colour jokes, or racist or sexist remarks.

“The gloves are off, as they say,” the person said. “Have them dig up all the dirt they can find.”

The 80-year-old Sterling is suing the NBA for $1 billion in federal court after the league tried to oust him as Clippers owner for making racist remarks to a girlfriend that were recorded and publicized. Silver fined him $2.5 million and banned him for life.

The suit alleges the league violated Sterling’s constitutional rights by relying on information from an “illegal” recording. It also said the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale.

Sterling’s attorneys also will be facing off with his wife’s attorneys in probate court during a four-day hearing scheduled for July.

The probate court hearing centres on whether Shelly Sterling had the right to unilaterally negotiate a $2 billion deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Shelly Sterling’s attorney, Pierce O’Donnell, said she made the deal as the sole administrator of The Sterling Family Trust, which owns the team, after two doctors determined her estranged husband was mentally “incapacitated.” Donald Sterling is fighting that conclusion and her authority to sell.

The person who spoke to the AP said Donald Sterling reluctantly agreed to hire private investigators after this week’s legal proceedings in probate court. The NBA submitted a legal filing Wednesday urging a judge to confirm Shelly Sterling’s authority to sell the team.

“He realized these guys will literally go to any low to get this sold,” the person said. “Even if it gets (him) nothing other than exposing all these guys and shaking up the league and seeing a change in the leadership of the league, it’ll be worth it to him.”

The firms will be engaged in an “audition” of sorts, the individual said: “Whoever delivers the best (material) is going to stay on for the next round and it might be all four of them…29 owners is not a small undertaking.”

The old goat fights back ... Gonna use his money in revenge. I expect his investigators will find some "interesting" stuff. How many people with extreme wealth and power can withstand scrutiny?

[South Pender]

Just when I thought my opinion of Sterling couldn't get any lower, this happens, and it does. The personal defamation shysters are grinning from ear-to-ear and rubbing their hands together in anticipation....

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=454766

LEGAL LOOK: STERLING HIRES INVESTIGATORS TO CHASE NBA

ERIC MACRAMALLA, TSN LEGAL ANALYST
6/13/2014 6:18:03 PM

It's being reported that embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (yes he's still the owner) has hired four private investigation firms to dig up "dirt" on the NBA owners, as well as the past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver.

Sterling has retained investigators as part of his overall litigation strategy. Recently, he filed a lawsuit against the NBA in response to his lifetime ban and his forced sale of the team.

Part of that lawsuit alleges breach of contract. He is alleging that the NBA did not follow its own rules when it imposed its very dramatic and unprecedented punishments on him. To support that argument, he wants to be able to point to instances where the league took a much softer approach against other owners who may have committed transgressions of their own. Ultimately, Sterling wants to show that the league's application of the NBA Constitution and its rules has been wholly inconsistent and that he was unfairly and too harshly treated.

The NBA will of course argue that it has not breached its rules and that no other owner has ever said or done anything that has so profoundly and adversely impacted the league, its reputation and goodwill. Remember the NBA will focus on the impact of Sterling's statements and not what he said. In light of this distinction, Sterling will have a difficult time finding an owner who has inflicted similar damage on the league.

Of course, this investigation reminds us that Sterling is looking to embarrass the league. His lawsuit will give Sterling the opportunity to depose Silver, Stern and a number of owners all with a view to getting the league to air its dirty laundry. In part, he may hope that the pressure of litigation and disclosure under oath may encourage the NBA to lift its lifetime ban and let him keep his team.

Will that happen? At the outset, the NBA would have mapped out all possible consequences of forcing Sterling to sell his team, and litigation would have been at the top of that list. The league is prepared to litigate and may sue him right back for interfering with the sale of the team and the business of the league. The NBA is not going anywhere and it will fight.

The NBA also knows that Sterling has serious credibility issues. And that is buying the league time with its fans.

"Of course, this investigation reminds us that Sterling is looking to embarrass the league. His lawsuit will give Sterling the opportunity to depose Silver, Stern and a number of owners all with a view to getting the league to air its dirty laundry. In part, he may hope that the pressure of litigation and disclosure under oath may encourage the NBA to lift its lifetime ban and let him keep his team."

Sterling is no stranger to fighting it out in court. Even with the NBA.

"At the outset, the NBA would have mapped out all possible consequences of forcing Sterling to sell his team, and litigation would have been at the top of that list. The league is prepared to litigate and may sue him right back for interfering with the sale of the team and the business of the league. The NBA is not going anywhere and it will fight."

Did the league consider that Sterling would hire investigators to dig for dirt? One would hope so. It fits his pattern of behaviour.

Daniel Snyder has been a terrible owner for the Redskins. Losing teams. Changing coaches. Signing over-priced free agents. The Redskins name controversy. But Donald Sterling, on so many levels, is right there as the worst owner in sports. Both rather disgusting.

One hope the league might have is that Sterling changes his mind once again. If not this could get ugly. Make that "ulgier."

[TheLionKing]

Has the making of reality TV

[Sir Purrcival]

I don't think much of the man's attitudes and beliefs but I kind of admire the fight in the old goat. I have an innate dislike of organizations that condemn as though the rest of them were lilly white angels. I actually believe that he has a pretty good chance of being victorious here.
His strategy of saying "he who is without sin should cast the first stone" is pretty sound. It shouldn't be too hard to find all kinds of issues with owners and league management. Probably just as egregious as his own. If so, the league is going to either back off on Stirling or have to deal with allegations of double standards if they don't treat other violators in similar fashion.
As for the dementia thing. Does this sound like the actions of someone incompetent? If anything, it seems pretty damn smart. If nothing else, you can bet that other owners may be looking in their own closets for skeletons. He either has some very good handlers or this dementia thing is just some cooked up scenario to give the wife sole control. Does it not also seem way too convenient that a former CEO for Microsoft, one of the biggest business concerns in the world would happen to come along with an offer 4 times what most franchises would go for? It seems that paying that much over market value for a team makes little sense on the face of it, especially for one who has made a fortune running one of the most "profitable" companies in history. Got to believe that there is more to this offer than just one man's love for Bball. You don't get to be successful in business by way overpaying for stuff.
At any rate, I can see this being tied up for years in the courts. That only works to Stirling's favour.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/30/us/donald ... ?hpt=hp_t2

Donald Sterling's mental capacity not issue for trial

By Steve Almasy, CNN

updated 10:31 PM EDT, Mon June 30, 2014

(CNN) -- A California judge on Monday denied Donald Sterling's request for a postponement of a probate court trial over the proposed $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers by the Sterling family trust.

The trial is scheduled to start July 7 and last four days.

Shelly Sterling agreed May 29 to sell the NBA franchise to billionaire Steve Ballmer for what would be an NBA record price.

But Donald Sterling, the Clippers' other co-owner, doesn't want to sell the team he bought in 1981. He refused to sign on to terms of the deal.

The trial will focus on Shelly Sterling's right to sell the Clippers and not Donald Sterling's mental capacity, lawyers for each side said Monday.

At issue will be whether the procedures for removing one of the trust's owners were followed. Shelly Sterling hired a neurologist and a specialist in geriatric psychiatry who separately examined her husband and judged him to be mentally incapacitated.

Donald Sterling's attorney Bobby Samini maintains that the mental examinations he was given were under "undue influence" and "there was fraud" on Shelly Sterling's behalf.

Donald Sterling, 80, has been embroiled in controversy since a recording of a conversation with his friend V. Stiviano was posted online in late April. The recording included a series of racist comments.

Sterling's comments, first posted on TMZ, sparked outrage among NBA players, executives and fans. NBA commissioner Adam Silver fined Sterling $2.5 million and banned him for life from the NBA.

The NBA's board of governors, representatives from each of the 30 ownership groups, is scheduled to meet July 15 and could approve a sale then if the legal aspects of the deal are sorted out.

In order for the team to be sold, either Donald Sterling would have to sign a binding term sheet or a court would have to agree Shelly Sterling acted legally in selling the team.

The old goat continues to fight ...