Clippers' Sterling Expected To Fight NBA Ban

WITH the NBA’s owners’ 10-member advisory and finance committee scheduled to conduct a conference call Thursday to discuss the next steps in the ouster of Donald Sterling, a source close to the Clippers banned-for-life owner said he expects Sterling to mount a stiff legal challenge to commissioner Adam Silver’s ruling.

And in case you missed it, the Clippers look to close out the Warriors in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
ractice Monday and declined a meeting request from Sterling. He wouldn't address whether he would return next season if Sterling were still in control.</p> <p>That might not be an issue if the owners vote to oust the owner.</p> <p>Sterling is estranged from his wife and had been dating Stiviano, 31. In court documents, Stiviano describes him as a man "with a big toothy grin brandishing his sexual prowess in the faces of the Paparazzi and caring less what anyone else thought, the least of which, his own wife."</p> <p>Silver said when he first heard the audio, he hoped it had been altered or was fake, but thought it was Sterling. And it doesn't matter if Sterling didn't realize he was being recorded, Silver said.</p> <p>"Whether or not these remarks were initially shared in private, they're now public, and they represent his views."
The source who has worked with Sterling, but is not advising him in this case, said the disgraced owner likely will work with attorney Robert Platt to fight the NBA. Platt, a 1982 Fordham Law School grad, successfully defended Sterling in 2009 against former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor’s suit over alleged racial discrimination.
“I think it will be one last-ditch effort for both billionaire Sterling and millionaire Platt,” the source said.
On Tuesday, Silver announced Sterling’s ban plus a $2.5 million fine for racist remarks while stressing he will urge owners to force Sterling to sell. Under NBA by-laws, the owners can file charges of termination with the commissioner, who has three days to serve them. Next is a five-day period for Sterling to respond. The owners must vote within 10 days to force out Sterling with a three-quarters majority needed, a number Silver confidently said he could gather. Apparently, Sterling will not go quietly.

If the NBA owners vote against Sterling, he likely will seek a temporary restraining order in the Central District of California.

“His value can’t be measured,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers who noted, quite correctly, Sterling has overshadowed the games. “This might be the greatest playoffs in league history, and I can’t wait for us all to get back on that because we’re missing a hell of a playoffs.”