Donald Sterling Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Sterlings, Scott, Gay

June 10th, 2014 at 9:38pm CST by Cray Allred

Shelly Sterling will ask a judge to make an expedited decision regarding Donald Sterling’s mental capacity so that she can move forward with the Clippers sale, now that her husband is no longer willing to comply with the sale, per a report from Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. If Shelly is not successful in court, the NBA will reschedule a hearing to take a vote to terminate Donald Sterling’s ownership, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. The league canceled the original hearing when Shelly Sterling arranged for a voluntary Clippers sale by the Sterling family trust. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

One of Donald Sterling’s lawyers tells James Rainey of The Los Angeles Times that they will try to prolong the court decision regarding his client’s mental health.
On ABC’s broadcast for Game 3 of the Finals, commissioner Adam Silver stated that the league will wait for the Sterlings’ court case to resolve before taking their next step. “This is now a dispute between the Sterlings,” Silver said. “We’re on the sidelines.”
On the heels of his second interview with the Lakers, Byron Scott tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he still views himself as the front-runner for the job. Scott again banked on his relationship with Kobe Bryant as an advantage for his candidacy. “Again, I think I’ve got a hand up on (the job) because of our relationship,” said Scott. “We get along extremely well. Kobe knows all about me and what I’m about. He knows that I’m an old-school coach who’s very demanding on the defensive end and knows that defense and rebounding wins championships, so I think from that point of view we see eye to eye.”
The Lakers didn’t give Scott any clarity on the nature of their coaching search during his second interview, a source tells Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News.
Rudy Gay met with the Kings as planned today to hear Sacramento’s pitch for him to pick up his $19.3MM player option, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.

Donald Sterling To Resume Lawsuit

June 9th, 2014 at 8:58pm CST by Charlie Adams

Donald Sterling‘s attorney, Max Blecher, says that Sterling has pulled his support from a deal that would sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and will resume his pursuit of the $1 billion federal lawsuit he had filed against the NBA, reports Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. Sterling had agreed to drop the suit, but has since had a change of heart because the NBA refused to lift the hefty fine and lifetime ban placed on the disgruntled owner, says Abdollah.

Commissioner Adam Silver had confidence that the Sterling saga would soon come to an end, despite Sterling’s alleged second thoughts on following through and complying with the sale of the Clippers. Silver maintained on Sunday that there is absolutely “no possibility” he will lift the ban or rescind the fine that was doled out as punishment for racist remarks Sterling made in April.

This latest chapter of the Sterling fiasco will presumably push back the Clippers’ change in ownership even further since Silver stated in the previously linked report that he wouldn’t proceed with finalizing Ballmer’s acquisition of the team until the lawsuit is resolved. Given the unpredictably of Sterling’s actions throughout this mess so far, it’s hard to say how long it will be until there’s any resolution.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Clippers, Thompson

June 8th, 2014 at 8:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Mark Jackson told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that he has no regrets about the way things played out with the Warriors. “Listen, there are no regrets,” said Jackson. “I think about the three years there. I think about the opportunity that was presented to me by the ownership, by management. I think about the relationship with incredible players and what they were able to accomplish in three years and where that organization was and where it is today; you’ve got a lot to be proud of. Ownership, management, players, fans — it’s in a great place. There are absolutely no regrets.” More out of the Pacific Division..

Maccabi Tel Aviv coach David Blatt confirmed to Allon Sinai of the Jerusalem Post that he has had conversations with the Warriors about a job on Steve Kerr‘s staff. Blatt is reportedly being considered by Wolves coach/president Flip Saunders for an assistant coaching role that would groom him for the head coaching job. The Cavs, meanwhile, are looking at Blatt as a head coaching candidate.
Warriors standout shooting guard Klay Thompson spoke with Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle about a variety of topics concerning the Warriors. Thompson spoke glowingly of new head coach Steve Kerr and said that he’d love to sign an extension with the club before the start of next season.
Before tipoff of Game 2, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters, including Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press, that while Donald Sterling hasn’t signed off on the sale of the Clippers yet, he believes that the ordeal is almost over. He added that there is “absolutely no possibility” of rescinding the lifetime ban or the $2.5MM fine he handed down to Sterling following his racist remarks.

And-Ones: Gay, Sterling, Shumpert

June 6th, 2014 at 10:34pm CST by Cray Allred

Keyboard warriors around the world took to Twitter last night to criticize Heat star LeBron James for exiting Game 1 of the Finals with leg cramps. After the game, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas spoke with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and came to LeBron’s defense. “There is no athlete on the planet who could’ve played through those cramps,” Thomas said. “Michael Jordan absolutely couldn’t have played through those cramps. I absolutely couldn’t have played through those cramps. As an athlete, there’s nothing you could do.” More from around the league:

The Kings are bringing in Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond to help team leadership try and convince Rudy Gay to pick up his $19.3MM option for next season, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Sacramento has already made known a desire to keep Gay, and is hoping to leverage the reputation of their former players with excitement about their future arena in persuading Gay to remain with the team that traded for him in-season.
Donald Sterling is having second thoughts about giving up his battle with the league because he had wrongly assumed a truce with the league would entail his lifetime ban being lifted, people familiar with the situation tell James Rainey and Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times.
Marc Berman of The New York Post thinks it’s likely the Knicks will want to revisit the talks with the Thunder that centered around Iman Shumpert this past trade deadline. Berman cites the New York’s desire to acquire a first round draft pick, and Oklahoma City’s willingness to trade away either of its two first round selections.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Donald Sterling Agrees To Sale Of Clippers

June 4th, 2014 at 9:19pm CST by Alex Lee

9:19pm: Sterling has yet to officially sign anything, Shelburne reports, however his legal team fully expects him to sign without issue. (Twitter links)

7:49pm: Shelburne clarifies, via Twitter, that her sources have indicated that removing Sterling’s ban from the NBA was not part of the deal despite the charges against him being dropped.

5:46pm: Donald Sterling will not pursue any further legal action against the NBA and will agree to the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Maxwell Blecher, Sterling’s lawyer, tells Shelburne that Sterling has agreed to sell and drop the lawsuit against the league and in return the NBA will drop the charges and not sue the former Clippers’ owner for anything (Twitter link). More specifically, David Aldridge of NBA.com is told by Blecher that the decision to drop the $1 billion lawsuit was “part of the broader deal” with the NBA dropping its suit against Sterling (Twitter link).

This news presumably puts an end to a saga that many thought might drag out in court for the foreseeable future. Of course, Sterling was famously banned from the NBA for life by commissioner Adam Silver in April after expressing racially charged statements on a recording. After agreeing to allow his wife, Shelly Sterling, to negotiate the sale of the team, Sterling then issued a statement claiming the league’s attempt to force him out was illegal. Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, won the Clippers via a $2 billion bid on May 29th, which resulted in Sterling filing a $1 billion suit against the NBA and his wife at least partly in protest of mental health experts reportedly declaring him mentally incapacitated and, in turn, giving his wife control of the family trust.

As of this morning, the Sterling camp was still considering its options but it sounds like Sterling and the league have come to an agreement to transfer ownership to Ballmer without any further legal complications.

Latest On Clippers, Donald Sterling

June 4th, 2014 at 8:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears poised to become the next owner of the Clippers after brokering a deal to buy the club for $2 million, but banned owner Donald Sterling still casts a shadow over the franchise. Here’s the latest:

Donald Sterling’s primary motivation, should he continue to fight the sale, would have to do with his reputation, as Maxwell Blecher, one of his attorneys, tells James Rainey and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. “He doesn’t want to die and have his tombstone say, ‘Here lies a mental incompetent and a racist,’” Blecher said. “He is trying to do the best he can to see whether those stigmas can be eliminated or at least reduced. … That is what this is about.”
Sterling would prefer to come to settlement with his wife rather than sue her, Blecher tells the Times reporters. Rainey and Fenno believe Blecher implied that Sterling might be willing to OK the deal to sell the team to Ballmer, but only under certain conditions. Sterling wants his wife to withdraw statements from neurologists asserting that he’s mentally incapacitated and restore his power within the family trust, according to Rainey and Fenno. Shelly Sterling reportedly acted as the sole trustee when she negotiated the sale of the Clippers.
Another move Sterling is apparently thinking about involves challenging the indemnification that would reportedly make the family trust liable for any damages in a suit he filed against the league, Rainey and Fenno write.
Sterling seemed less willing to put up a legal fight in an interview with Fred Roggin of NBC4 in Los Angeles, saying he’s ready to “move on.” “I feel fabulous, I feel very good. Everything is just the way it should be, really. It may have worked out differently, but it’s good. It’s all good,” Sterling said.

Pacific Notes: Ballmer, Fisher, Sterling

June 2nd, 2014 at 6:23pm CST by Zachary Links

The impact of Steve Ballmer‘s $2 billion purchase of the Clippers is causing a ripple effect throughout the league, writes NBA.com’s David Aldridge. Aldridge runs down the “winners” of the pending transaction, in order. At the top, of course, is the Microsoft magnate himself. After that, it’s the NBA owners, LeBron James, and then the Players Association. Here’s more out of the Pacific..

The Lakers do plan to reach out to Derek Fisher this week as well as Larry Brown and Scott Skiles at some point about their coaching vacancy, but their search is proceeding slowly, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links). The Lakers are focused more on player evaluation at present.
In an email to Shelburne (Twitter link), Max Blecher, the lawyer for Clippers owner Donald Sterling said, “We are still considering our options,” with regard to legal action versus the NBA and Shelly Sterling.
The Kings are without a second-round pick, but they’re on the lookout for one via trade, GM Pete D’Alessandro said, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details. “Our ownership group has put their money where their mouth is,” D’Alessandro said.“For us there would be no need to look at second-round pick (talent) if there was no real option, and that is an option.” Some second-round prospects have avoided Sacramento, given the lack of a pick, but that hasn’t been the case with all of them, and D’Alessandro isn’t dismayed, Jones notes.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Steve Ballmer Wins Bid To Purchase Clippers

May 31st, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Ryan Raroque

SATURDAY, 11:07am: An NBA source downplayed the non-ownership role Sterling was seeking with the team as part of the sale, telling Smith, Wang, and Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News that she will not be involved with the team moving forward.

FRIDAY, 6:04pm: The NBA memo regarding the sale says Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Trust also agree not to sue the NBA and to indemnify the NBA against lawsuits from others, tweets Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times. That means that if the NBA loses a lawsuit to Donald Sterling, the Sterling Family Trust would pay some portion or all of the losses, notes Tom Ziller of SB Nation (Twitter link).

5:58pm: The NBA has resolved the dispute with Shelly Sterling and the sale of Clippers to Ballmer is only pending a Board of Governors vote, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The league has also cancelled Tuesday’s ownership termination for Sterling as a result of the pending sale of the team, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet.

3:18pm: Donald Sterling has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, according to Shelburne (on Twitter), who confirms an earlier report from TMZ Sports. Neurologists made the diagnosis earlier this month, but it wasn’t Shelly Sterling’s first choice to exercise her power to assume sole power over the family trust. When Donald Sterling changed his mind about his willingness to let his wife sell the Clippers, that’s when Shelly Sterling acted, Shelburne says (All Twitter links).

12:51pm: Donald Sterling’s lawyer Max Blecher disputes that he’s “mentally incompetent,” as Shelburne reports. Blecher acknowledges the results of mental health exams that declared him incapacitated and allowed his wife to assume control of the family trust that owns the Clippers, but the attorney says the results are “grossly exaggerated” (Twitter links).

12:19pm: The NBA’s Tuesday hearing to discuss ousting the Sterlings remains on the schedule, the league said today in a press release. Shelly Sterling told the NBA of her deal to sell the team to Ballmer, but she still must file proper documentation, the league says.

THURSDAY, 10:52pm: The rules of the Sterling family trust did not require a court to declare Donald mentally incapacitated, Shelburne tweets.

10:27pm: Shelburne (via Twitter) says that there could still be a response from Donald and his lawyers; however, the first course of action would be to contest Shelly’s move instead of the NBA for the time being.

10:06pm: Mental health experts had recently declared Donald Sterling to be mentally incapacitated, leaving Shelly Sterling as sole trustee with power to sell the team, ESPN learns (tweet via Ramona Shelburne).

8:10pm: Ballmer’s winning bid could postpone a vote scheduled for Tuesday to remove Donald Sterling from the NBA by terminating the team’s ownership, a source tells Ken Berger of CBS Sports.

7:52pm: There is now a signed, binding agreement between Ballmer and the Sterling family trust to sell the Clippers for $2 billion. The deal will reportedly go straight to the NBA for approval and will not need to be signed off by Donald Sterling (All Twitter links courtesy of ESPN LA’s Ramona Shelburne).

7:47pm: Blecher added that Sterling “already has a couple billion dollars, so (he) could not care less” about Ballmer’s $2 billion bid (Chang relays via Twitter).

7:38pm: Max Blecher, Sterling’s lawyer, tells Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times that his “belief is (Donald) will not sell the team” (Twitter link, hat tip to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated).

7:28pm: Rainey has edited his original report, now saying that Ballmer “appears to have won” the bid.

7:16pm: David Geffen confirms that he and his investment group – which includes Larry Ellison, Oprah, and Laurene Jobs – have withdrawn from bidding for the Clippers (Twitter link via ESPN’s Darren Rovell).

6:58pm: One source tells Dakota Smith of the L.A. Daily News that a final sale isn’t a done deal and that no winning bid has been picked yet. Smith also hears that the Los Angeles Times “jumped the gun” by reporting the deal, and that news of the sale was leaked from another bidder (Twitter links).

6:46pm: Per Jack Wang of the L.A. Daily News, Blecher says via e-mail that Donald Sterling “is resisting and will resist any sale of the team forced by the NBA” (Twitter link).

6:40pm: A source tells ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne that negotiations are still ongoing. Max Blecher – Donald Sterling’s lawyer – says that his client hasn’t signed off on any sale (Twitter links).

6:02pm: Steve Ballmer has won the bid to purchase the Clippers franchise for two billion dollars, reports James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. As reported earlier today, the former Microsoft CEO was deemed the early favorite in the bidding process. Ballmer’s notable competitors – namely L.A.-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included entertainment mogul David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group – topped their bids at $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion respectively.

Most importantly, as Rainey points out, the deal still needs approval from Donald Sterling. The embattled current Clippers owner – who initially gave his wife the go-ahead to negotiate a sale of the team – recently changed his mind, and would reportedly be open to selling the club only if the NBA were to drop its allegations against him in addition to possibly making a few concessions.

The other 29 NBA owners would also have to give their approval in order to complete the sale, and Rainey writes that Ballmer is expected to clear that hurdle as long as he pledges to keep the Clippers in Los Angeles and not move them to Seattle, where he lives. Ballmer was part of a group led by Chris Hansen that ultimately failed to purchase the Kings with the intent to re-locate them to the Emerald City. In a recent interview, however, Ballmer pointed out that he would have no plans to move the team.

Donald Sterling To Sue NBA For $1 Billion

May 31st, 2014 at 11:03am CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 11:03am: Sterling has filed the suit in a Los Angeles federal court, reports Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. Lester Munson of ESPN.com details why Sterling’s efforts are likely futile.

FRIDAY, 4:58pm: The league is confident it has the legal position necessary to ward off Sterling’s lawsuit and transfer the Clippers to Ballmer, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). That also appears to indicate the NBA would approve Ballmer as an owner, though the league has made no public statement to that effect.

4:12pm: Donald Sterling plans to file a lawsuit for $1 billion against the NBA, attorney Max Blecher tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report from Tim Stelloh of NBC News. He’s also considering a suit against wife Shelly Sterling, Blecher says to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter link). The league is still planning a hearing on Tuesday to strip ownership of the team from the Sterling family trust in the wake of Shelly Sterling’s deal to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.

The suit alleges an invasion of Donald Sterling’s constitutional rights, violation of anti-trust laws and breach of fiduciary duty, Blecher says in an email to Shelburne. He’s also seeking recompense for damages brought on by the NBA’s lifetime ban and the allegations the league is bringing against him as it seeks to forcibly strip him of ownership (Twitter links).

Litigation from Donald Sterling has been expected ever since the beginning of the fiasco involving his racially charged statements on a recording. Sterling reportedly agreed earlier this month to let his wife conduct a sale of the team, but he apparently changed his mind, prompting Shelly Sterling to exercise her right to exert sole power over the family trust that owns the Clippers. Donald Sterling’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s Disease earlier this month prompted neurologists to declare him mentally incapacitated, giving his wife control of the trust, as Shelburne reported.

Blecher tells Shelburne that this suit has nothing to do with the sale of the team, and says to Wojnarowski that Donald Sterling is considering separate legal action to stop the sale (Twitter links). Bobby Samini, another attorney representing Donald Sterling, told Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that there could be no sale of the Clippers without Donald Sterling’s signature, in spite of Shelly Sterling’s apparent control of the family trust. Donald Sterling doesn’t intend to sell the Clippers, Samini added.

Fallout From Ballmer’s Deal To Buy Clippers

May 30th, 2014 at 8:56am CST by Chuck Myron

Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion bid for the Clippers is set to smash the record sales price for an NBA team, set just two weeks ago when the NBA approved the $550MM sale of the Bucks. The deal faces hurdles, including the NBA’s official OK, but the former Microsoft CEO seems ready to take the helm.

“I love basketball,” Ballmer said in a statement, as ESPN.com notes. “And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win — and win big — in Los Angeles. L.A. is one of the world’s great cities — a city that embraces inclusiveness, in exactly the same way that the NBA and I embrace inclusiveness. I am confident that the Clippers will in the coming years become an even bigger part of the community.”

Here’s more in the wake of the deal between Ballmer and Shelly Sterling:

Bobby Samini, one of many attorneys for Donald Sterling, insisted Thursday afternoon to Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times that there will be no sale without a signature from the banned Clippers owner. That’s despite a ruling from mental health experts that Donald Sterling is incapacitated, which transfers power over the Clippers to Shelly Sterling according to the rules of the Sterling family trust.
All involved with the sale are bracing for a legal challenge from Donald Sterling, but they’re confident the deal will come to fruition, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
The arrangement would give Ballmer 100% ownership of the team, but he agreed to let Shelly Sterling continue to associate with the franchise in some capacity other than ownership, ESPN.com reports.
The Sterlings will have to pay $662MM in capital gains taxes on the sale, accountant Robert Raiola tells ESPN.com for the same piece.
The deal drew a thumbs-up from some Clippers players, including Blake Griffin, who spoke to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s a great move for us,” Griffin said. “I think it’s putting the final piece to the puzzle together. It kind of allows everybody to go back to focusing on the real goal, and that’s putting 100% of everything into winning a championship for Los Angeles from our side.”
Other players around the league, including Ty Lawson and Andrew Bogut, took to Twitter to marvel at the $2 billion price tag and express misgivings about the NBA’s assertion during 2011 collective bargaining agreement talks that teams were losing money (hat tip to Grantland’s Zach Lowe).
The NBA has wanted Ballmer as an owner since the SuperSonics left Seattle, so the league probably sees this deal as a win, observes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). It’s probably a loss for Seattle, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, as Ballmer was the primary financial backer of last year’s bid for the Kings. Ballmer has said he wouldn’t move the Clippers out of Los Angeles.