Shelly Sterling Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Randolph, Sterling, Jazz

June 24th, 2014 at 8:10pm CST by Ryan Raroque

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com explains the odd circumstance concerning Zach Randolph‘s player option with the Grizzlies next season. According to the current CBA, a player cannot earn less money in a player option year relative to how much he made in the previous season. As it currently stands, Randolph will make $16.5MM if he decided to opt in for 2014/15, which is considerably lower than the $17.8MM he made in 2013/14.

Tim Duncan had a similar issue in his contract with the Spurs, as his player option for the upcoming year was initially less than what he made this past season. While Duncan’s contract was ultimately modified to address the error, Randolph’s remains unchanged simply because the contract had been signed too long ago, Deeks hears. Randolph and Memphis reportedly are moving toward a multi-year deal, but if he opts in and the deal winds up coming in the form of an extension, Randolph’s missing money will come into play.

Here are more noteworthy links to pass along tonight:

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge said that the terms of the Sterling family trust may give Donald Sterling little room to challenge the finding that he is mentally incapable of continuing as co-owner of the Clippers, writes James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. This would appear to give Shelly Sterling the advantage in her case to affirm both her control of the trust and sale of the team.
The Jazz announced the additions of Brad Jones, Antonio Lang, Alex Jensen, Mike Wells, and Johnnie Bryant to Quin Snyder’s coaching staff. Jones will be Snyder’s lead assistant, according to Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (Twitter link).
Maccabi Tel Aviv has opted out of its contract with Joe Ingles, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Back in March, we passed along that Ingles was considering a move to the NBA this summer. The Grizzlies and Jazz were among the Western Conference teams reported to have interest in the Australian-born forward.

Latest On Clippers, Sterlings

June 11th, 2014 at 4:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Donald Sterling’s on-again, off-again battle with the NBA is apparently on again, as the banned Clippers owner apparently intends to push forward with a lawsuit against the league. We’ll pass along updates as they come in, with the latest on top:

Shelburne clarifies that the September 15th deadline is outlined in Ballmer’s purchase agreement as the date by which the sale must close. Ballmer would have the option of pulling out of the deal if the sale hasn’t been finalized by that date, but he’s given no indication he would do so, sources tell Shelburne.

Earlier updates:

Shelly Sterling’s deal with Ballmer allows her the option to retain up to a 10% stake in the team that would be controlled by a charitable foundation she runs, report Nathan Fenno and James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. She has until June 15th to decide whether to take that option or sell 100% of the club, Fenno and Rainey add. Ballmer would have some input on the foundation, but Shelly Sterling would serve as chair, according to the Times scribes. Ballmer would have the majority interest in the Clippers either way, but the league was reportedly unwilling to OK the sale of the Clippers unless the Sterlings divested themselves of the entire team.
Shelly Sterling’s request to expedite her probate court hearing was denied, as Donald Sterling attorney Bobby Samini tells Shelburne (Twitter link). The hearing, which will determine whether Shelly Sterling has the power to sell the Clippers without her husband’s consent, will take place from July 7th through 10th, and that’s in advance of a previously scheduled Board of Governors meeting, Shelburne tweets. The NBA could vote to approve the sale to Steve Ballmer during that meeting if the court sides with Shelly Sterling.
The documents Shelly Sterling filed in court today asked that the hearing be sped up so that the sale of the team to Ballmer could close before September 15th, according to Shelburne (Twitter links). It’s unclear if that deadline is league-imposed or otherwise, but the NBA has threatened to revive its plans to convene the Board of Governors in a special meeting to vote on forcibly stripping the team from the Sterlings.
Commissioner Adam Silver expressed some anxiety about the timetable in an interview with ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike” today (transcription via ESPN.com). “To me, I’m concerned it’s going to delay Steve Ballmer taking over the Clippers,” Silver said. “The team is sort of a little bit in limbo right now. We have Dick Parsons in right now as the interim CEO. He’s a terrific guy. But of course, I can understand from a player’s perspective — they’re going into a draft, they’re going into free agency. The guys want to know where they stand. So we’d like everything to just be clear, so everybody understands how this team is moving forward. That’s my concern, that it just seems unsettled.”
Donald Sterling would have to challenge his wife in probate court if he were to mount an effective fight against the league, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Max Blecher, one of his attorneys, suggested that he indeed intends to go after Shelly Sterling in probate court, Shelburne adds (Twitter link). Shelly Sterling plans to seek an emergency probate court order to expedite the hearing, Shelburne also tweets.
Shelly Sterling receives the title of “owner emeritus” of the Clippers, two tickets to all Clippers home games and five parking spots as part of her $2 billion deal to sell the team to Steve Ballmer, reports Scott Cacciola of The New York Times. Sterling also gets three championship rings if the Clippers win a title, Cacciola adds.
Shelly Sterling’s lawyer was aware when Donald Sterling underwent neurological testing in May of a provision in the Sterling family trust that would allow her to take over if Donald Sterling was found incapacitated, Cacciola writes. Still, Shelly Sterling attempted to persuade her husband to agree to sell the team before she resorted to using the clause in the trust, according to Cacciola.
Ballmer felt from the start that he’d have to make a bid that was far and away the best one in order to ensure he’d land the Clippers, Cacciola hears. Shelly Sterling made keeping the team in Los Angeles a condition of her deal with Ballmer, the Times scribe adds.
Ballmer’s initial bid was $1.925 billion, and Shelly Sterling pushed him to add the $75MM that brought it to $2 billion, according to Cacciola. He didn’t know until after that point about the clause in the Sterling family trust that allowed Shelly Sterling to unilaterally arrange for the sale, Cacciola reports.

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 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.

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.

NBA Willing To Postpone Sterling Hearing

May 29th, 2014 at 3:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:20pm: Ballmer is the early favorite in the bidding process, Shelburne tweets.

2:39pm: The NBA will postpone its Tuesday hearing on Donald Sterling’s fate as owner of the Clippers if the league gets a “favorable impression” of the bidding group that emerges as Shelly Sterling’s choice, reports Michael McCann of SI.com. The league would keep the hearing on hold while it vetted the prospective owners, and, if it approves them, there’d presumably be no need for the hearing, since Sterling and wife Shelly Sterling would no longer own the team. The league’s preferred outcome is for the Sterlings to voluntarily sell the team, as it would like to avoid having to forcibly strip ownership, according to McCann.

The NBA is intent on resolving the Clippers ownership situation by the beginning of next season, McCann writes. The vetting process usually takes at least a month, though the NBA has already screened some of the candidates to buy the team, as TNT’s David Aldridge noted Wednesday. One such bidder is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, though there are conflicting reports about whether he’s submitted a bid to Shelly Sterling, who began working with potential buyers last week after Donald Sterling gave her his blessing to do so. He’s apparently changed his mind and will only sell the team if the NBA withdraws its allegations against him, with perhaps further conditions attached to his would-be cooperation.

The NBA was to vote on taking the team away from the Sterlings at the end of Tuesday’s Board of Governors meeting. Donald Sterling is still pondering a lawsuit against the NBA, which banned him for life and fined him $2.5MM. Shelly Sterling is willing to sell 100% of the team, which the league would demand if it were to accept any deal she strikes, though she’s arranging for a non-ownership role with the team as part of negotiations with the bidders. It’s unclear if the NBA would go along with that.

Latest On Potential Clippers Sale

May 29th, 2014 at 2:22pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:22pm: Shelly Sterling is arranging for a continued association with the team in some capacity other than as owner as she negotiates with the bidders, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also reports that Magic Johnson is not a part of the Ellison-Geffen-Winfrey bid at present (Twitter links).

1:36pm: A source tells Ronald Grover of Reuters that Ballmer has not submitted a bid, while Grover also hears that the value of the Ellison-Geffen-Winfrey group bid is more than $1.5 billion.

12:28pm: Shelly Sterling has let bidders for the Clippers know that she intends to sell 100% of the Clippers, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. That would seemingly satisfy one of the league’s conditions for allowing her to conduct the sale of the club, but Donald Sterling intends to put up resistance. Attorney Maxwell Blecher, one of Donald Sterling’s lawyers, tells Shelburne that the banned owner changed his mind and doesn’t want to sell the team after deciding last week to let his wife do so (Twitter link). Blecher tells James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times that if Donald Sterling were to agree to sell the club, he’d want the NBA to drop its allegations against him and perhaps make additional concessions.

Some bidders are concerned in the wake of Donald Sterling’s renewed fight that he’s just trying to gauge the market price of the team for use in a lawsuit against the NBA, Shelburne hears. Still, Blecher informed Shelburne that Donald Sterling hasn’t decided whether he wants to sue the league (Twitter links).

Three groups have already submitted initial bids to Shelly Sterling, as Rainey details. A consortium that includes Los Angeles investors Antony Ressler, Bruce Karsh and Grant Hill has bid $1.2 billion. People within the league see the group as viable, and Ressler is reportedly a longtime friend of Donald Sterling. Another bid comes from Todd Boehly and Mark Walter of the Guggenheim Partners and includes Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and luminaries David Geffen and Oprah Winfrey. Magic Johnson would presumably be aligned with that group, though Rainey makes no mention of the one-time Lakers star. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mounted a bid of his own, and it’s worth $1.8 billion, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com.

A couple of other groups received extensions on a Wednesday deadline, so more bids are expected today, and negotiations will persist this weekend toward Shelly Sterling’s goal of having a deal in place or reasonably close by Monday, Shelburne reports (Twitter links). The NBA’s Board of Governors will hold a hearing on the Sterling matter Tuesday, and the meeting is set to end with a vote on whether to strip ownership from both of the Sterlings. It remains to be seen whether the league will approve any sale that Shelly Sterling presents to them or just how Donald Sterling’s interference will affect the proceedings.

Latest On Sterlings, Clippers

May 28th, 2014 at 9:26pm CST by Cray Allred

9:26pm: Shelly Sterling and her advisers are reviewing the initial bids from five groups interested in purchasing the Clippers, according to an article by the Sports Xchange (via The Chicago Tribune). The bids are in the $1 billion to $1.2 billion range, the article notes.

WEDNESDAY, 8:36am: Shelly Sterling has set a deadline of this morning for initial bids on the Clippers, according to Shelburne, and she’s seeking binding bids before Tuesday’s Board of Governors hearing, report Brian Mahoney and Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. Still, it’s unclear whether the league would accept any sale that she attempts to orchestrate. Donald Sterling wants June 3rd hearing dismissed and denies every charge the NBA has levied against him, Shelburne notes. The banned Clippers owner threatens legal action, claims he would be unable to receive a fair hearing and says he never intended to hurt the league with his racially charged statements, as Shelburne writes.

In claiming that the league is treating him inequitably, Sterling points to a gay slur that Kobe Bryant once directed at a referee. That argument likely doesn’t hold water, since players are governed by the collective bargaining agreement, rather than the league’s constitution and by-laws, which sets forth rules for owners, as Michael McCann of SI.com explains. Sterling also references the actions of Magic owner Rich DeVos, who has, according to Sterling, “made highly controversial comments against individuals with HIV/AIDS and generously supports anti-homosexual causes,” Shelburne reports.

TUESDAY, 10:19pm: Shelly Sterling’s statement has been issued, but the NBA plans to move forward with the June 3rd vote, tweets Shelburne.

Donald Sterling’s lawyer tells Shelburne that his client disavows the agreement he has with Shelly Sterling to sell the team for him, and will fight being forced to sell the team “to the bloody end” (Twitter links). For what it’s worth, the lawyer was unaware of the specifics of the agreement between the Sterlings, and Donald Sterling’s strategy has been anything but steady to this point.

8:15pm: Donald Sterling has issued a response to the NBA’s charges against him, maintaining his claim that the league’s attempt to oust him from owning the Clippers is illegal, reports Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. Shelly Sterling is planning to issue her own statement asserting her position as a bystander, a source tells Schrotenboer. The deadline to respond to the NBA’s charges is tonight, and the league is set to vote on the commissioner’s plan to remove the Sterlings from ownership on June 3.

Shelly Sterling, whom Donald Sterling (but not the league) authorized to manage the sale of the team, has enlisted Bank of America in efforts to sell the team prior to the June 3 vote. She is in talks with at least six bidders that Ramona Shelburne and Darren Rovell of ESPN.com have learned of. She received a “strong” offer from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to purchase the team and keep it in Los Angeles, a person familiar with the negotiations tells Schrotenboer. Donald Sterling’s statement asserts that he has already received offers of over $2.5 billion for the team, per Schrotenboer.

The league would have to approve any sale of the team, and a spokesman reiterated to Scott Cacciola of The New York Times that it would only authorize a voluntary sale in which the Sterlings didn’t retain any interest in the team. While Shelly Sterling’s lawyer told Cacciola that she is working in cooperation with the league on the sale, there is no indication that she is no longer working to keep a minority stake in the team.