Sterling Agrees to Sale of the Clippers, Paul Named to All NBA First Team
The Los Angeles Clippers will be playing under new ownership this fall as Donald Sterling the banned owner of the team approved the sale of the team to Steve Ballmer the former CEO at Microsoft.
Sterling also has agreed not to pursue any legal action related to the sale, said his attorney on Wednesday in an email.
Max Blecher said that Sterling settled with Shelly his wife regarding the team’s sale and that the league had agreed to not sue him just a day after the embattled and banned owner said during a charity function that it was time for him to move on.
Sterling at the function said he felt good when he was asked how he felt about Shelly selling the Clippers to Ballmer. He said all was the way it should be. It could have worked out somewhat differently, but it is all good, added Sterling.
Sterling on Friday had sued the league for $1 billion in damages. However, he withdrew the suit, said Blecher. Adam Silver the NBA Commissioner was named in the lawsuit as a defendant as well.
On Friday, once the NBA had approved the bid by Ballmer to acquire the Clippers, a hearing set up to determine the future of Donald Sterling was immediately cancelled.
Instead, the Board of Governors o
f the NBA will vote on the pending $2 billion deal that was agreed upon by Ballmer and Shelly Sterling.
Donald Sterling is reportedly banned for life from the NBA and Shelly Sterling, as part of the settlement with the NBA and a condition of Ballmer buying the team, indemnified the NBA against legal action in the future by Donald Sterling.
That essentially means that even if Sterling were to win a lawsuit, the family trust, which Shelly controlled following a doctor’s report saying he was mentally incapacitated, would pay any damages.
No timetable has been set by the NBA to vote on the approval of Ballmer buying the Clippers, but the thought is that he will be accepted easily by three quarters of the other 29 NBA owners.
With the situation looking as if it will be settled, attention will now turn to making sure Doc Rivers returns to coach the Clippers and that the team can sign any free agents on the team they need to keep.
The coaching staff will also have to discuss their needs for the upcoming NBA Draft and whether a trade can be made to move up to land a top player to go with their already strong nucleus.
In other news, Pacific Division champions the Los Angeles Clippers had Chris Paul their point guard named to the All-NBA first team, which was his fourth selection on the first team. Teammate Blake Griffin was named to the second team.
Other Pacific division plays named were Stephen Curry from Golden State on the second team and Goran Dragic of Phoenix on the third team.
