NBA Special Meeting Canceled In Wake Of Clippers Sale
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —The special meeting that was scheduled for June 3 with the NBA Board of Governors has been cancelled after the NBA, Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Trust have resolved their dispute over the ownership of the Clippers.
The NBA Friday released the following statement on the proposed sale:
"The NBA, Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust today resolved their dispute over the ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers. Under the agreement, the Clippers will be sold to Steve Ballmer, pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors, and the NBA will withdraw its pending charge to terminate the Sterlings' ownership of the team. Because of the binding agreement to sell the team, the NBA termination hearing that had been scheduled for June 3 in New York City has now been cancelled. "
The NBA statement also said Mrs. Sterling the Trust have agreed not to sue the NBA and to indemnify lawsuits from others including from Donald Sterling, who is still planning to sue for $1 billion.
Late Thursday, Sterling announced she reached an agreement with Ballmer to buy the Clippers for a record-breaking $2 billion.
Ballmer and the Sterling family trust signed a binding agreement and will present the deal to the NBA.
"I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner," Shelly Sterling said. "We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success."
Sources tell CBS News that Shelly Sterling's legal team is seeking to give her sole control of the sale of the team on grounds that Donald Sterling is mentally incapacitated. The Sterling family trust, which owns the Clippers, has provisions that allow the trust to strip power from a member if he or she is deemed incapacitated, clearing the way for Shelly to solely sell the team.
Donald Sterling's attorney, Maxwell Blecher, told CBS News, however, that he has no court order declaring Mr. Sterling as mentally incompetent.
On Friday, entertainment website TMZ.com reported the two doctors have diagnosed Sterling with Alzheimer's Disease.
Ballmer, who has an estimated net worth of $20 billion, reportedly beat out several big-name groups in the highly competitive bidding war.
"I will be honored to have my name submitted to the NBA Board of Governors for approval as the next owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. I love basketball. And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win – and win big – in Los Angeles. LA 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. I thank Shelly Sterling for her willingness to entrust the Clippers franchise to me, and I am grateful to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and his colleagues for working collaboratively with me throughout this process," Ballmer said in a statement Thursday.
The 58-year-old is a Harvard graduate who stepped down from Microsoft earlier this year, but remains on the board of directors.
Donald Sterling, who was banned form the NBA and fined for making racist remarks, purchased the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million.