After Testy Court Testimony, Donald Sterling Tells Shelly 'Get Away From Me, You Pig!'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Clippers owner Donald Sterling's estranged wife Shelly left the witness stand Wednesday and approached her husband.
Despite their legal wranglings — they're diametrically opposed on whether to sell the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion — she told the court she still loved her husband. "Very much," she said.
CBS2's Randy Paige reports Donald was feeling as outwardly magnanimous.
As Shelly approached Donald he said: "Get away from me, you pig!"
"That is quintessential Donald Sterling," said Shelly's attorney Bert Field. "It tells you what this man is really like."
His lawyer said not to judge the man by that contentious outburst.
"Obviously, I know he felt very remorseful," said Bobby Samini. "The comment came after having to sit there all day and watch your wife of 60 years give testimony; I think it was emotion and too much betrayal. It was not a good situation for either one of them."
Mr. Sterling took the stand first and saved a lot of his ire for the NBA.
"Make no mistake today. I will never, ever, ever sell this team, and until I die, I will be suing the NBA to make them pay for the terrible violations of anti-trust that they have imposed on me and my family," Donald said in court.
He went on to say that he was the one who had the complete and controlling interest in the five companies that make up the Clippers organization and that his wife has little to do with it and the idea she could run the company, in his words, "is ludicrous."
When she took the stand, a quieter Shelly was asked if she noticed any changes in her husband over the past two to three years.
She testified: "He's been getting more forgetful, slurring his words, he is agitated a lot, he gets mad for no particular reason. He's just not the same person that he used to be, and I realize he was getting older. I just didn't think that comes with age so much but apparently it comes with age and illness."
Mrs. Sterling will be back on the stand Thursday, Paige reported. When she left the courtroom Wednesday, she was in tears.