tOffical all things Sterling thread

[True Lakers Fan]

I bet Adam Silver is secretly happy that Sterling keeps talking out of his ass.

I am just astounded at the stupidity that comes out and yet I am awed by his genius - In the Barbara Walters interview the man very discreetly changed the subject from him and his racist statements to a full frontal attack on Magic Johnson and the newscasters ignorantly let him deflect instead of making him answer some tough questions. Today's newsmedia are weak

 

[MarkOU]

I think Sterling should tell the nba he will agree to sell to a Seattle based group and the team moves to Seattle.

That way he can get a big FU to magic and the Hollywood groups looking to run him out of town and Seattle can get back a young fresh supersonics. LA is a laker town anyway. Everyone is a winner.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

I think Sterling should tell the nba he will agree to sell to a Seattle based group and the team moves to Seattle.

That way he can get a big FU to magic and the Hollywood groups looking to run him out of town and Seattle can get back a young fresh supersonics. LA is a laker town anyway. Everyone is a winner.

He said today that he would sell before taking it to court because in a long battle - it wouldn't matter who won and would only cost a lot of money. In short he knows he would lose and walking away with 700 million would be cheaper than waiting until the Clippers was broke and busted.

 

[RobToxin]

Fuck you, CNN.

Seriously.

Why would you give this man a platform? What purpose did that possibly serve but to get ratings via Jerry Springer type bullshit? CNN is no better than Fox News resorting to that crap to get viewers.

Whatever happened to media integrity?

There is none in 2014. The CNN "interview" (if you want to call it that) with Donald Sterling is proof of just how low the media will sink to get people to watch.

 

[starbigd]

So apparently no lawyers will take his case - which is shocking in and of itself.

And per rules, it doesn't matter if Shelly owns half the team. If a team is voted out, ALL owners interests are terminated as well.

The Sterlings are done in the NBA - finished.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Fuck you, CNN.

Seriously.

Why would you give this man a platform? What purpose did that possibly serve but to get ratings via Jerry Springer type bullshit? CNN is no better than Fox News resorting to that crap to get viewers.

Whatever happened to media integrity?

There is none in 2014. The CNN "interview" (if you want to call it that) with Donald Sterling is proof of just how low the media will sink to get people to watch.

Man - I was laughing so hard when I heard that - I couldn't believe 8 law firms turned him down

 

[sjballer03]

Man - I was laughing so hard when I heard that - I couldn't believe 8 law firms turned him down

Where are all the smart asses who claimed that the NBA had zero standing in this case? The writing is on the wall when law firms are turning down a billionaire.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Where are all the smart asses who claimed that the NBA had zero standing in this case? The writing is on the wall when law firms are turning down a billionaire.

I didn't think Adam Silver as an attorney would be moving to remove an owner unless he had the overwhelming power to do so, although I have seen a few slimely lawyers try to bluff their way past me and failed

 

[wildturkey]

So apparently no lawyers will take his case - which is shocking in and of itself.

And per rules, it doesn't matter if Shelly owns half the team. If a team is voted out, ALL owners interests are terminated as well.

The Sterlings are done in the NBA - finished.

Just curious, where did you see this? I find it hard to believe there isn't a law firm out there that wouldn't take it just for the money.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Just curious, where did you see this? I find it hard to believe there isn't a law firm out there that wouldn't take it just for the money.

According to a news source yesterday - 8 of the top law firms in the US has turned down Sterling's case. So far it's not been posted on the internet.

 

[trojanfan12]

Hey TLF, remember when I told you that Donald Sterling was going to fight this and it's going to take a long time to sort it all out?


Report: Donald Sterling hires attorney, refuses to pay fine, threatens to sue NBA | ProBasketballTalk

SI.com has learned that Donald Sterling has hired prominent antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, who has written a letter to NBA executive vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan threatening to sue the NBA. The letter, sources tells SI.com, claims that Sterling has done nothing wrong and that “no punishment is warranted” for Sterling. Blecher also tells Buchanan that Sterling will not pay the $2.5 million fine, which is already past due. Blecher ends the letter by saying this controversy “will be adjudicated.” …

A letter of this type is considered a precursor to the filing of a lawsuit. …

“We reject your demand for payment,” the letter tells Buchanan, who on May 14 informed Sterling by letter that he must pay the $2.5 million fine. …

The fact the letter claims Sterling has done nothing wrong seems at odds with Sterling’s own words to Anderson Cooper. Sterling was unequivocal, “I made a terrible, terrible mistake.” His lawyer, however, appears to believe otherwise.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Hey TLF, remember when I told you that Donald Sterling was going to fight this and it's going to take a long time to sort it all out?


Report: Donald Sterling hires attorney, refuses to pay fine, threatens to sue NBA | ProBasketballTalk



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We will see, but right now ESPN is making fun of him - He did finally hire a lawyer after 8 of the most prestigiou law firms turned him down, but the attorney is five years older than Sterling, so we will see if Sterling's lawyer is senile as well. My guess, however is that the attorney will know what he is doing

Note: Remember from the beginning I have said the best weapon the NBA has are the sponsers refusing to pay for advertise and the fans refusing to come see the games. I believe the NBA could simply contract the Clippers out of existence and let Sterling sue. A year long battle in court and no games scheduled to play, absence of sponsers and no fans will really wreck Donald Sterling

 

[True Lakers Fan]

cadre of attorneys and a flurry of lawsuits could certainly slow down the NBA's plan to force Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers over his recent racist comments, but legal experts say the league would likely prevail in the end.
Related Stories

• Shelly Sterling wants to maintain ownership of Clippers, according to report SB Nation
• NBA intends to force out Sterling's wife The SportsXchange
• NBA: Wife can't keep team if Sterling ousted The Associated Press
• NBA commissioner Adam Silver: Donald Sterling banned for life Comcast SportsNet Chicago
• Interview: Shelly Sterling will fight NBA to keep Clippers The SportsXchange

And that goes for Sterling's wife, Shelly, who has said she'd like to keep her stake in the team even if her husband is ousted.
The NBA's constitution, which Donald Sterling signed as controlling owner of the Clippers, gives its board of governors broad latitude in league decisions including who owns the teams. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is pushing for a swift vote against Sterling, which requires a minimum of three-fourths of the other 29 controlling owners to agree.
Silver also has imposed a lifetime ban on Sterling and a $2.5 million fine. The ban does not apply to Shelly Sterling.
SI.com and ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported Thursday that Sterling's lawyer, antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, wrote a letter to Rick Buchanan, the NBA's executive vice president and general counsel, threatening to sue the league and saying Sterling will not pay the $2.5 million fine.
''Sterling's own signature will come back to haunt him,'' said Michael McCann, founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire. ''You agree to certain basic understandings. That's what makes a sports league different from other businesses.''
The key to the NBA's authority, attorneys say, is Article 13(d) of the league's constitution. That section says that, whether Sterling intended to or not, an owner cannot ''fail or refuse to fulfill'' contractual obligations to the NBA ''in such a way to affect the Association or its members adversely.''
There's plenty of evidence Sterling's comments, revealed in a recorded conversation with a female companion, affected the league adversely. They provoked threats of a player boycott, led sponsors to withdraw support and created a racially charged image problem in the midst of the NBA playoffs that even President Barack Obama remarked upon.
If Article 13(d) was violated, the legal experts say the board of governors has solid grounds to force Sterling to sell the team along with any other owners, in this case his wife.
As long as the NBA meticulously follows its own constitution and rules regarding the Clippers sale, it will be difficult for Sterling to find a legal theory that would stand up in court, said Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
''This is not an antitrust issue. This is not a First Amendment issue,'' Lazaroff said. ''It's a question limited to the interpretation of the NBA constitution and bylaws, and whether those terms are met.''
Another question involves California family law. It's a community property state, meaning spouses jointly own property they acquired while married. The Sterlings were already married when he bought the Clippers in 1981.
Although a potential divorce could complicate the Clippers' sale, McCann said the couple's joint ownership actually works to the NBA's favor because - legally speaking - they are a single entity. So if the NBA forced Donald Sterling to sell, even under a divorce scenario, Shelly Sterling would have to sell, too. They have been married since 1955.
''The NBA is well positioned to ultimately prevail,'' McCann said.
For his part, Donald Sterling has repeatedly said he does not want to sell the Clippers. In his recent interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, he cast doubt on going to court if the NBA governors ultimately do vote to force him out.
''People want me to hire a wall of lawyers and them to have to hire a wall of lawyers and go to war,'' Sterling said on CNN. ''I don't think that's the answer.''
Sterling's longtime attorney, Robert Platt, declined to comment when contacted Wednesday.
Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, did not respond to email requests for comment from The Associated Press. But he has previously said she wants to remain a passive owner of the Clippers even if her husband is no longer involved.
For now, the NBA has installed former Time Warner and Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons to oversee the team's business operations. Parsons said this week that a prolonged legal battle ''is in no one's interest.''
''I would hope we could avoid that,'' he said.
If he is forced out, Sterling still stands to reap a huge financial windfall in a Clippers sale. He bought the team for $12.5 million in 1981, and Forbes magazine recently placed its 2014 value at $575 million, or No. 13 in the NBA. Of course, there would also be a sizable capital gains tax bill for that.
The Clippers' postseason run ended Thursday night when they lost 104-98 to Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals

 

[RoboticDreams]

We will see, but right now ESPN is making fun of him - He did finally hire a lawyer after 8 of the most prestigiou law firms turned him down, but the attorney is five years older than Sterling, so we will see if Sterling's lawyer is senile as well. My guess, however is that the attorney will know what he is doing

Note: Remember from the beginning I have said the best weapon the NBA has are the sponsers refusing to pay for advertise and the fans refusing to come see the games. I believe the NBA could simply contract the Clippers out of existence and let Sterling sue. A year long battle in court and no games scheduled to play, absence of sponsers and no fans will really wreck Donald Sterling

We won't see, we are seeing. He is fighting the fine as well and has refused to pay it. Also; ESPN making fun of anything is a joke. They get made fun of all the time.

 

[trojanfan12]

We will see, but right now ESPN is making fun of him - He did finally hire a lawyer after 8 of the most prestigiou law firms turned him down, but the attorney is five years older than Sterling, so we will see if Sterling's lawyer is senile as well. My guess, however is that the attorney will know what he is doing

Note: Remember from the beginning I have said the best weapon the NBA has are the sponsers refusing to pay for advertise and the fans refusing to come see the games. I believe the NBA could simply contract the Clippers out of existence and let Sterling sue. A year long battle in court and no games scheduled to play, absence of sponsers and no fans will really wreck Donald Sterling

Of course they are making fun of him. Hell, we're all making fun of him and I doubt anyone seriously wants to see him keep the team. But just because everyone is making fun of him, doesn't mean the NBA can legally take the team.

This thing is probably going to become surreal before it's all said and done.

In your note, you make an interesting point. The loss of sponsors seems to have stopped for now. Wouldn't it be interesting if Sterling won his lawsuit, kept the team and then ended up losing it in the long run because sponsors started leaving again?

Right now, I don't think enough sponsors have left to really warrant anything from the NBA as it's only the Clippers who have lost sponsors, but not enough that they can't pay league dues or pay their players. If the league as a whole started losing sponsors, then the league could truly take action because it then effects the other owners.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

We won't see, we are seeing. He is fighting the fine as well and has refused to pay it. Also; ESPN making fun of anything is a joke. They get made fun of all the time.

He's fighting right now to see if they will play his cards - Doesn't mean he can win. The NBA board of governors wouldn't be forcing the issue if they didn't have the constitution that governs their actions to back them up. That's the same constitution by the way that has never been disclosed to the public.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Of course they are making fun of him. Hell, we're all making fun of him and I doubt anyone seriously wants to see him keep the team. But just because everyone is making fun of him, doesn't mean the NBA can legally take the team.

This thing is probably going to become surreal before it's all said and done.

In your note, you make an interesting point. The loss of sponsors seems to have stopped for now. Wouldn't it be interesting if Sterling won his lawsuit, kept the team and then ended up losing it in the long run because sponsors started leaving again?

Right now, I don't think enough sponsors have left to really warrant anything from the NBA as it's only the Clippers who have lost sponsors, but not enough that they can't pay league dues or pay their players. If the league as a whole started losing sponsors, then the league could truly take action because it then effects the other owners.

Well actually it does - because he has signed documents dating back 33 years that gives them enormous powers in cases like this. Think of it this way - Sterling does not really own the Clippers. Sterling is a steward of the Clippers being allowed to operate it as his own AS LONG AS HE HAS FOLLOWED THE RULES.

Sterlings claim of being denied due process is smoke screens and mirrors - he stands to lose a lot in the sale of the Clippers due to capital gains - he is merely delaying the process until he can figure out how to avoid those taxes. Due process is for criminal procedures where the defendent has not already signed his rights away. Sterling over due process when he agreed to binding arbitration

The position that hurts Sterling's case is that he has taken a position that would or will damage the NBA beyond repair. When that positio became publically known - The sponsers are refusing to come back and all but three have left already and the players are refusing to boycott the entire NBA if he is not removed.

It's not the matter of if Sterling is removed from his team, it's the matter of when and how. I promise you this though - It should be the most entertaining thing we have seen on television in the last 20 years(yes I know that's not saying a lot)

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Additional thought here: In reality - Donald Sterling is no longer in the NBA even though he still is the legal owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. The biggest question that everyone will be asking is:

Can the NBA retain legal control over the Clippers and force the sale at the same time?

If the question is yes - then it's a given that the legal transfer of the team and sale is merely a formality because Sterling is gone. If The NBA cannot retain legal control over the team and the courts were to give Sterling possession of the team until the matter is resolved - then I think we will see some things go nuclear

Like the Sponsers

And the players

 

[trojanfan12]

Well actually it does - because he has signed documents dating back 33 years that gives them enormous powers in cases like this. Think of it this way - Sterling does not really own the Clippers. Sterling is a steward of the Clippers being allowed to operate it as his own AS LONG AS HE HAS FOLLOWED THE RULES.

Sterlings claim of being denied due process is smoke screens and mirrors - he stands to lose a lot in the sale of the Clippers due to capital gains - he is merely delaying the process until he can figure out how to avoid those taxes. Due process is for criminal procedures where the defendent has not already signed his rights away. Sterling over due process when he agreed to binding arbitration

The position that hurts Sterling's case is that he has taken a position that would or will damage the NBA beyond repair. When that positio became publically known - The sponsers are refusing to come back and all but three have left already and the players are refusing to boycott the entire NBA if he is not removed.

It's not the matter of if Sterling is removed from his team, it's the matter of when and how. I promise you this though - It should be the most entertaining thing we have seen on television in the last 20 years(yes I know that's not saying a lot)

Please explain in what world the NBA's constitution and by-laws trump state and federal laws. The NBA can make owners sign anything they want and it won't matter in the least if it violates state and/or federal property rights law.

That is what all of this is likely to come down to. If a court rules that the NBA taking his team falls within state and federal property rights law, the NBA will win. If a court rules that it violates state and/or federal property rights law, the NBA will lose.

You need to take your emotions out of this. The court doesn't care that Donald Sterling is a racist, they don't care what he said and they don't care if NBA players will play for the Clippers or if every player in the league refuses to play any games as long as Sterling owns the team. The court only cares whether or not it is legal for the NBA to take his team.

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Please explain in what world the NBA's constitution and by-laws trump state and federal laws. The NBA can make owners sign anything they want and it won't matter in the least if it violates state and/or federal property rights law.

That is what all of this is likely to come down to. If a court rules that the NBA taking his team falls within state and federal property rights law, the NBA will win. If a court rules that it violates state and/or federal property rights law, the NBA will lose.

You need to take your emotions out of this. The court doesn't care that Donald Sterling is a racist, they don't care what he said and they don't care if NBA players will play for the Clippers or if every player in the league refuses to play any games as long as Sterling owns the team. The court only cares whether or not it is legal for the NBA to take his team.

In the world where each owner was required to sign away their rights to sue in court to begin with

Atleast that's what it comes down to because before you are allowed to own a team, you have to sign contracts. One of them is that you agree to be subject to the system of justice dictated and written by the board of directors, another is a moral clause that disallows you from taking a position that is contrary or detrimental to the benefit of the NBA. There are other contracts that allows the NBA to decide the fate of your team in the NBA for failing to live up to those contracts. Sterling owns the team only as long as he follows the rules - He violated those rights - it might take a few months or longer but he is going to lose eventually