Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy L.A. Clippers

Wow, for $2B, Sterling should sell the team regardless of the controversy.

 

I'm not sure if a team in Seattle is worth 2 billion

 

For those questioning his possible "over paying" he probably knows something about money. Oh what the heck, 2 billion? That's too freaking much.

 

Great! I give you the new Seattle Supersonics.

 

I give you the Seattle Windows

 

Seattle SuperStarBucks

 

Lawyer: Sterling wants to be 'vindicated'

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(CNN) -- Donald Sterling has gotten over the initial shock he felt after an audio recording of him making racist statements was released online and will fight the NBA if it forces him to sell the Los Angeles Clippers, his attorney told CNN on Thursday.

Rest of story:

Spoiler

Maxwell Blecher told CNN that Sterling has emerged from his emotional state, hardened his resolve and is considering suing over the NBA's efforts to remove him as Clippers owner.

But no decision has been made on whether to file a lawsuit, he said.
The NBA's 30 owners will meet Tuesday to vote on whether to strip Sterling and his estranged wife, Shelly, who owns 50% of the team, of ownership rights.
"The league on Tuesday has a guillotine over his head," Blecher told CNN's "The Situation Room."

"They will confiscate his team illegally and if they don't want a lawsuit challenging that conduct, they need to let us know before Tuesday," the lawyer said.
Blecher said Sterling wants to meet with NBA officials and "work things out."

"He wants to be vindicated. He doesn't want his tombstone to say, 'Here lies Donald Sterling, racist.' And the NBA has the power to make that right," Blecher said.

The audio recording was illegally recorded, he said, and the snippets of bigoted remarks don't reflect Sterling's views.

"He's not a racist," Blecher said. "He's very troubled by the racist charges that have been made against him after 33 years of history (and evidence that show a) very close relationship and close support of the African-American community."

He will not agree to a sale of the team without a resolution with the NBA, though Blecher wouldn't specify what Sterling wants from the league.

CNN reached out to the NBA for comment but didn't hear back immediately.
Blecher told CNN that he doesn't think the team can be sold without Donald Sterling's consent.

"Mr. Sterling is not going to consent unless the NBA does something about the illegal charges they have filed against him, and so far we've heard nothing to indicate that will occur," he said.

Several potential buyers have submitted bids to Shelly Sterling for the team, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The bids are between $1 billion and approaching $2 billion, the source said, adding all expected offers have been submitted.

One group is led by former NBA star Grant Hill, while another is fronted by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The source told CNN that Hill's group proposed $1.2 billion and classified Ballmer's as "a strong bid."

The goal is to get an agreement in principle done before Tuesday's NBA meeting, the source said.

Donald Sterling has been the controlling owner of the Clippers since buying the team in 1981 for $12 million.

​

Sterling may just be stubborn (and senile) enough to reject Ballmer's $2B offer in a desperate attempt to fight the NBA in order to restore his (already) sullied name. Guess we'll know how this plays out by June 3rd.

No matter the outcome, the Sterling saga will set a new precedent in Sports & Franchise law. Either Sterling falters in the court of law (thus upholding the league's right to revoke franchise licensing in protecting its brand) -- or the NBA is defeated and forced to amend its constitution and bylaws.

Again, this all assumes the CNN report is accurate and Sterling is gearing up for exhaustive legal fight, a fight that will drag on in the news cycle for several seasons.

 

Modern Justice: Force evil man to accept 2 billion dollars for something he paid 12.5 million for.

 

That's just good business

 

To be honest, he is a racist, but that doesn't mean you should be screwed in a business deal. I think that is fair for the current value of the Clippers

 

But... he no blek.

 

They are forcing him to make the correct business decision. When Blake and CP bail the team will go back to being the worst in the NBA.

 

Modern Injustice: Force league (i.e. 29 other owners and dozens of players) to accept hundreds of millions in lost advertising revenue for bigoted views made public and attributed to one owner.

 

It's a lot of money but the Sterlings will owe the Feds 400m in taxes and Cal 260m that's 660M in taxes so you can see why Sterling might still fight it.

 

I don't think that actually happened. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't ad contracts paid up front before the season starts? And pulling was reportedly then just a publicity stunt to get those companies front page coverage. I'm not sure if there's any legit quantitative analysis on lost revenue yet. It's still their club and up to them what they want to do. I just thing this "lost revenue" argument hasn't been fully thought out or played out yet.

 

let's just turn this into a jeremy lin thread

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Once interviewed Steve Ballmer abt his first love, Harvard hoops. He tracked assts/rebs in college for $12/gm and adores Tommy Amaker/<a href="https://twitter.com/JLin7">@JLin7</a></p>&mdash; Pablo S. Torre (@PabloTorre) <a href="https://twitter.com/PabloTorre/statuses/472153110228787201">May 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
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