Sterling will argue privacy, breach of contract in lawsuit vs. NBA

Donald Sterling will have to overcome several obstacles to get his recorded remarks thrown out.

Danny Moloshok/AP

Sterling can attempt to hold onto the team by petitioning a court to grant a temporary restraining order that would enjoin the NBA from carrying out the sale. Sterling's lawsuit references seeking a temporary restraining order as a necessary step to respond to the NBA. As with Sterling's other legal claims, standard of review would work against him, as such orders are considered extraordinary forms of relief. But sports litigator Eugene Egdorf tells SI.com that Sterling may have a viable path. Egdorf believes the NBA could struggle to legitimately show there was no forced sale, when the league "apparently unilaterally removed Sterling as controlling owner, without a vote or hearing, and gave [the Clippers] to his estranged wife to only then immediately sell the team just as the NBA desired, without his permission (or permission clouded by possible mental incompetence). Incredibly the NBA then approved the sale in less than 24 hours. The NBA can't credibly contend its fingerprints are not all over this."