Report: Clippers owner Donald Sterling to bring $1 billion lawsuit against NBA
Donald Sterling purchased the Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981. (Robyn Beck/Getty Images)
Embattled Clippers owner Donald Sterling plans to file a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA on Friday, according to a report from Tim Stelloh of NBC News.
Sterling's lawsuit also requests that Andy Roeser be reinstated as the team's CEO, and that all proceedings to remove him as owner are immediately halted, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.
The news comes less than 24 hours after it was reported that his wife, Shelly, announced the sale of the team to Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. The NBA is now reviewing the deal for approval.
His wife had been granted permission to negotiate the sale of the team after Sterling was found to be "mentally incapacitated," a claim his attorney later refuted. It was also reported this week that Sterling has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
In a statement to the media, the 58-year-old Balmer, a former CEO of Microsoft, thanked Shelly and Commissioner Adam Silver for helping facilitate the sale:
“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,” Ballmer said in a statement. “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.”
In April, a tape was released to TMZ in which Sterling was recorded making disparaging comments about African Americans during a recorded conversation with a female friend. He purchased the Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981.
