It was supposed to be a long slog through court proceedings to get disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling to relinquish his team, but last night co-owner and wife Shelly Sterling revealed they’d accepted a $2 billion bid from former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. According to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne, Donald was declared “mentally incapacitated” under the terms of the trust to own the team and was forced to cede all power to Shelly for the sale.
This soap opera keeps coming up with twists every day, so stay tuned for a Lifetime movie about the Sterlings at some point in the near future; not that they need the money. Here’s Shelburne:
Espn has learned that experts had declared Donald Sterling mentally incapacitated, leaving Shelly as sole trustee & power to sell the team
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
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The Sterling Family Trust had rules & guidelines about mental incapacitation. Very recently, Donald was found by experts to be incapacitated
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
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Once that happened, Shelly became sole trustee and had power to do deal w/ Ballmer, which is now being sent directly to the NBA for approval
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
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The NBA hasn’t approved the sale, but Shelly and Steve signed the paperwork last night, and expedited delivery to the league office before the NBA’s board of governor’s meeting on June 3. In that meeting, the league’s owners are expected to vote unanimously to force Sterling to sell.
“I am delighted that we are selling the team to Steve, who will be a terrific owner,” Shelly Sterling said in her statement. “We have worked for 33 years to build the Clippers into a premiere NBA franchise. I am confident Steve will take the team to new levels of success.”
“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 his statement. “I love basketball. And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win – and win big – in Los Angeles.”
Ballmer originally bid $1.8 billion, but went another $200 million in negotiations to further distance himself from potential owner David Geffen (with Larry Ellison and Oprah Winfrey behind him) who offered $1.6 billion.
Still, the NBA has not offered a comment on any of this just yet, so stay tuned for more as it develops.
What do you think?
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