The NBA "wants to terminate" Donald Sterling's ownership of the Clippers "before the Finals begin" and yesterday took the first formal steps toward doing so, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY. Three weeks after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life, the league yesterday "charged Sterling with violating terms of its constitution and bylaws and gave him until May 27 to respond." The NBA will "hold a special meeting of the Board of Governors" in N.Y. on June 3 and "vote to end Sterling's ownership of the Clippers." However, given his "proclivity to litigation, Sterling may file an injunction or a complaint in federal court to halt the NBA's proceedings." The NBA constitution states if the hearing takes place as scheduled, Sterling has the right to counsel but "strict rules of evidence shall not apply" (USA TODAY, 5/20). In L.A., James Rainey notes the NBA released a "two-page summary" of the full accusation against Sterling. The summary "confirmed what many observers suspected" by highlighting how Sterling "further damaged his cause when he gave an interview last week to CNN." The NBA "cited Sterling’s assertion in that interview that African Americans do not support their communities as another example of how he had undermined the league." The NBA also "accused the Clippers, when still under Sterling’s control, of destroying evidence, providing false and misleading evidence and issuing a false and misleading public statement." Although the summary "did not specify, the misleading statement was presumably" Clippers President Andy Roeser’s "claim that the racially inflammatory recordings might have been altered." A source said that Sterling's attorney Maxwell Blecher "asked the NBA to give his client three months to respond to the charges, a request the NBA denied" (L.A. TIMES, 5/20).
INSIDE THE BOARDROOM: SI's Michael McCann noted T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor, who also serves as Chair of the NBA BOG, will "be the presiding officer" of the June 3 hearing, with the 29 controlling owners other than Sterling "acting as jurors." Sterling "will be removed from the NBA" if 22 owners sustain the charge, and the Sterling family trust's ownership of the Clippers "would cease." Sterling and his wife, Rochelle, at that point "would no longer own the Clippers." The Clippers "would then be managed" by Silver's office, which "would put the team up for sale" (SI.com, 5/19). In N.Y., Keh & Cacciola write the league levying formal charges yesterday was "merely the latest chapter in a drama that has overshadowed the playoffs, though, in some ways, the most significant." Silver in filing charges against Sterling "put the onus on the league’s other owners to remove him," and all of them "have expressed public support for Silver" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/20).
