Donald Sterling is "no longer the controlling owner" of the Clippers, as he has "just surrendered control to his estranged wife, [Rochelle] Sterling, and she is now secretly negotiating with the NBA to sell the team ... on her terms," according to sources cited by TMZ SPORTS. Sources said that Donald Sterling "made the decision because he saw the handwriting on the wall -- as long as he remained in control, the NBA would order an involuntary sale of the team." Sources added that Rochelle and her lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, "have been secretly meeting" with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA lawyers to "resolve the dispute amicably." Sources said that Rochelle "is prepared to sue the NBA and she will file legal docs on Tuesday if the NBA orders an involuntary sale" (TMZ.com 5/23). ESPNLA.com’s Ramona Shelburne said, “It’s a really stunning reversal … because everybody who’s ever known Donald Sterling, ever covered Donald Sterling and heard Donald Sterling talk, never thought he would go quietly. His advisers and the people around him, obviously Shelly, played a pretty big role in this.” Shelburne: “Where we’re at right now is he has agreed to let her negotiate a forced sale of the team. If she’s willing to sell the team in its entirety, 100%, it can’t be 50%, it can’t be 98%, if she’s willing to sell 100% of this team on her terms where she gets to call the shots and she gets to be satisfied with whoever the new owners and on what price they get, this could be a startlingly quick end to what we all were expecting to be a very long, protracted legal battle." Shelburne added of Rochelle Sterling selling the franchise, “This idea has been floated several times. The big question was could she deliver? Could she get Donald to agree to this? That’s the development today, that she got Donald to agree to this which is a huge development.” Shelburne said, “If this were a done deal, the NBA would be announcing it right now. The fact that they haven’t, the fact that there is still some question about how much she’s willing to sell and what terms she’s willing to sell it under tells you that this is a deal between Donald and Shelly, not between Shelly and Donald and the NBA yet" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 5/23).
NBA ALLOWING THIS? Shelburne, on if there is a timetable for both sides to work on a deal: “Obviously, this needs to be resolved by Tuesday. ... This is not something they are choosing to do, but if Shelly is willing to sell the team in its entirety, this could be over soon.” Shelburne, on barriers the Sterlings could face: “You can’t transfer control in ownership to another person. The new person would have to be approved by the Board of Governors and obviously Shelly Sterling would not. Whatever agreement that Donald and Shelly have together, right now, has not necessarily been approved by the NBA. They have done that on their own. So the NBA will have to approve that and understand that and be comfortable with that, so obviously that’s one of the barriers" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 5/23).
BUYING POWER: Peebles Corporation Founder, Chair & CEO Don Peebles reiterated he was "absolutely interested in buying the Clippers." CNBC's Brian Sullivan noted, "You're a rich guy, but I don't know if you have $1.5 billion sitting around." Peebles replied, "I have some very rich friends." Peebles added Clippers interim CEO Dick Parsons "is a friend and a very good manager there and one who's a big turnaround person." He also said he could have a bid for the team "when the NBA decides what they're going to do ... once they go through this process" ("Street Signs," CNBC, 5/22). ESPN's Bill Simmons notes on Twitter he is hearing that the potential sale price for the Clippers is "edging closer" to $2B. He adds the NBA "spent the past few days painstakingly explaining to Sterling just how much money he'd lose by suing to keep the Clips" (TWITTER.com, 5/23).
TALE OF THE TAPE: New details emerged from the NBA's investigation into Donald Sterling, and the L.A. TIMES' James Rainey notes the report shows that the relationship between Sterling and V. Stiviano became "strained" in early April. Stiviano on April 9 "got a text from a Clippers employee: Donald Sterling had ordered the tickets, parking pass and luxury suite access he had given her for that night's game to be sold." Minutes later, Stiviano "sent the employee an audio file" of Sterling's disparaging remarks. The NBA's investigation contended that the Clippers employee "passed the recording on" to President Andy Roeser, who informed Sterling. Later, Roeser "would tell another employee that Sterling 'was not worried about the tape.'" NBA lead investigator David Anders said that after Sterling and Roeser spoke, Roeser asked the "employee to delete the audio and the text messages." Anders said the employee "at first questioned Mr. Roeser, asking him if he was sure that the employee should delete the files." Roeser said that "he was sure." TMZ "contacted an unnamed Clippers employee on April 23, two days before the posting of the audio, and asked whether the team wanted to comment." Sources said that the following day, Clippers VP/Communications Seth Burton "urged Roeser to inform top NBA officials about the recording." Anders said that Roeser "said not to contact the NBA." But "late that night, Roeser did call" Silver, "warning him that the recording was likely to go online the next day." Silver said that he "placed Roeser on an indefinite leave after 'multiple team employees' said they no longer wanted to work with their boss." Roeser has declined to comment (L.A. TIMES, 5/23).
ADAM'S SONG: In an SI cover story on Silver, SI's Lee Jenkins writes, "Nothing could have prepared the freshly minted commissioner for the sound of Sterling." As the tape of Sterling's comments emerged, Silver was headed for a first-round playoff game. As the Clippers crisis "morphed into a national uproar," Silver was "in the air without Internet access." He "could not see the storm clouds forming in front of him." One NBA owner said of Silver's hard line against Sterling: "If people thought the NBA was not sensitive to civil rights even for a moment, it would have been permanently damaging. But there were personal factors also." Jenkins notes for decades, Silver and his colleagues "had defended the NBA from coded racist attacks: complaints about Afros, then cornrows, then tattoos." Silver said, "This wasn't an outsider taking shots. To have these references come from within an institution that is -- while far from perfect -- as egalitarian as there is in society made a particular impact." Silver returned home on April 28 and "stayed up until 1 a.m. writing a speech in his apartment." He tried to "focus on the message rather than the punishment." Silver: "I got a lot of advice from owners, CEOs and business partners, but they all seemed to come back to this: Reflect on your life experiences. Then go with your gut" (SI, 5/26 issue).
