NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he "supports the Clippers' efforts" to build a new arena "because it would ease scheduling conflicts" among the team, the Lakers and the NHL Kings at Staples Center, according to Dan Woike of the L.A. TIMES. Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer has indicated he wants to build a new arena in Inglewood, but there is "ongoing litigation" pitting the Clippers' proposal against MSG Co., which "owns and operates the nearby Forum." Silver said that pending litigation, which "involves two NBA owners" in Ballmer and James Dolan, is "less than ideal." Silver: "I have talked to Jim Dolan and Steve Ballmer about that lawsuit. Obviously it's not something you like to see between partners in the NBA. I don't think there's a role for the league at the moment, but it's something that we're paying a lot of attention to." Woike notes the Clippers' current lease with Staples Center runs through the '23-24 season (L.A. TIMES, 5/31). In L.A., Nathan Fenno noted the L.A. County District Attorney's office "found that the Inglewood City Council violated state law in connection with a special meeting" in June '17 to "approve an agreement with a Clippers-controlled company to explore building an arena in the city, but the D.A. declined to take any action." Deputy District Attorney Bjorn Dodd wrote that the meeting agenda "violated the Brown Act, the state's open meetings law, by not providing a sufficient description of the matter to be discussed" (L.A. TIMES, 5/30).
