It was a "night of rebirth" for the Clippers as they won their Game 5 home playoff matchup against the Warriors following the lifetime ban and $2.5M fine handed down by the NBA to Owner Donald Sterling. There were standing ovations for pregame warmups, each player entering the game, and even for two fans "wearing black shirts with Donald Sterling's face crossed out." Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, "It was almost like everybody wanted to exhale tonight, and it was good" (L.A. TIMES, 4/30).

Clippers staffers and cheerleaders wore all black, and "every advertisement in the arena was covered by black fabric" (SI.com, 4/30). The personnel wore black "for solidarity" even with Sterling's wife, Rochelle, attending the game (L.A. TIMES, 4/30). The game "began with a festive air, the team aggressively promoting the 'We Are One' slogan and fans carrying signs conveying messages of unity." One read, "Fans + Players = Clippers Nation" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30).

Meanwhile, adidas yesterday decided to reinstate its Clippers sponsorship, "expressing full support of the fine and ban against Sterling." The company said in a statement, “While our sponsorship is reinstated, tonight our traditional ads and logo placements will be replaced with the Clippers logo and 'We Are One' to support the team and fans in the healing process” (L.A. TIMES, 4/30).

Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban from the NBA is front-page news across the country the morning. The newspapers in the L.A. area all dedicated a large majority of their front pages to the announcement Adam Silver handed down yesterday. The L.A. Times goes with the banner headline, “Banned For Life,” while the L.A. Daily News is even more succinct by running the one-word headline “Done” next to a picture of Sterling. The upstart L.A. Register asks, “What’s Next For The Clippers?” Major U.S. dailies also had Sterling coverage above the fold, including the N.Y. Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune.

Denver Post: “Banned”
Las Vegas Review-Journal: “NBA Puts Sterling On Bench: Clippers Owner Could Be Forced To Sell Team Over Racist Remarks”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Banned For Life: NBA Commissioner Takes Swift Action Against Los Angeles Clippers Owner”
Portland Oregonian: “’No Place In The NBA: Clippers Owner Banned For Life For Racist Comments’”
San Diego Union-Tribune: “Banned: NBA Commissioner's Strong Stand Wins Applause From Players And Fans”
San Jose Mercury News: “Clippers Owner Ejected By NBA”
USA Today: “Bounced: NBA Commissioner Speaks For Nation In Banishing Sterling”

This morning's editions of ABC's "GMA" and "CBS This Morning" both led with the severe weather affecting the country, followed by Sterling’s lifetime ban. NBC's "Today" led with the weather issues and the botched execution in Oklahoma before getting to the Sterling news. All three programs had live reports from Staples Center, as well as in-studio guests to discuss the punishment. ABC featured Kings Owner Vivek Ranadive, while CBS talked to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is serving as a special assistant to the NBPA. NBC Sports’ Bob Costas discussed the matter in the “Today” studios. All three network news programs last night led their broadcasts with live reports from Staples Center (THE DAILY).

William Morris Endeavor is expected to close its $2.375B acquisition of IMG as soon as tomorrow, according to sources. The goal is to close the deal tomorrow, sources said, but talks on a few minor issues could push the closing into early next week. There is nothing at this point that is expected to derail the agreement, and WME-IMG is expected to begin operating as a combined company next week with a valuation of $3.5B. After the deal closes, WME is expected to begin cutting costs from IMG’s business. It plans to cut a total of $151M in the first 18 months of ownership, with $14M of that coming in the first six months, according to documents obtained by SportsBusiness Journal earlier this month. The cuts will come by consolidating operations, reducing vendors, cutting staff and eliminating excess office space.

After the deal closes, WME-IMG will have three owners: Silver Lake Partners will own 50%, WME will own 47% and the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Co. will own 3%. According to documents written in February, WME planned to raise $2.35B of debt and contribute $1.48B in equity to finance the acquisition and recapitalize the combined companies. Silver Lake and Mubadala planned to contributed $461M in new equity, while WME planned to roll over $1B in existing equity for the deal.

Sources said that developer Bruce Ratner is "looking to sell his company's 20% stake" in the Nets and has tapped Evercore Partners to advise him on the sale. Forest City Ratner Cos. and a group of investors in '04 paid about $300M to buy the team "in a bid to lure them to Brooklyn as the main tenant for a new arena." Ratner in '09 sold 80% of the team, plus a 45% stake in Barclays Center, to Mikhail Prokhorov in a $200M deal (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/30).

Time Warner today is expected to report "strong results" for Q1 thanks in part to TV coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The company's fortunes "largely depend on its Turner cable networks where operating income increased 6% to $895M on revenues of $2.6B, +5%." March Madness "helped to lift ad sales 5%." Time Warner generated $1.3B in net income in Q1, up 71.4% from the year-ago period, on revenues of $7.5B, up 8.7%. The company will issue an updated forecast for FY '14 "that projects low-teen growth" after its spins off Time Inc. mid-year (DEADLINE.com, 4/30).

ESPN signed a global programming deal to become the official broadcaster of the '15 Special Olympics World Games. The event is scheduled to start July 25, 2015, in L.A. A formal announcement could come as early as this afternoon. ESPN is committed to carrying the Opening and Closing ceremonies live from L.A. Memorial Coliseum, as well as a nightly highlights package. KABC-TV, the Disney-owned ABC broadcast affiliate, will carry coverage of the event in the L.A. market.

ESPN has had a long association with the Special Olympics. Last year, Disney and ESPN made a multi-million dollar investment in the Special Olympics Unified Sports initiative. It also became a "Founding Champion" of the '15 Games. It carried coverage of the '11 Games from Athens on ESPN3.

Cox Communication subscribers in the Oklahoma City area "missed nearly 30 minutes" of last night's Grizzlies-Thunder Game 5 "because of technical problems." Cox spokesperson Christine Martin said that a "piece of equipment that failed had to be replaced." FS Oklahoma play-by-play commentator Brian Davis "welcomed the Cox audience back after the Grizzlies had taken a 16-point lead" (OKLAHOMAN, 4/30).

Suffolk Downs is likely to open for “what could be its last season this weekend despite a three-alarm fire that gutted a trainers’ dining hall and forced the evacuation of horses from nearby barns yesterday” (BOSTON HERALD, 4/30).

Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP and Hausfeld LLP are "combining to create a joint practice group that will represent professional athletes." The joint group will be "composed of about five lawyers from each firm" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 4/30).

Western Kentucky Univ. AD Todd Stewart announced the school next year will eliminate men’s tennis as a varsity intercollegiate sport (Western Kentucky Univ.).

Boingo Wireless has been selected to be the exclusive wireless network partner for the Univ. of Houston’s 60,000-seat football stadium that is slated to open in August (Boingo Wireless).

"I don't have anything negative to say about the guy. He has always treated me with the utmost respect, and he has always invited me to games, and he said, 'Floyd, I want you to sit next to me and my wife'" – Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., on his interactions with Donald Sterling (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/30).

“You don’t really think of Kentucky and fashion together. So it’s their shining moment for the year with fashion” – NBC’s Johnny Weir, on the Kentucky Derby (USA TODAY, 4/30).

“My commitment is to the Big 12, and I expect to be there a long time because I’m excited about the future of the conference” – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, on speculation that he could be a replacement for NCAA President Mark Emmert (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/30).

Last night’s 11:00pm ET editions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” both led with updates on Warriors-Clippers, followed by coverage of Adam Silver's press conference on Donald Sterling with reactions from across the league on the lifetime ban. ESPN later in the broadcast discussed Magic Johnson denying he has any interest in acquiring the Clippers, plus more reactions about the punishment for Sterling and legal analysis from ESPN's Roger Cossack. After FS1 aired reactions on the ban, FS1's Colleen Dominguez reported live outside of Staples Center and FS1's Bill Reiter and legal analyst Rob Becker provided in-studio analysis. FS1 later aired a segment on Sterling's past behavior and legal issues, followed by more analysis from FS1's panel of former players and Johnson's reaction to the lifetime ban.

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called out his “world’s worst” persons in sports: A baserunner for the LG Twins of the Korean baseball league for stealing home "awfully early" and tripping the hitter. Olbermann also voiced his displeasure with Mets 1B Lucas Duda for getting a bracelet and a "knock-off Breitling watch" stolen from his home, and Adam Silver for "putting people out of work."

AP’s Steve Wilson: “#Sterling case virtually ignored in UK papers despite relevance w/ European football racism. D Telegraph is exception.”

Bulls announcer Chuck Swirsky: “If you re going to get beat I'm at least delighted for Wiz front office and coach staff. Great people and professionals wishing them well.”

Tennis player Andy Murray: “tennis needs a commissioner.”

FIFA President Sepp Blatter: “Sport says no to racism. I fully support @NBA’s decision to ban@LAClippers owner for life after his racist words.”

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE cartoonist Steve Breen depicts NBA Commissioner Adam Silver throwing Clipppers Owner Donald Sterling into the trash, with perfect jump-shot form (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/30).

IndyCar will hold its first test for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Workers have spent the last several days putting the final touches on the venue's reconfigured infield road course.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “U.S. History.”

“Messrs. Gusenberg, Gusenberg, May, Weinshank, Clark, Heyer and Schwimmer famously died on this day in 1929.”

CBS’ David Letterman: “Donald Sterling, I don’t know anything about the guy. … He looks like a weasel. He hasn’t said anything. He has scheduled a press conference I believe, next week from his plantation. Interesting about the guy, what we know is that he, himself, I believe, mixed heritage. Did you know this? He’s half jack, half ass” (“Late Show,” CBS, 4/29).

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: “Adam Silver … is getting a lot of praise for handing down the toughest punishment possible. … We have still not heard from Donald Sterling. He has been lying low since the tape surfaced. Friends say that to help lift his spirits, he’s been watching ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ in reverse. … Sterling is banned from associating with the Clippers for life, which based on looking at him should be four to eight months, maybe. … He doesn’t want to associate with black people (but) winds up owning an NBA franchise. It’s like a vegan buying an Outback Steakhouse” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 4/29).

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon: “After he was recorded on tape making racist comments, Donald Sterling has been banned from the league for life. Great, just where Sterling wanted to end up, the black list. ... After Donald Sterling’s racist remarks were revealed, former Knicks player Larry Johnson called for an ‘all black’ league. People were like, ‘So you just want to kick Steve Nash out of the NBA? What did he do wrong?’ … There’s talk that Sterling may fight this, which makes the Clippers very nervous because they’re losing all of their sponsors. ... As a result, the Clippers are having to take on new sponsors that don’t care if Donald Sterling sticks around or not.” Some of the "new sponsors" include “Really White Castle,” “Crest’s White Only Strips” and “Forever 1821” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 4/29).

ABC's Robin Roberts appeared on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night to promote her new book, "Everybody's Got Something." Roberts said of work schedule, "I was coming out here to talk about the book. But then this thing with the Clippers happened when I hit town so I've been very busy with that as well. … Roberts was asked if Sterling would be someone she would try to interview and said, "Our bookers talked to him and thought maybe it's best that somebody else speak to him." Kimmel replied, "Very interesting, because do you feel like maybe you can't be impartial?" Roberts said, "I can always be impartial … (but) he has a history and I don't know if he is ready to sit down just yet and talk with anybody right now. But if he were I would welcome that opportunity." Kimmel said Sterling "will drag this into court until the day he dies" (“Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC, 4/29).

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert said, "Folks, if you watch the other news channels -- and I hope you don't -- you know there's one lead story today and that is the racist comments of L.A. Clippers Owner and Darth Vader with his helmet off, Donald Sterling. We've all heard what he said, and if you haven't heard, you're a racist." Colbert said he was "shocked that Sterling would perpetuate the cruel stereotype that white people are genetically superior at basketball spectating." More Colbert: "Today, NBA Commissioner and carbohydrate-free life form Adam Silver announced Sterling's just punishment. … (Sterling was) banned for life. Who knows how many months that might be?" ("The Colbert Report," Comedy Central, 4/29).

Last night’s Top Ten list was “Top Ten Signs You Have A Bad Dentist.” Letterman said, “Listen to this, one-third of adults in the United States have not visited a dentist in the last 12 months and do not meet the minimum level of dental care" (“Late Show,” CBS, 4/29).

10) “Begins examination by saying, ‘Drop your pants.’”
9) “Four out of five dentists think he’s nuts.”
8) “Cleans your teeth then shaves your back.”
7) “Accidentally whitens your lips.”
6) “Quit dental school to join Singapore cast of ‘My Fair Lady.’”
5) “Both of his teeth have cavities.”
4) “Whispers in your ear, ‘Nice gums.’”
3) “Pronounces the word ‘teef.’”
2) “Waiting room has a receptionist and a lookout.”
1) “Asks you to open your mouth and say something racist.”

“What is Valentine’s Day?” February 14, 1929 was the date of the infamous "St. Valentine's Day Massacre."