Silver: No guarantee Sterling out by season start

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eyebrow-raising testimony, abrupt changes of plans, courtroom delays. If there is one
thing NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has learned during the Donald Sterling saga, it’s that there are no
guarantees.
So when Silver was asked Tuesday if he could say Sterling would not own the Los Angeles Clippers by the
time next season comes around, he said he could not.
"It’s very difficult to say anything with certainty in a situation like this," Sterling said
after the Board of Governors’ meeting. "I can say with certainty we are doing everything in our
power to move Donald out as an owner in the NBA."
Sterling, who was banned by the NBA for life for making racist remarks, is challenging his wife Shelly’s
planned sale of the Clippers for $2 billion to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in court. A judge recently
delayed the next hearing until July 21, and closing arguments are scheduled for July 28.
When Ballmer originally reached an agreement with Shelly Sterling to buy the team, the planned timeline
included an approval vote by the board on Tuesday. But the court case has pushed everything back well
past the expiration of Ballmer’s offer. The deadline can be extended, and Silver said the league is
waiting for the process to play out.
"We’re in essence on hold since that sale is being challenged by her husband as to whether she has
the right," Silver said. "If the court finds in her favor, the sale will move forward. If not,
we will move forward with our own proceedings."
Before Shelly Sterling agreed to sell the team to Ballmer, the NBA was moving forward with a plan to
terminate Sterling’s ownership of the team. During the trial, Shelly Sterling testified that she
discussed with Silver the possibility of his lifetime ban being reduced to help facilitate a sale of the
team.
"It’s accurate that we had the conversation," Silver said. "Shelly and I had several
conversations over the course of the last few months in which Shelly proposed all kinds of things to me.
And frankly it’s never been quite clear if she’s able to speak for Donald."
Silver said he asked for a proposal in writing from Donald Sterling, but never received one.
Donald Sterling, who at one point in the proceedings called his wife "a pig" in the courtroom,
contends she has no right under a family trust that owns the Clippers to single-handedly sell the team.
Shelly Sterling contends she has the authority and two doctors hired by her testified that her
80-year-old husband has Alzheimer’s disease and is mentally incapable to act as administrator of the
trust.
Rather than holding a vote for approval of Ballmer as an owner, the advisory/finance committee met with
him.
"We had an excellent session with him and he talked to us about his passion for NBA basketball and
his desire and interest in owning the team," Silver said.
In other news from the meetings:
—Silver said the league’s new replay center will open in September and be used on an experimental basis
in the WNBA and NBA preseason games. Officials at the center will be able to review calls in question,
but the final decision will still be made by the officials in the arena.
—The Competition Committee broached the subject of a midseason tournament similar to the FA Cup in
English soccer. "We’re looking at other opportunities in the league to create excitement,"
Silver said.
—The board heard a review of officiating and Silver said they are "satisfied" with the state of
refereeing in the game. "I’m very focused on the public perception of our officiating," he
said, "and we want to make sure that the public has complete confidence in the integrity of our
game and the integrity of our officiating, and that’s something we continue to talk about and look for
ways frankly to improve that."
—Of course, Silver couldn’t resist putting his personal take on gambling on the record in Sin City:
"I personally enjoy being here, although I don’t gamble as the Commissioner of the NBA for the
record. Not because there’s anything wrong with it, I just don’t think I should be gambling as the
Commissioner."

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