Now that Donald Sterling seems to have made up his mind that he is going to fight to keep the Los Angeles Clippers, his wife Shelly Sterling has decided she will take Donald to court in an attempt to finalize her control over the Sterling Family Trust.
According to Tami Abdollah of the Associated Press, Shelly is seeking an emergency order for a hearing to try to convince a judge to grant her full authority to sell the Clippers. Shelly has previously stated that she is the sole trustee of the Sterling Family Trust and does not need Donald to sign off on the sale of the team after neurologists determined last month that he suffers from dementia and is “mentally incapacitated.”
Sterling’s lawyer Max Belcher claims Donald is fully capable of handling his own affairs.
“There isn’t the slightest evidence he’s incapable of managing his affairs,” Belcher said.
A separate report from TMZ claims Shelly is growing concerned that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer could back out of his $2 billion agreement to purchase the Clippers. The tentative deal between Shelly and Ballmer reportedly contains an escape clause for Ballmer if it is determined that she does not have clear control over the team.
Should Donald win his case against Shelly and prove he is mentally fit to remain owner of the Clippers, the NBA will revert to its original plan of forcing Sterling out through a vote. David Aldridge of NBA.com reports that the league “initiated termination protocol” against Sterling last month but halted the process when it appeared Sterling was going to agree to give up the team.
The only thing we are certain of as the saga rolls on is that there are a ton of moving parts. That means the entire ordeal is going to take some time to sort out. Whether the legal proceedings are enough to scare Ballmer away remains to be seen.
