The Donald Sterling saga could come to an end well before many people predicted.
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ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that Sterling has agreed to allow his wife Shelly to negotiate a forced sale of the team:
Donald Sterling has agreed to allow his wife Shelly to negotiate a forced sale of the Clippers, source tells ESPN.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 23, 2014
Sterling was banned for life from the NBA for racist remarks he made in a recorded conversation with his mistress, V. Stiviano. In a later interview with CNN, Sterling also criticized Magic Johnson whom he believes is not a good role model for children.
It had seemed like this issue would be a drawn out legal battle. Last week Sterling hired an anti-trust lawyer who wrote a letter to the NBA threatening to sue the league. Now thing seem to be going the other way.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was going to do everything in his power to force Sterling to sale the Clippers. The league was moving forward with necessary actions and eventually it would have came to a vote in which 75 percent of the owners would have needed to agree in order to force the sale.
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There are still hurdles to overcome in the sell. According to ESPN’s Arash Markazi, the major one is Sterling’s wife, Shelly, hoping to retain a minority interest in the team:
Shelly Sterling’s goal has been to retain a minority interest in the team since she began saying she was entitled to 50% of the team.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 23, 2014
Whether the league would accept Donald being gone, but allowing Shelly to stay is unknown at this time, but any Sterling retaining some sort of ownership may not go over well, with the league or the players. Either way, a quick ending to this saga is exactly what the NBA has to be hoping for.
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