Disgraced L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling informed the NBA on Wednesday he now plans to sell the team he has owned since 1981, according to BlackSportsOnline.com.
A day after his lawyer fired off a letter to league execs asserting Sterling had no intention of relinquishing the team and would fight to the "bloody end" to retain his status as the NBA's longest tenured owner, the website reports attorneys for Sterling now concede he will comply with the league's wishes and disassociate himself from the franchise.
Donald Sterling banned from NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver recently imposed a lifetime ban on the 81-year-old real estate mogul after video of him admonishing a girlfriend "not to bring back people to my games" was made public. In addition to the ban, the league also slapped Sterling with a $2.5 million fine.
All 30 league owners were slated to vote next week whether to strip Sterling of ownership if he had not complied with the league's order.
Since Sterling's ban was imposed and speculation about the team's pending sell surfaced, several prominent people have stepped forward to express at least a preliminary interest in buying the team including Magic Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen Sean "Diddy" Combs Oscar De la Hoya and Grant Hill.
At one point, Sterling was thought to have turned over majority ownership of the team to estranged wife Shelly Sterling, who was rumored to be working with league officials to try and broker a sale behind the scene.
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