There was confusion as to whether the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers had gone through on Thursday night as some media outlets reported it was done and others were reporting that negotiations where ongoing.
Until some bombshell tweets from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, posted on ProBasketballTalk.NBCSports.com.
Espn has learned that experts had declared Donald Sterling mentally incapacitated, leaving Shelly as sole trustee & power to sell the team
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
The Sterling Family Trust had rules & guidelines about mental incapacitation. Very recently, Donald was found by experts to be incapacitated — Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
Once that happened, Shelly became sole trustee and had power to do deal w/ Ballmer, which is now being sent directly to the NBA for approval
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
There could still be a response by Donald Sterling & his lawyers, but his first action would be to contest Shelly's move, not NBA now. — Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
The rules of the Sterling family trust did not require a court to declare Donald Sterling mentally incapacitated.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 30, 2014
ProBasketballTalk.NBCSports.com reported that those close to Sterling and media had indicated that Sterling was battling dementia, which PBT reported was the reason his former mistress claimed to make recordings of her conversations with him. He would forget what he had said.
One of the recordings found its way to TMZ Sports, which publicized the recording on its website, a racial rant against African-Americans. That led to the NBA's lifetime ban of Sterling.
Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly, had until June 2 to sell the Clippers, a day before the NBA owners were to vote to throw out Sterling and assume control of the sale of the team.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer bought the Clippers with a bid of $2 billion, the second highest sales price for a U.S. professional franchise to the Los Angeles Dodgers' $2.1 billion sale to the Guggenheim Group.
Donald and Shelly Sterling each own half of the Clippers through a trust, although Donald is the recognized primary owner by the league under its constitution, NBC reported. However, a finding of mental incapacity would change the dynamic of control of the franchise, which apparently is the fate that befell Donald Sterling.
NBC confirmed that Shelly Sterling and Ballmer have signed papers where Ballmer will buy the Clippers from the trust for $2 billion (a record NBA price, almost four times the previous high, set by the Milwaukee Bucks $550 million sale earlier this year).
The paperwork of the sale now goes to the NBA league office for review.
Does Donald Sterling's diagnosis afford him any more sympathy? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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