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.

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.

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