Steve Ballmer Wins Bid To Purchase Clippers
SATURDAY, 11:07am: An NBA source downplayed the non-ownership role Sterling was seeking with the team as part of the sale, telling Smith, Wang, and Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News that she will not be involved with the team moving forward.
FRIDAY, 6:04pm: The NBA memo regarding the sale says Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Trust also agree not to sue the NBA and to indemnify the NBA against lawsuits from others, tweets Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times. That means that if the NBA loses a lawsuit to Donald Sterling, the Sterling Family Trust would pay some portion or all of the losses, notes Tom Ziller of SB Nation (Twitter link).
5:58pm: The NBA has resolved the dispute with Shelly Sterling and the sale of Clippers to Ballmer is only pending a Board of Governors vote, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The league has also cancelled Tuesday’s ownership termination for Sterling as a result of the pending sale of the team, Wojnarowski reports in a separate tweet.
3:18pm: Donald Sterling has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, according to Shelburne (on Twitter), who confirms an earlier report from TMZ Sports. Neurologists made the diagnosis earlier this month, but it wasn’t Shelly Sterling’s first choice to exercise her power to assume sole power over the family trust. When Donald Sterling changed his mind about his willingness to let his wife sell the Clippers, that’s when Shelly Sterling acted, Shelburne says (All Twitter links).
12:51pm: Donald Sterling’s lawyer Max Blecher disputes that he’s “mentally incompetent,” as Shelburne reports. Blecher acknowledges the results of mental health exams that declared him incapacitated and allowed his wife to assume control of the family trust that owns the Clippers, but the attorney says the results are “grossly exaggerated” (Twitter links).
12:19pm: The NBA’s Tuesday hearing to discuss ousting the Sterlings remains on the schedule, the league said today in a press release. Shelly Sterling told the NBA of her deal to sell the team to Ballmer, but she still must file proper documentation, the league says.
THURSDAY, 10:52pm: The rules of the Sterling family trust did not require a court to declare Donald mentally incapacitated, Shelburne tweets.
10:27pm: Shelburne (via Twitter) says that there could still be a response from Donald and his lawyers; however, the first course of action would be to contest Shelly’s move instead of the NBA for the time being.
10:06pm: Mental health experts had recently declared Donald Sterling to be mentally incapacitated, leaving Shelly Sterling as sole trustee with power to sell the team, ESPN learns (tweet via Ramona Shelburne).
8:10pm: Ballmer’s winning bid could postpone a vote scheduled for Tuesday to remove Donald Sterling from the NBA by terminating the team’s ownership, a source tells Ken Berger of CBS Sports.
7:52pm: There is now a signed, binding agreement between Ballmer and the Sterling family trust to sell the Clippers for $2 billion. The deal will reportedly go straight to the NBA for approval and will not need to be signed off by Donald Sterling (All Twitter links courtesy of ESPN LA’s Ramona Shelburne).
7:47pm: Blecher added that Sterling “already has a couple billion dollars, so (he) could not care less” about Ballmer’s $2 billion bid (Chang relays via Twitter).
7:38pm: Max Blecher, Sterling’s lawyer, tells Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times that his “belief is (Donald) will not sell the team” (Twitter link, hat tip to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated).
7:28pm: Rainey has edited his original report, now saying that Ballmer “appears to have won” the bid.
7:16pm: David Geffen confirms that he and his investment group – which includes Larry Ellison, Oprah, and Laurene Jobs – have withdrawn from bidding for the Clippers (Twitter link via ESPN’s Darren Rovell).
6:58pm: One source tells Dakota Smith of the L.A. Daily News that a final sale isn’t a done deal and that no winning bid has been picked yet. Smith also hears that the Los Angeles Times “jumped the gun” by reporting the deal, and that news of the sale was leaked from another bidder (Twitter links).
6:46pm: Per Jack Wang of the L.A. Daily News, Blecher says via e-mail that Donald Sterling “is resisting and will resist any sale of the team forced by the NBA” (Twitter link).
6:40pm: A source tells ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne that negotiations are still ongoing. Max Blecher – Donald Sterling’s lawyer – says that his client hasn’t signed off on any sale (Twitter links).
6:02pm: Steve Ballmer has won the bid to purchase the Clippers franchise for two billion dollars, reports James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times. As reported earlier today, the former Microsoft CEO was deemed the early favorite in the bidding process. Ballmer’s notable competitors – namely L.A.-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included entertainment mogul David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group – topped their bids at $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion respectively.
Most importantly, as Rainey points out, the deal still needs approval from Donald Sterling. The embattled current Clippers owner – who initially gave his wife the go-ahead to negotiate a sale of the team – recently changed his mind, and would reportedly be open to selling the club only if the NBA were to drop its allegations against him in addition to possibly making a few concessions.
The other 29 NBA owners would also have to give their approval in order to complete the sale, and Rainey writes that Ballmer is expected to clear that hurdle as long as he pledges to keep the Clippers in Los Angeles and not move them to Seattle, where he lives. Ballmer was part of a group led by Chris Hansen that ultimately failed to purchase the Kings with the intent to re-locate them to the Emerald City. In a recent interview, however, Ballmer pointed out that he would have no plans to move the team.
Donald Sterling To Sue NBA For $1 Billion
SATURDAY, 11:03am: Sterling has filed the suit in a Los Angeles federal court, reports Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. Lester Munson of ESPN.com details why Sterling’s efforts are likely futile.
FRIDAY, 4:58pm: The league is confident it has the legal position necessary to ward off Sterling’s lawsuit and transfer the Clippers to Ballmer, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link). That also appears to indicate the NBA would approve Ballmer as an owner, though the league has made no public statement to that effect.
4:12pm: Donald Sterling plans to file a lawsuit for $1 billion against the NBA, attorney Max Blecher tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report from Tim Stelloh of NBC News. He’s also considering a suit against wife Shelly Sterling, Blecher says to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles (Twitter link). The league is still planning a hearing on Tuesday to strip ownership of the team from the Sterling family trust in the wake of Shelly Sterling’s deal to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.
The suit alleges an invasion of Donald Sterling’s constitutional rights, violation of anti-trust laws and breach of fiduciary duty, Blecher says in an email to Shelburne. He’s also seeking recompense for damages brought on by the NBA’s lifetime ban and the allegations the league is bringing against him as it seeks to forcibly strip him of ownership (Twitter links).
Litigation from Donald Sterling has been expected ever since the beginning of the fiasco involving his racially charged statements on a recording. Sterling reportedly agreed earlier this month to let his wife conduct a sale of the team, but he apparently changed his mind, prompting Shelly Sterling to exercise her right to exert sole power over the family trust that owns the Clippers. Donald Sterling’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s Disease earlier this month prompted neurologists to declare him mentally incapacitated, giving his wife control of the trust, as Shelburne reported.
Blecher tells Shelburne that this suit has nothing to do with the sale of the team, and says to Wojnarowski that Donald Sterling is considering separate legal action to stop the sale (Twitter links). Bobby Samini, another attorney representing Donald Sterling, told Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that there could be no sale of the Clippers without Donald Sterling’s signature, in spite of Shelly Sterling’s apparent control of the family trust. Donald Sterling doesn’t intend to sell the Clippers, Samini added.
And-Ones: Hansen, Blazers, Aldridge, Love
Despite losing one his biggest and wealthiest partners in Steve Ballmer to the Clippers, Chris Hansen remains committed to bringing a team to Seattle, according to an article by The Associated Press. Hansen said that environmental reviews on a proposed arena are nearing completion and “we will soon be in a strong position to attract a franchise to Seattle“, the article notes.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Jeff Kramer of SB Nation looks at why it would be a good move for LaMarcus Aldridge to sign a contract extension with the Trail Blazers.
- The Trail Blazers face a difficult decision in regards to free agent guard Mo Williams, writes Roger Gregory of The Oregonian. Williams decided to opt out of the second year of his deal and become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- The staff at Basketball Insiders (video link) debate the best landing spot for Kevin Love, should the Timberwolves decide to trade him.
- According to Phil Jackson, the Knicks intend to approach other teams in an effort to buy a draft pick, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
- Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report looks at what the $2 Billion sale of the Clippers means for the Lakers.
Pacific Notes: Thompson, Clippers, Kings
Warriors GM Bob Myers said that Klay Thompson is a “top-5 shooting who will be paid a lot of money in the future“, tweets Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. Thompson has one more year remaining on his rookie deal, and has also been mentioned to possibly be included in trade discussions with the Timberwolves involving Kevin Love.
More from out of the Pacific Division:
- Jon Krawczynski of USA Today examines the Clippers worth and the factors that may have contributed to Steve Ballmer’s $2 Billion dollar bid for the team.
- The huge price that Steve Ballmer is willing to pay for the Clippers doesn’t make a lot of sense for someone who is such an astute businessman, writes Paul Newberry of USA Today. Newberry also believes that Ballmer will eventually try and move the team to Seattle.
- The Kings own the eighth overall pick in this June’s NBA Draft. Steven Wilson of NBA.com rounds up who the various mock drafts have Sacramento selecting.
Central Rumors: Bucks, Pistons, Pacers
Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry told Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times that the team would retain GM John Hammond, assistant GM David Morway and coach Larry Drew for next season, but fellow co-owner Wesley Edens wouldn’t confirm that, according to Woelfel. Edens is the team’s representative on the Board of Governors, which would appear to give him final say. Bucks officials and executives around the league told Woelfel that former owner Herb Kohl became “livid” with Hammond last season, and that Kohl, had he not sold the team, would have fired the GM, Woelfel hears. There’s more on the Bucks amid the latest from the Central Division:
- Steve Ballmer and Chris Hansen bid $650MM for the Bucks earlier this year, with plans to move them to Seattle, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Kohl rejected the bid in favor of Edens and Lasry, who’ve pledged to keep the team in Milwaukee, but the indirect role Ballmer played in pushing for new arenas in Milwaukee, Minnesota and Sacramento is part of why the NBA finds him appealing for the Clippers, Windhorst hears.
- Pistons boss Stan Van Gundy calls Andre Drummond and soon-to-be restricted free agent Greg Monroe an “ideal pairing,” but he also points to their shortcomings on defense and the team’s struggles with those two in the lineup together with Josh Smith. Keith Langlois of Pistons.com has that and more from his conversation with Van Gundy.
- The Pistons hired Brendan Malone and Bob Beyer as assistant coaches and cut ties with assistants Rasheed Wallace, Henry Bibby and Bernard Smith, the team formally announced. Beyer leaves the Hornets to take the job in Detroit. John Loyer, who served as the team’s interim head coach last season, remains as an assistant, but there’s a decent chance the team will reassign him, tweets Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
- The NBA’s revenue sharing system paid the Pacers $15MM last season, multiple sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who also hears that the Grizzlies received that amount, too.
Fallout From Ballmer’s Deal To Buy Clippers
Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion bid for the Clippers is set to smash the record sales price for an NBA team, set just two weeks ago when the NBA approved the $550MM sale of the Bucks. The deal faces hurdles, including the NBA’s official OK, but the former Microsoft CEO seems ready to take the helm.
“I love basketball,” Ballmer said in a statement, as ESPN.com notes. “And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win — and win big — in Los Angeles. L.A. is one of the world’s great cities — a city that embraces inclusiveness, in exactly the same way that the NBA and I embrace inclusiveness. I am confident that the Clippers will in the coming years become an even bigger part of the community.”
Here’s more in the wake of the deal between Ballmer and Shelly Sterling:
- Bobby Samini, one of many attorneys for Donald Sterling, insisted Thursday afternoon to Andrea Chang of the Los Angeles Times that there will be no sale without a signature from the banned Clippers owner. That’s despite a ruling from mental health experts that Donald Sterling is incapacitated, which transfers power over the Clippers to Shelly Sterling according to the rules of the Sterling family trust.
- All involved with the sale are bracing for a legal challenge from Donald Sterling, but they’re confident the deal will come to fruition, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- The arrangement would give Ballmer 100% ownership of the team, but he agreed to let Shelly Sterling continue to associate with the franchise in some capacity other than ownership, ESPN.com reports.
- The Sterlings will have to pay $662MM in capital gains taxes on the sale, accountant Robert Raiola tells ESPN.com for the same piece.
- The deal drew a thumbs-up from some Clippers players, including Blake Griffin, who spoke to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s a great move for us,” Griffin said. “I think it’s putting the final piece to the puzzle together. It kind of allows everybody to go back to focusing on the real goal, and that’s putting 100% of everything into winning a championship for Los Angeles from our side.”
- Other players around the league, including Ty Lawson and Andrew Bogut, took to Twitter to marvel at the $2 billion price tag and express misgivings about the NBA’s assertion during 2011 collective bargaining agreement talks that teams were losing money (hat tip to Grantland’s Zach Lowe).
- The NBA has wanted Ballmer as an owner since the SuperSonics left Seattle, so the league probably sees this deal as a win, observes Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter). It’s probably a loss for Seattle, tweets Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, as Ballmer was the primary financial backer of last year’s bid for the Kings. Ballmer has said he wouldn’t move the Clippers out of Los Angeles.
NBA Willing To Postpone Sterling Hearing
3:20pm: Ballmer is the early favorite in the bidding process, Shelburne tweets.
2:39pm: The NBA will postpone its Tuesday hearing on Donald Sterling’s fate as owner of the Clippers if the league gets a “favorable impression” of the bidding group that emerges as Shelly Sterling’s choice, reports Michael McCann of SI.com. The league would keep the hearing on hold while it vetted the prospective owners, and, if it approves them, there’d presumably be no need for the hearing, since Sterling and wife Shelly Sterling would no longer own the team. The league’s preferred outcome is for the Sterlings to voluntarily sell the team, as it would like to avoid having to forcibly strip ownership, according to McCann.
The NBA is intent on resolving the Clippers ownership situation by the beginning of next season, McCann writes. The vetting process usually takes at least a month, though the NBA has already screened some of the candidates to buy the team, as TNT’s David Aldridge noted Wednesday. One such bidder is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, though there are conflicting reports about whether he’s submitted a bid to Shelly Sterling, who began working with potential buyers last week after Donald Sterling gave her his blessing to do so. He’s apparently changed his mind and will only sell the team if the NBA withdraws its allegations against him, with perhaps further conditions attached to his would-be cooperation.
The NBA was to vote on taking the team away from the Sterlings at the end of Tuesday’s Board of Governors meeting. Donald Sterling is still pondering a lawsuit against the NBA, which banned him for life and fined him $2.5MM. Shelly Sterling is willing to sell 100% of the team, which the league would demand if it were to accept any deal she strikes, though she’s arranging for a non-ownership role with the team as part of negotiations with the bidders. It’s unclear if the NBA would go along with that.
Latest On Potential Clippers Sale
2:22pm: Shelly Sterling is arranging for a continued association with the team in some capacity other than as owner as she negotiates with the bidders, according to Shelburne. The ESPN scribe also reports that Magic Johnson is not a part of the Ellison-Geffen-Winfrey bid at present (Twitter links).
1:36pm: A source tells Ronald Grover of Reuters that Ballmer has not submitted a bid, while Grover also hears that the value of the Ellison-Geffen-Winfrey group bid is more than $1.5 billion.
12:28pm: Shelly Sterling has let bidders for the Clippers know that she intends to sell 100% of the Clippers, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. That would seemingly satisfy one of the league’s conditions for allowing her to conduct the sale of the club, but Donald Sterling intends to put up resistance. Attorney Maxwell Blecher, one of Donald Sterling’s lawyers, tells Shelburne that the banned owner changed his mind and doesn’t want to sell the team after deciding last week to let his wife do so (Twitter link). Blecher tells James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times that if Donald Sterling were to agree to sell the club, he’d want the NBA to drop its allegations against him and perhaps make additional concessions.
Some bidders are concerned in the wake of Donald Sterling’s renewed fight that he’s just trying to gauge the market price of the team for use in a lawsuit against the NBA, Shelburne hears. Still, Blecher informed Shelburne that Donald Sterling hasn’t decided whether he wants to sue the league (Twitter links).
Three groups have already submitted initial bids to Shelly Sterling, as Rainey details. A consortium that includes Los Angeles investors Antony Ressler, Bruce Karsh and Grant Hill has bid $1.2 billion. People within the league see the group as viable, and Ressler is reportedly a longtime friend of Donald Sterling. Another bid comes from Todd Boehly and Mark Walter of the Guggenheim Partners and includes Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and luminaries David Geffen and Oprah Winfrey. Magic Johnson would presumably be aligned with that group, though Rainey makes no mention of the one-time Lakers star. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mounted a bid of his own, and it’s worth $1.8 billion, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com.
A couple of other groups received extensions on a Wednesday deadline, so more bids are expected today, and negotiations will persist this weekend toward Shelly Sterling’s goal of having a deal in place or reasonably close by Monday, Shelburne reports (Twitter links). The NBA’s Board of Governors will hold a hearing on the Sterling matter Tuesday, and the meeting is set to end with a vote on whether to strip ownership from both of the Sterlings. It remains to be seen whether the league will approve any sale that Shelly Sterling presents to them or just how Donald Sterling’s interference will affect the proceedings.
Darren Collison To Opt Out, Become Free Agent
Clippers point guard Darren Collison has decided to turn down the nearly $1.986MM player option on his contract and hit free agency this summer, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The move has been widely expected after a season in which Collison turned around his career, proving his worth as an ace reserve after failing as a starter the past two seasons.
The client of BDA Sports Management has a strong preference for the Clippers, though he won’t rule out signing with another team, according to Haynes. The Donald Sterling saga clouds the future of the Clippers franchise, and agents have suggested that players will avoid signing with the team this summer. However, the fiasco surrounding the banned owner’s racist comments strengthened the bond between the players in the locker room, and it’s what has Collison leaning toward returning, Haynes hears.
The 26-year-old averaged 11.4 points in a career-low 25.9 minutes per game this past season. Most of his appearances were as a bench player, but he still made 35 starts as the team compensated for injuries to Chris Paul and J.J. Redick. His 3.7 assists per game were well below his career average of 4.9, but much of that had to do with the presence of Paul, the NBA’s leader in assists per game this season. Collison shot 37.6% from behind the arc this past season, his best mark since he was a rookie in 2009/10.
The Clippers were in serious talks about a trade that would have sent him to the Knicks at the deadline, but L.A. pulled out of discussions before they bore fruit. Clippers coach and front office chief Doc Rivers spoke highly of Collison during the season, suggesting he was reluctant to give up such a reliable member of his bench.
He’ll be able to command a raise on the open market, and the capped-out Clippers only have his Non-Bird rights. The most they’ll be able to pay him without dipping into other exceptions would be 120% of his salary from this past season, which probably won’t be enough to keep him. The team has more than $66MM in commitments for next season, though that doesn’t include nearly $4MM in non-guaranteed salary on Jamal Crawford‘s salary that the Clippers will almost certainly pick up. The rise in the projected tax line to $77MM will probably allow the team to use the full $5.305MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level to re-sign Collison or chase another free agent.
Latest On Sterlings, Clippers
9:26pm: Shelly Sterling and her advisers are reviewing the initial bids from five groups interested in purchasing the Clippers, according to an article by the Sports Xchange (via The Chicago Tribune). The bids are in the $1 billion to $1.2 billion range, the article notes.
WEDNESDAY, 8:36am: Shelly Sterling has set a deadline of this morning for initial bids on the Clippers, according to Shelburne, and she’s seeking binding bids before Tuesday’s Board of Governors hearing, report Brian Mahoney and Tami Abdollah of The Associated Press. Still, it’s unclear whether the league would accept any sale that she attempts to orchestrate. Donald Sterling wants June 3rd hearing dismissed and denies every charge the NBA has levied against him, Shelburne notes. The banned Clippers owner threatens legal action, claims he would be unable to receive a fair hearing and says he never intended to hurt the league with his racially charged statements, as Shelburne writes.
In claiming that the league is treating him inequitably, Sterling points to a gay slur that Kobe Bryant once directed at a referee. That argument likely doesn’t hold water, since players are governed by the collective bargaining agreement, rather than the league’s constitution and by-laws, which sets forth rules for owners, as Michael McCann of SI.com explains. Sterling also references the actions of Magic owner Rich DeVos, who has, according to Sterling, “made highly controversial comments against individuals with HIV/AIDS and generously supports anti-homosexual causes,” Shelburne reports.
TUESDAY, 10:19pm: Shelly Sterling’s statement has been issued, but the NBA plans to move forward with the June 3rd vote, tweets Shelburne.
Donald Sterling’s lawyer tells Shelburne that his client disavows the agreement he has with Shelly Sterling to sell the team for him, and will fight being forced to sell the team “to the bloody end” (Twitter links). For what it’s worth, the lawyer was unaware of the specifics of the agreement between the Sterlings, and Donald Sterling’s strategy has been anything but steady to this point.
8:15pm: Donald Sterling has issued a response to the NBA’s charges against him, maintaining his claim that the league’s attempt to oust him from owning the Clippers is illegal, reports Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. Shelly Sterling is planning to issue her own statement asserting her position as a bystander, a source tells Schrotenboer. The deadline to respond to the NBA’s charges is tonight, and the league is set to vote on the commissioner’s plan to remove the Sterlings from ownership on June 3.
Shelly Sterling, whom Donald Sterling (but not the league) authorized to manage the sale of the team, has enlisted Bank of America in efforts to sell the team prior to the June 3 vote. She is in talks with at least six bidders that Ramona Shelburne and Darren Rovell of ESPN.com have learned of. She received a “strong” offer from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to purchase the team and keep it in Los Angeles, a person familiar with the negotiations tells Schrotenboer. Donald Sterling’s statement asserts that he has already received offers of over $2.5 billion for the team, per Schrotenboer.
The league would have to approve any sale of the team, and a spokesman reiterated to Scott Cacciola of The New York Times that it would only authorize a voluntary sale in which the Sterlings didn’t retain any interest in the team. While Shelly Sterling’s lawyer told Cacciola that she is working in cooperation with the league on the sale, there is no indication that she is no longer working to keep a minority stake in the team.