Via ESPN: In a reversal,Los Angeles Clippersowner Donald Sterling will pursue a $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver, and withdraw his support for the sale of the team negotiated by his wife.
“I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights,” Sterling said Monday in a letter circulated widely among those involved in the sale and obtained by ESPN.com. “While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled.”
Here’s the letter he sent out yesterday:
The Team is not for Sale
I would like to clarify some issues regarding the Los Angeles Clippers and affiliated matters. From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers. I have worked for 33 years to build the Team.
To be clear, I am extremely sorry for the hurtful statements I made privately. I made those statements in anger and out of jealousy all in the context of a private conversation. While this is not an excuse for the statements, like every other American, I never imagined that my private conversation would be made public.
Many things have been said about me in the media which are not true. I believe that Adam Silver acted in haste by illegally ordering the forced sale of the Clippers, banning me for life from the NBA and imposing the fine. Adam Silver’s conduct in doing so without conducting any real investigation was wrong.
The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans.
I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights. While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled.
I love the team and have dedicated 33 years of my life to the organization. I intend to fight to keep the Team.
I’ll be honest. I don’t know what the outcome of all this will be, but one thing is for sure, when you’re a billionaire, you can do pretty much anything you want. All last week we heard about the sale of the Clippers. How Sterling was on board, how the NBA was on board, how Steve Ballmer was finally getting his NBA franchise. Media Outlets spent days profiling Ballmer and his past attempts at securing a sports franchise. They talked about $2 Billion in cash, would he move the team to Seattle and about the job he had done at Microsoft. It seemed that everyone had moved on.
That’s when being a billionaire becomes the most important thing in the conversation. Donald Sterling just used his money to throw a wrench in the NBA’s plan. Again, I’m not sure if it’s going to work but for Sterling, this looks more like his last attempt at puffing out his chest and showing the world he’s not going down without a fight. He’s old, he’s tired and he doesn’t give a shit what other people think. That’s something I wouldn’t want to deal with if I was Adam Silver, Steve Ballmer and the rest of the people who want Sterling gone.
Stay tuned.