BIGOTED NBA OWNER

[BlueTiki]

Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, and Larry Ellison

There's gotta be a punchline in this, somewhere.

"A Black woman and two old Jews . . . "

[Blindgreed1]

I don't know if Magic Johnson and his investors are really all that interested, but Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, and Larry Ellison seemed very serious about making a bid for joint ownership of the team.

Honestly, I think ownership of the Clippers will remain with the Sterlings for years to come using legal strategies that can (and will successfully, IMO) be invoked to stall or prevent a forced sell.
Anyway, I was happy that there was little mention of the Sterling drama during the play-off game coverage -- fun to watch the players and the coach advancing to the highest league ranking in the team's history without the ownership drama taking center court.

That makes two of us.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, and Larry Ellison

There's gotta be a punchline in this, somewhere.

"A Black woman and two old Jews . . . "

Are you discriminating against fags!?

Why no reference to the glaring opportunity to toss homosexuality into the pending punch line?

It'll be interesting to see whether the billionaires' club is still interested in ownership once the spotlight on the controversy dims and the legal proceedings drag on.

[BlueTiki]

Are you discriminating against fags!?

Why no reference to the glaring opportunity to toss homosexuality into the pending punch line?

What! And ruin Dono's and BG's weekend?

I do exercise some restraint.

Besides . . . Ellison isn't gay!

Oh wait . . . you're not buying that whole Gayle/Oprah thing, are you?

[Maggot]

Oprah is so rich she can be gay if she wants.

[Duchess]

I'm still feeling the need to defend the old guy & more than sick of black people expressing shock & outrage. Bitch, please, is what I want to say every time I come across one. Some talk about him like he's Hitler.

[BlueTiki]

I'm still feeling the need to defend the old guy & more than sick of black people expressing shock & outrage.

The NBA is to basketball as Boko Haram is to Islam.

Both use shaming to circumvent secular and legal rights.

Why not be honest and state the "N" in the NBA stands for "Niggers"?

[Duchess]

Why not be honest and state the "N" in the NBA stands for "Niggers"?

Well, it sure looks that way. When Jay Z owned the Nets it was suggested he call them the New York Niggers.

As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots — what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new “urban” home — why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?

Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York Niggers? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn Bitches or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!

[Duchess]

I'm watching Anderson interview Donald Sterling and Donald is talking about V and saying what a lovely, sweet, kind hearted girl she is. She's everything a man wants in a woman. He suddenly says to Anderson, haven't you ever met a woman who is the complete package, someone who is everything you could want. Hahaha. The look on Anderson's face was priceless.

[Duchess]

ESPN is reporting that Donald Sterling has agreed to allow his wife to negotiate the sale of the Clippers.

[BlueTiki]

ESPN is reporting that Donald Sterling has agreed to allow his wife to negotiate the sale of the Clippers.

I still think it's a fucked-up world when someone can take your business based on private utterances, that hurt no one or was illegal, and punish the wife, too.

Makes me want to sell my primary vehicle and buy a Ford.

[Duchess]

I still think it's a fucked-up world when someone can take your business based on private utterances, that hurt no one or was illegal, and punish the wife, too.

It IS fucked up. I don't agree with it at all. Like a dufus, I keep thinking this is the United States of America, that kind of shit isn't supposed to happen here.

[HairOfTheDog]

I'll believe that the Sterlings are gonna negotiate a speedy sale without a long drawn-out court battle when I see it.

That ESPN report cited mostly "unnamed sources" when it's not like Donald, Shelly and their attorneys have been shy about addressing the media directly.

It's quite possible to me that Donald and Shelly, the king and queen of litigation against everybody and their brother (including a former mistress) are weighing the potential cost of exposure for other business activities that would likely come up in court vs. the benefit of keeping the Clippers in the family.

Just last week, Shelly Sterling and her attorneys made public statements that she will fight all the way to keep the Clippers in the family. A couple of weeks back, Donald Sterling's attorney said the same, and also proclaimed that Sterling was not going to pay the $2.5 million fine.

The Sterlings are all over the map in terms of their relationship with each other, his relationship with Stiviano, and their strategy for dealing with the NBA rulings to date.

They're a unique and unpredictable couple, to say the least. They may be ready to sell, but I'd not be surprised if they were far from throwing in the towel and instead perhaps floating a story of conceding while they bide time and solidify a strategy. JMO.

Related refs:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sterl...tml#page=1
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/05/12...-clippers/
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/15/us/don...rling-nba/

[Duchess]

There oughtta be a law against that unnamed sources bullshit.

[HairOfTheDog]

There oughtta be a law against that unnamed sources bullshit.

Well, here's how it's all played out. It's not exactly as those unnamed sources specified, but it's sure not what I expected and nothing any of the pundits seemed to see coming either.

CLIPPERS SOLD -- NBA APPROVAL IN PROCESS
Shelly Sterling sold the team for $2 billion (the second highest price ever paid for a sports franchise in North America). However, the buyer is none of the famous names who'd expressed interest. The Clippers were instead purchased by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Geffen's bid was $1.6 billion.

HOW THE BID/SELL WAS EXECUTED WITHOUT DONALD STERLING
Donald didn't really "agree" to let Shelly sell the team as previously reported. He is reportedly objecting to the sell, but the transaction is moving forward because Shelly became the sole trustee after Donald was declared "mentally incapacitated" by a couple of neurologists a few weeks back. Alzheimer's speculation has been tossed out there in some reports, too. No medical details or confirmation has been released (and not sure it could be due to HIPAA).

Donald Sterling and his attorney say the medical reports are being vastly exaggerated and he's far from incapacitated.

JMO
I don't know if Shelly pushed for the evaluations/diagnoses (they were done after it was ruled that the NBA could/would legally block Donald from transferring ownership to her). But, those diagnoses allowed her to legally gain control of future decisions and financials. She got control put in her hands and, assuming the NBA approves Ballmer, wrangled a hell of a payday.

Donald's "mentally incapacitated" diagnosis will probably help Shelly in her case against Stiviano as well -- "yeah, okay, he gave her all that money and those gifts willingly, but he wasn't of the right mind to do so with joint assets" kinda thing.


Sources:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/l...story.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30...19415.html

[Duchess]

Donald was declared "mentally incapacitated" by a couple of neurologists a few weeks back.

Wow! If I was aware of that it completely slipped my mind.

I didn't think this would happen. I thought that old man would spend millions stickin' to his guns.

[HairOfTheDog]

Donald was declared "mentally incapacitated" by a couple of neurologists a few weeks back.

Wow! If I was aware of that it completely slipped my mind.

I didn't think this would happen. I thought that old man would spend millions stickin' to his guns.

All these "diagnoses" happened very quickly -- within the last few weeks.

If Donald Sterling had it his way, he would still be sticking to his guns.

He was indeed forced to sell, in the end -- by his wife -- just before the NBA Board of Governors are scheduled to vote on whether to force the sell (expected to be a resounding "yes" vote).

Donald's reportedly claiming that the sell to Ballmer isn't legal without his approval -- he's still trying to stick to his guns, but he's not qualified to be holding his guns (according to alleged medical evaluations) and that will likely prevent him from doing anything about it.

[HairOfTheDog]

The fat lady has sung...

Steve Ballmer became the official owner of the Clippers yesterday. Donald Sterling has been contesting his wife's right to sell the team, but he lost that legal battle and it doesn't look like his appeal will ever be heard.

Snip:
The sale of the Clippers closed after "the entry of an order by a California court confirming the authority of Shelly Sterling, on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust, to sell the team," the NBA said Tuesday.

"The NBA Board of Governors previously approved the sale and Ballmer is now the Clippers Governor," the basketball league said.

Pierce O'Donnell, an attorney for Shelly Sterling, said Tuesday evening that he had filed court papers opposing Donald Sterling's petition to an appeals court to direct the probate judge to vacate his order. He said the issue was moot because the family trust had received the $2 billion already.

"Donald Sterling's petitions are patently frivolous," he said.

Ballmer's attorney, Adam Streisand, agreed the legal move would fail.

"I'm confident the appellate court will agree (California probate Judge Michael) Levanas made the correct decision, and it's all academic now, because we already have a new owner of the Clippers," Streisand said.

On Ballmer's behalf, Streisand devised a legal strategy in probate court using "a provision so rarely invoked that most probate attorneys were unaware of its existence before the Sterling case," his law firm said.

That provision, called Section 1310(b), "authorizes the probate court to make an order to permit a trustee to carry out a transaction even if the court's decision is appealed to a higher court if delay would cause irreparable injury or loss," Streisand's law firm said.

Full story: http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/12/us/sterlin...?hpt=hp_t4
=========================================

Play ball...

[Maggot]

Bailiff........cut another corner off the constitution.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bailiff........cut another corner off the constitution.

How so, Maggot? His freedom of speech wasn't denied.

He violated a conduct clause to which he agreed contractually. It sucks that Donald Sterling trusted someone who betrayed him and made that private conduct public (still haven't seen him deny having told people to record their conversations with him). But, The Clippers are an NBA team, made up of NBA players, and there are NBA fans to consider. They wanted him essentially fired and not getting rid of him could have really hurt the team and the franchise league (image-wise and financially).

You support businesses' rights to refuse service to people who they believe to be gay. How's that fundamentally different from an organization refusing to license its business to someone because they believe he's a bigot?