Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling may want to crawl into the nearest cave and not show his face anytime soon. Shortly after it was announced that the Clippers have officially been sold to Steve Ballmer, comes this report from The Los Angeles Times that indicates the NBA has filed a counter-suit against Sterling on his $1 billion antitrust suit against the league (h/t Pro Basketball Talk).
The NBA filed a counterclaim against Donald Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust in federal court Monday, saying the Clippers owner caused “devastating and incalculable harm” to the league.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in response to Sterling’s June antitrust lawsuit against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver, the counterclaim seeks to recover damages related to the owner’s recorded comments denigrating blacks.
The Association claims that it spent a ton of money investigating Sterling and defending itself from the fraud lawsuit he filed against the NBA. As Pro Basketball Talk indicated, the countersuit is pretty standard. And Sterling now removed from the Clippers, is nothing more than a sideshow at this point.
There is no reason to believe that Sterling will be successful in any further litigation against the NBA. The league by-laws are pretty clear cut here. He was removed from power by the board of governors, a move that the courts have since supported. This doesn’t mean that he can’t maky it ugly for the NBA moving forward.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few months, Sterling was banned by the NBA back in April for racist remarks he made to his then girlfriend V. Stiviano.
Photo: NBA.com