America is rooting for the NBA to screw the Sterling’s, and as a result, the NBA is head down, butt up. But the passive-aggressive Sterlings will beat the overt-aggressive NBA.
During law-suit discovery, a lot of dirt will be discovered about the other team owners and other NBA staff members according to Roger Groves. I bet their lawyers will agree on exposing any evidence they can find that current owners have been complicit, accepting, acquiescing, or joking along with Donald in ways that are considered racist. The claim would be, “See these guys are just as bad, so ousting Donald is arbitrary or an antitrust-level conspiracy, and an abuse of discretion of its own rules.”
There is no clear precedent to rely upon, the risk increases that your selection of legal theory may be rejected. There is no direct prior case or authority for this ouster. There must be an interpretation and analysis of the NBA constitution, the franchise agreement with the Clippers, the family trust ownership interests, and California community property law that generally provides for equal division of assets states Groves.
Mrs. Sterling will play the sexist card; and the NBA will have to cautiously navigate avoiding “trampling” her rights as a “female team owner”. Once she files for divorce the family court form a brick wall around the assets and it will be all but impossible for the NBA to intervene in divorce court.
A settlement will be reached. Whatever the NBA crafts, states Groves, it will need to be legally precise while being scrutinized at a high level, will need to be appetizing to the Sterlings without offending the NBA players and without putting the owners in the position to have the standard imposed against them some day.
