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Shelly's Sterling's Quick Clippers Sale Hits a Snag
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
June 9, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Clippers’ owner 80-year-Donald Sterling’s attorney
Maxwell Blecher threw a monkey wrench into his wife Shelly Sterling’s sale of
the team today notifying the NBA that the deal’s off. Shelly made a quick-and-dirty deal
June 4 with former 58-year-old Microsoft billionaire CEO Steve Balmer. NBA officials headed by Adam Silver
quickly rubber stamped the deal made by Shelly without her husband’s signature,
officially removed May 31 because of mental “incapacitation,” triggering a
condition in the Sterling Family Trust for Shelly to remove Donald as
co-trustee. When she struck the
deal with Balmer June 4, Shelly believed she had the sole authority to
consummate the $2 billion deal without her husband’s signature. Donald’s not-so-young attorney now
says his client won’t sell the team.
Blecher now says Sterling’s $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA goes
forward.
Racing into probate court, Shelly hopes to get a judge to allow the sale
to proceed per the conditions of the estate agreement without Donald’s
signature. Blecher contends that
Donald’s 14 th Amendment rights to due process have been compromised first by V.
Stiviano’s unlawful secret recording and now Shelly’s mental evaluation
performed at Cedars Sinai Medical Center indicating that the octogenarian
suffered from some kind of cognitive impairment, perhaps Alzheimer’s disease. Blecher denied his client is mentally impaired suggesting that his own psychiatrists
would give a very different picture of Donald’s mental health. Blecher apparently didn’t see CNN’s
Anderson Copper’s May 12 interview that showcased on national TV Sterling’s
undeniable cognitive impairments.
Since the story of Sterling’s racist remarks went viral on TMZ Sports April 26,
Sterling has dropped off the media radar.
Sterling’s disappearance, reemergence on CNN and now disappearance again,
speaks volumes about his inability to speak to the public because of cognitive
impairments. Blecher’s self-serving
suggesting that Sterling’s not that far off completely ignores the reports of
two Cedar Sinai neurologists or neuro-psychologists indicating the Sterling
indeed suffers from cognitive impairment.
Racing back to court, Shelly hopes to have a judge reconfirm the Trust’s
provision that removes Donald because of mental incapacity. There’s no way any probate judge can
do what Shelly wants without more thorough neurological examinations. Blecher’s correct to say that
Sterling’s own handpicked neurologist or even an independently-appointed one
could come to different conclusions.
Sterling’s cognitive impairments could be at a stage where honest
professionals see things differently.
“The team is not for sale,” Blecher said June 9, signaling that
Sterling’s $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA goes forward. Citing Sterling’s former mistress’s
illegal recordings, Blecher contends that the NBA had no grounds for
Commissioner Silver to fine Sterling $2.5 million and ban him for life. What Blecher doesn’t get is that the
NBA has a right under its constitution to terminate any owner, player, coach or
anyone else for harming the NBA brand.
Sterling’s racist rant, whether legally or illegally recorded, can’t be
removed from the public record.
When the NBA Players Assn. threatened to boycott the playoff, Silver was forced
to apply Sterling’s lifetime ban.
Sterling tried to apologize for his tirade in Cooper’s interview, only to hurt
his credibility lashing out at Earvin “Magic” Johnson. By the time Cooper’s interview
ended, he left little doubt about Sterling’s mental incompetence.
Cooper himself concurred with Blecher but for all the wrong reasons. He knew as a journalist it breached
any sense of ethics to interview someone cognitively impaired. “I have decided that I must fight to
protect my rights,” Sterling said through his attorney. “While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the
preservation of my right to due process should not be trampled,” going back to
the same empty arguments. Blecher knows that his client is part of a private franchise organization that reserves
the rights, without litigation, to terminate ownership agreements if they damage
the league. Sterling’s ugly rant caused cancellations of numerous sponsors unwilling to do business
with the Clippers or the NBA.
Sterling hasn’t had his 14th Amendment rights compromised, he’s sold his team
for a whopping profit because of the NBA’s successful brand.
Rushing to probate court, Shelly could open up a can of worms regarding
the mental incapacity of her 80-year-old estranged husband. While it’s true that the Sterling Family Trust—as most trusts—can change trustees due to
incapacity, Sterling’s cognitive decline falls into a murky zone where honest
professionals could disagree about Sterling’s disability. Shelly’s contention that two
neurological reports render Donald incapacitated for the purposes of serving as
trustee can be contested easily.
What can’t be contested is Sterling’s breach of his NBA franchise agreement that
permits the league to terminate the agreement without notice for harming the
league. Whatever Sterling’s mental
state, the NBA has a right to terminate his franchise agreement for harming the
league. Whatever Sterling’s 14th
amendment rights, they have nothing to do with selling the Clippers for
fair-market-value.
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