04-22-2019, 01:47 AM
LOS ANGELES -- A trial will be held next month to determine whether Donald Sterling, who opposes his estranged wifes planned sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, was properly removed as an administrator for the family trust that owns the team. A probate court judge in Los Angeles Wednesday denied Shelly Sterlings urgent request to confirm her authority as sole administrator of The Sterling Family Trust so that she can unilaterally proceed with a $2 billion sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Instead, the judge agreed to an expedited hearing because of looming sales deadlines. The development is the latest in a legal tug-of-war following the NBAs decision to ban Donald Sterling for life after racist remarks to a girlfriend were recorded and publicized. Donald Sterling is fighting the decision and suing the league for $1 billion. The league has contended the comments were bad for business and damaged both the Clippers and the NBA. The four-day trial was granted exceptionally quickly and will begin July 7. The deadline for the sale is July 15, which also is the date the NBAs owners hope to vote on whether they will approve the sale. Court filings Wednesday indicated the NBA has set a hard deadline of Sept. 15. If the sale isnt completed then, the league will undertake proceedings to seize and sell the team on its own. Donald Sterlings lawyer, Bobby Samini, left the courthouse without comment after a clerk announced the trial schedule. Neither Sterling was present. "I just want to resolve this as quickly as possible," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told The Associated Press on Wednesday in Miami at an NBA Cares event. The crux of the case will centre on the question of whether the 80-year-old Donald Sterling is mentally competent to be a co-trustee of The Sterling Family Trust, which gives him the authority to determine the teams future. According to the trusts terms, he can be ruled "mentally incapacitated" after being evaluated by two doctors, said Pierce ODonnell, Shelly Sterlings attorney. Shelly Sterling activated that clause in negotiating what would be a record-breaking deal with Ballmer as sole trustee. But Donald Sterling challenged the removal in a letter sent Monday to his wifes attorney said "any attempt to remove me as a Trustee of the Sterling Trust is invalid and illegal. Furthermore, any assertion that I am incapacitated... is false and without merit." According to court documents, two doctors examined Donald Sterling in May and concluded that he suffers from "mild cognitive impairment consistent with early Alzheimers Disease" or some other forms of brain disease after examining brain scans and having him undergo other tests. "In my opinion he is substantially unable to manage his finances and resist fraud and undue influence, and is no longer competent to act as trustee of his trust," concluded Dr. James E. Spar, who is affiliated with the division of geriatric psychiatry at UCLA. Sterling voluntarily went to the doctors at the request of his wife, according to a person with knowledge of the proceedings who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details publicly. A third doctor reviewed the two doctors findings as well as Sterlings brain scans and concurred with their conclusions that he "lacks the capacity to function as trustee." Donald Sterlings attorney, Maxwell Blecher, contested the doctors findings in remarks Tuesday to The Associated Press. "Anybody at his age level on a brain scan would probably show some impairment. But that doesnt mean you forget where your car keys are and youre incompetent," Blecher said. "There isnt the slightest evidence hes incapable of managing his affairs." Donald Sterling said in a statement that hes not just fighting for the Clippers but taking a stand against the NBA, which he called "a band of hypocrites and bullies" and "despicable monsters" who want "to take away our privacy rights and freedom of speech." "As Ive said previously, if Donald chooses to litigate against us, so be it," Silver said. "So its going to take longer than we had hoped for this transaction to close, but itll get done ultimately. Its just a question of time." Ballmers attorney, Adam Streisand, said he was pleased with the trial schedule and "confident that after the trial the court is going to bless this transaction." The NBAs general counsel, Rick Buchanan, warned in a court papers that if the judge didnt confirm Shelly Sterlings sole trusteeship and if her deal with Ballmer "is not promptly consummated, there will be substantial harm" to the Clippers, the NBA and even The Sterling Family Trust -- the last of which would be responsible for the NBAs costs related to the legal proceedings that result. Buchanan said a recent independent survey of more than 500 Clippers fans found the majority would be less likely to support the team if Donald Sterling remained its owner. Buchanan said thousands of NBA fans worldwide have contacted the league directly or via social media to say theyre hurt or embarrassed by his views and arent sure theyll continue supporting the league and its teams. He also cited NBA player worries about the impact for the team with the upcoming NBA draft. "Mr. Sterlings continued ownership is damaging the Clippers and NBAs relationships with existing and potential business partners and licenses," Buchanan wrote. He said nearly all of the Clippers local sponsors have terminated or suspended their relationships with the team, including Adidas, Commerce Casino and Hotel, Red Bull, Mandalay Bay Hotel, Virgin America and Mercedes. Shelly Sterlings court bid aims to have a judge confirm her authority as sole trustee to ensure the Ballmer sale moves forward. Blecher said that a representative for Donald Sterling would be at any hearing, and that the next step is to have other doctors evaluate Donald Sterling. "I have no doubt at the end of the day the court is not going to say hes incompetent," Blecher said. "Thats a very high burden in the probate court -- otherwise people would get their sisters and wife and brother-in-laws and everybody declared incompetent." ------ AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report. 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Esa Tikkanen Jersey . - Jesse Shynkaruk scored a hat trick as the Moose Jaw Warriors snapped a seven-game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders in Western Hockey League action on Saturday.WASHINGTON -- The Boston Celtics were tired from playing the night before and so undermanned that they resorted to a 10-day-contract backcourt for part of the game. The Washington Wizards were again trying to erase the stigma of mediocrity. Surely, against this Celtics lineup, this would be the night they would end their long and laborious quest to get above .500. Never mind. The Celtics won. Jeff Green put the team on his shoulders and scored a season-high 39 points, while the Wizards wilted with a display of selfish basketball. Boston blew a 19-point first-half lead, but Gerald Wallace made a driving layup with 2.5 seconds remaining in overtime Wednesday night for the 113-111 victory that snapped a 10-game road losing streak. "Lot of reasons to give up," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "And they didnt do that." Green shot early and often, finishing with career-highs in 3-pointers attempted (16) and made (8). Rookie Phil Pressey added a career-high 20 points. The Celtics played without Rajon Rando, Avery Bradley and Jerryd Bayless and at one point had Chris Johnson and Vander Blue, both on 10-day contracts, on the floor together in the second quarter. "I just put myself in the position where I had to be the man to carry the team and shoot the ball," Green said. "So thats what I did." John Wall had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double for Washington, but he went 9 for 29 from the field and missed a potential game-winning, contested 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. The Wizards havent won a game to move above .500 since Halloween 2009 and have failed to win this season at 0-0, 9-9, 14-14, 19-19 and 20-20. The milestone has become such a psychological hurdle that coach Randy Wittman this week had to caution against thoughts that "all of a sudden fairy dust is going to fall on us if we get over .500." This time Wittman was angry because he said his players came down with a case of "I got mine," looking to pad their stats against a team that was supposed to be easy pickings. "I can get mine because who are we playing?" Wittman said forcefully. &quuot;You cannot screw with the basketball gods like that.dddddddddddd It always comes back to get you. ... Every player in this league can play. Theyre in the NBA. Every player can play. And if you dont give them the respect, this is what happens." Wall pleaded guilty. "It starts with me," he said. "I took too many shots tonight and didnt move the ball like were supposed to in the first half. ... For some reason, we dont go out there in that first half when weve got an opportunity to go (above) .500 and play as a team. We get to playing selfish." Bostons Rondo sat out the second half of a back-to-back in his return from major knee surgery, Bradley is sidelined for about two weeks after spraining his right ankle against the Miami Heat the night before, and recently acquired guard Bayless missed his second consecutive game with a sprained left big toe and is day to day. Stevens therefore started a lineup consisting of a backup point guard -- undrafted rookie Pressey -- and four forwards. Blue made his NBA debut after being signed earlier in the day. The Wizards played the first half as if in slow motion, but the Celtics looked like their patchwork selves in the third quarter, committing a pair of offensive fouls during an 11-0 Wizards run. Martell Webster gave the Wizards their first lead of the game with a four-point play that made the score 88-87 with 6:37 remaining in regulation, but neither team could make a clutch shot in the final minute of the fourth quarter with the score tied. Pressey had made only 6 of 38 3-pointers all season, but he went 5 for 6 from 3-point range against the Wizards. His 3-pointer in the final minute of overtime gave the Celtics a 111-108 lead. The Wizards tied the game when Marcin Gortat made 1 of 2 free throws with 13.9 seconds left in the extra period, but they couldnt stop Wallace from making the winning basket. "We had a good start to the third quarter," Wizards forward Trevor Booker said. "But other than that, we played like doo-doo." NOTES: Bostons 10-game road skid was its longest since a 12-game streak in 2007. ... Booker returned after missing one game with a sprained left ankle. ' ' '