Posted on 05/16/2014 7:35:47 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
SI.com has learned that Clippers owner Donald Sterling has hired prominent antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, who has written a letter to NBA executive vice president and general counsel Rick Buchanan threatening to sue the NBA. The letter, sources tell SI.com, claims that Sterling has done nothing wrong and that "no punishment is warranted" for Sterling. Blecher also tells Buchanan that Sterling will not pay the $2.5 million fine, which is already past due. Blecher ends the letter by saying this controversy "will be adjudicated."
Blecher's letter makes clear what many have anticipated: Donald Sterling will not go down without a fight and that he is taking active steps toward litigation. A letter of this type is considered a precursor to the filing of a lawsuit. Blecher's letter offers no ambiguity about Sterling's intentions.
"We reject your demand for payment," the letter tells Buchanan, who on May 14 informed Sterling by letter that he must pay the $2.5 million fine.
Blecher's letter goes on to identify two basic legal defenses for Sterling.
First, Blecher claims that Sterling has not violated any article of the NBA constitution. The letter curiously references Article 35, which governs players' misconduct, and several other provisions. The NBA is expected to argue that Sterling violated Article 13(d) among other provisions. Article 13 (d) bars owners from violating contractual obligations, including the obligation that owners no engage in unethical conduct or take positions adverse to the NBA. Blecher does not explain how he intends to prove Sterling's racist remarks captured on the secret recording -- followed by Sterling's incendiary remarks to Anderson Cooper about Magic Johnson -- do not give rise to unethical conduct or positions adverse to the NBA.
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
And the wife indicated she wants to keep her half of the team.
In fact, she charged the NBA is sexist if they want to take away her half of the team.
Well, well, sexism vs. racism. How can the NBA force out a woman owner? Women are under-represented among sports team owners. NBA could score one for the politically correct crowd by welcoming her as an owner.
But then, some players have said that nobody named Sterling should own the Clippers. And some players have suggested they will not play next season if any Sterling still owns the Clippers. Stay tuned.
In this instance, the due process can start out within the confines of the NBA.
suppose Donald will use this?: http://www.americasfreedomfighters.com/2014/05/15/black-nba-owner-holds-blacks-only-parties-no-whites-allowed-nba-silent/
It was reported here on FR just a week or so ago that Michael Jordan said that, as a young man, he didn’t like White people (no follow-up on his opinion these days).
The silence so far has been deafening. No castigation by the NBA, no mad rush to the exits by companies for whom he was/is a spokesman.
In short, Michael Jordan committed essentially the same sin as Paula Deen, but has not suffered the same outcome.
Isay something stupid in my home everyday. In public not so much. Don’t we all?
You don't have private property rights when you purchase an NBA team.
When this goes to court, the Contract and NBA League Agreement that Sterling was required to sign when he purchased the Clippers will be examined by the Courts.
If the courts find that Sterling violated the contract or league agreement, they'll likely uphold the fine imposed and demand for sale also.
If the courts find that Sterling did NOT violate the contract or league agreement then Commisioner Silver and the rest of the League Owners are going to be in quite a pickle aren't they?
Then again, so will Sterling. He'll either run that team into the ground via diminishing sale price and a team no one wants to play for, or he'll cut his personal/emotional losses and sell the team for 800+ million dollars.
NBA teams are not private property. Each owner had to sign a league agreement which specifies terms of ownership of the team. If those terms of ownership are violated, the league does have it in its power to fine an owner and force sale.
That's one of the "costs" of being an NBA owner.
and i wonder just what they think they are going to do... not all of them have the power to do this... this will show who is really doing it out of principal... hmmmm...
I don’t doubt that LeBron James can afford to not play. He has big endorsement deals, aside from his playing income. He’s set for life financially, if he’s managed his money properly.
But many other players, knowing they have a limited number of years to make the big bucks, and who don’t have all the endorsement deals, can’t just afford to walk away from the big paydays, to protest that some old man said something stupid.
I’ve also heard anecdotal evidence, that many NBA players have illegitimate children and related child support obligations, and have assorted hangers-on working for them, which all depends on those NBA paychecks coming in. Will they really walk out on the money, to show solidarity against Sterling having said stupid things?
Heck, Sterling pays his black players and coaches. Sterling is not discriminating against anyone in the operations of his team.
Some excellent questions
Why aren’t they being asked . . hmmm ?
In court, you can’t use evidence that was obtained illegally. Here, the only evidence that Sterling was a racist is a tape recording that was illegally made. It would be in admissible.
How can the NBA punish Sterling if they cannot prove in court that he did anything wrong?
BINGO!!!!!
I would love him to say:
I spent millions on this slut who betrayed me. I will spend hundreds of millions fighting to keep the team. Piss off all of you.
The fact is, Sterling signed a league agreement as part of the sale of the team to him back in the 1980's.
You and I do not know the language contained in that league agreement, presumably the NBA Commissioner does, and either acted in accordance with that agreement by fining Silverman and demanding sale of the team, or the NBA commissioner over-stepped the legal bounds of the leage agreement in doing so.
The matter will be decided in the courts, as it should be. If the courts find Silverman violated the terms of the league agreement, they'll likely uphold the fine and force the sale.
If the courts find out Silverman did NOT violate the terms of the league agreement, then the NBA Commish' and the rest of NBA league owners are in a world of hurt.
Pushing that aside, I'd ask this question myself: How smart is it at this point for Silverman to fight it and risk diminishing the value of the team to the point that no one will play for the Clippers or buy the team because it's value has been so diminished?
The problem that the courts will solve in this case however have nothing to do with personal property rights. Anyone who says so is either ignorant of the facts of the case, or doesn't understand that Sterling is bound by the League Owners Agreement. If he violated that agreement, he's toast.
Hitlery can say “F***ing Jew b******!” with impunity, but she’s special ...
Good for him! Fight.
i think it is different... he was a teenager at the time... he told of an incident where a girl called him a name... no one came out and accused him of being a racist/racial... with Paula Deen, she was an adult... she had accusations made against her... she didn't reveal any stories where black people harassed her to the point of making her racist... i think it says a lot about Michael Jordan to have overcome his racism against whites... he didn't stay there... he also talks about how his mother advised him not to let those feelings overtake him... i know it is not a popular perspective here, but it is mis dos centavos...
i should disclose that i am not a fan of Paula Deen and felt no sympathy toward her... i found her predicament poetic justice being that she is liberal and all, y'all...
Good points, as to what happens in a court of law.
Sterling has been convicted in the “court of public opinion”, and generated bad publicity for the league. But the legal situation is a very different thing.
This could get very interesting if this goes to court.
Well, since Sterling is a billionaire from other business interests, and the Clippers are a sideline for him, he may not care if the team goes down in value, or if the best players and coaches don’t want to play for him. He may want to go out fighting.
It’s like buying a house in an area with a covenant neighborhood association. No you CAN’T paint your house purple and yes they CAN make you take down your American flag.
And then on CNN, in front of cameras and lights.
Difference being the HOA can't force you to sell. Otherwise a good analogy.
RE: Hitlery can say “F***ing Jew b******!” with impunity, but she’s special ...
Good for him! Fight.
_________________________
Unfortunately she was not RECORDED when she said it.
That is why she denies it and it became a he said/she said thing.
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