Problem is all he really “owns” is a revokable license. That’s what a franchise really is, it’s part of a whole. And remember they COULD (won’t want to but it’s possible) contract the team. No sale at all just end the Clippers, it would be a bad move on their part (contraction is a 4 letter word) but it is available.
If the stuff in your second paragraph comes to pass that actually makes it easier for the NBA to force him to sell. Since the move is entirely to protect the value of the league, if one team is losing sponsors and fans and revenue at a serious rate that proves he is a detriment to the league. It IS NOT his team, it’s his revokable license.
He owns the team. It may be a franchise operation, but Sterling owns it. Just like the analogy I made about owning a Mcdonald’s franchise operation. You own the restaurant. And McDonald’s cannot take it away from you, certainly not for doing things Sterling was caught doing. Bad behavior isn’t always illegal behavior. Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson and countless others in the NBA have been caught in bad behavior and they weren’t kicked out of the NBA. This whole issue it seems to me is about political correctness.