Well, if he owned a basketball team he’d probably be forced to sell it.
That being said, as a former real estate agent I learned the concept of “unenforceable clause”. You can sign a contract stating that if you miss a payment you give up your firstborn, but it’s unenforceable. I find it interesting that you can give up your first amendment rights or even be forced to sell because of a conversation you had that had the assumption of privacy. I suspect he could win in court if he fought it.
As far as Mr. Sterling goes, I keep hearing that he told the nba to shove their fine where the sun don’t shine. For me, I think he should sell the team to kim jung un from norf Korea. He seems to like b-ball and seems like a equality type guy. :>}
By statute "Strict forclosure" agreements are unenforceable in real estate contracts in many states. The laws get passed as a form of consumer protection. Under general contract law you can contract away substantial portions of your rights to speech, especially when the parties or their representatives had a opportunity to "bargain" over the terms of the contract to the extent they can't say "I didn't know about that". This issue has been litigated over and over, especially in the contract areas of non-disclosure agreements, covenants not to compete, non-disparagement clauses, moral turptitude clauses and "conduct unbecoming" or "not in the best interests of" clauses - all of which mostly come up in employment or business realted contexts. All of these have been upheld when arrived at through negotiation and "eyes open" bargaining - so much so that they are generally (all other things being equal) a sufficient basis for a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction.