An appeals court has denied a request from embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to halt the proposed $2 billion sale of the NBA team to ex-Microsoft tycoon Steve Ballmer.
Sterling’s lawyers filed a petition with the California appellate court requesting an immediate order blocking the sale.
Sterling’s lawyers are seeking to block Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas’ ruling last month that allowed his estranged wife Shelly Sterling to go ahead with the sale to Ballmer. The court rejected the request, saying that Levanas’ ruling had not yet been finalized.
“There is nothing for this court to review,” the appeal court said.
Sterling’s appeal contended that allowing the sale to take place would mean the loss of a “unique and irretrievable asset … one of 30 NBA franchises” for Sterling.
Sterling has been under pressure to sell the team since the release of a tape between him and his girlfriend V. Stiviano. In the recording, Sterling criticizes the much younger Stiviano for having her picture taken with black people and tells her not to bring them to Clippers games.
Soon after the comments became public, the NBA slapped the 80-year-old owner with a lifetime ban and began the process of stripping Sterling of ownership of the club he bought in 1981.
