Probate court judge Michael Levanas of the California Superior Court ruled on Monday that Donald Sterling could not block the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Unsurprisingly, Levanas found Rochelle Sterling, Donald Sterling’s wife, to be the more credible witness of the two and he also ruled that sale of the team could begin immediately. Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft executive, had previously agreed to purchase the Clippers for a record $2 billion.
The case had hinged on whether Donald Sterling was in a sound enough state-of-mind to operate the family trust which controlled ownership of the Clippers. Two doctors declared that Sterling was not mentally capable of controlling the trust and Rochelle Sterling’s lawyers used the doctors’ findings as the justification for allowing Rochelle Sterling to sell the team in opposition of Donald Sterling’s wishes.
Donald Sterling’s lawyers argued that Sterling was tricked into getting medically examined, which isn’t exactly the strongest argument one can make for a man who is presumably in charge of a $2 billion franchise.
Now that the sale of the team is imminent, the world can breathe a little easier knowing that Donald Sterling is almost out of the public eye for good. For now, Doc Rivers can hold off on sending out any resumes for head coaching vacancies.
