GOOD GRIEF … Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Wins Bidding War for NBA’s LA Clippers with $2 Billion Offer (Update: Donald Sterling Vows to Sue)

REALLY … 2 BILLION DOLLARS!!!

Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, has won the bidding war for the Los Angeles Clippers at a reported offer of $2 billion. That is if you can call paying $2 billion for the Clippers a win. The 58 year old Ballmer is worth a reported $20 billion, well make that $18 now if the deal is approved by the NBA commissioner Donald Sterling and three-fourths of the 30 NBA owners.  Ballmer has reaffirmed his promise o keep the team in Los Angeles and not move it to home in Seattle. The sale price is almost four times the highest previous NBA franchise sale price, the $550 million paid earlier this month for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sorry, Steve Ballmer is not the winner … the real winner is Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling.

Well folks, don’t ask for things they might just come true. The next round of complaints will be that it is unfair for banished from the NBA for making racist comments, Clippers owner Donald Sterling, make such an amazing profit on the sale of the Clippers. Sterling paid $12 million in 1981. OUCH, from $12 million to $2 billion, that is quite the investment. Look for cries of foul that Sterling made money for racist comments. But I don’t see any complaints from Obama about income inequality when it comes to Ballmer and the other richest sports owners.

Steve Ballmer and Dr. Evil … Separated at birth.

1 MILLION 2 BILLION DOLLARS!!!

Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with a $2-billion offer that would set a record price for an NBA team.

Ballmer bid higher than competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

he Geffen group offered $1.6 billion and the Ressler-Karsh group $1.2 billion. People familiar with both those offers said they were rejected.

Ballmer and Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling concluded a deal late Thursday afternoon. But Bobby Samini, an attorney for Donald Sterling, said as he left the team co-owner’s home: “There’s been no sale. There can be no sale without Donald’s signature.”

The sale price would be almost four times the previous NBA franchise high: the $550 million paid earlier this month for the Milwaukee Bucks. It is the second highest price ever paid for a sports team in North America. The Dodgers sold in 2012 for $2.1 billion.

UPDATE I: Donald Sterling ruled mentally unfit, can’t prevent Clippers sale.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The Sterling Family Trust owns the team, with Donald and his wife Shelly each owning a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the mental capacity of the trustees, and Donald Sterling did not meet the standard in a determination by experts, giving his wife sole decision-making power for the trust, the person said.

UPDATE II: NBA confirms L.A. Clippers sale to ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The NBA confirmed on Friday that the Los Angeles Clippers have been sold to former Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion, the largest ever for an NBA franchise.

The NBA’s statement said:

The NBA, Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust today resolved their dispute over the ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers. Under the agreement, the Clippers will be sold to Steve Ballmer, pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors, and the NBA will withdraw its pending charge to terminate the Sterlings’ ownership of the team. Because of the binding agreement to sell the team, the NBA termination hearing that had been scheduled for June 3 in New York City has now been cancelled. Mrs. Sterling and the Trust also agreed not to sue the NBA and to indemnify the NBA against lawsuits from others, including from Donald Sterling.

UPDATE III:  Donald Sterling Vows To Sue

The statement came as NPR’s Tom Goldman received word from Sterling’s attorney that his client would sue the NBA for $1 billion in damages for terminating his ownership of the the team.

Tom says: “I communicated with Donald Sterling’s attorney Max Blecher via email. He confirms there will be a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles.”

The lawsuit is “based on multiple counts, including antitrust violations, invasion of constitutional rights, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty,” Tom says.

“This is a lawsuit against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver, who of course banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and is in the process of trying to remove Donald Sterling from the ownership of the Clippers,” he says.

Kevin Durant’s Incredibly Amazing and Humble NBA MVP Acceptance Speech … Thank God for Changing My Life … And Said to his Mom, “You Sacrificed For Us. You’re the Real MVP.”

An amazing Mother’s Day gift from the NBA’s MVP, Kevin Durant.

There has been so much negative news coming out of the NBA these days; however, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma Thunder MVP speech is all about what is good. Durant won the MVP award for the first time, but that is not the story. The struggle to get to the top is the real story. There are so many amazing stories of sacrifice and behind one of the game’s best players, is his mom. Durant thanked God for changing his life, humbly thanked his teammates and last but certainly not least tearfully thanked his mom. Durant called his mom “the real MVP”. THIS IS MUST WATCH VIDEO.

And last, my mom. I don’t think you know what you did,” he began, sniffling and wiping away tears. “You had my brother when you were 18 years old — three years later I came out. The odds were stacked against us; single parent with two boys by the time you were 21 years old. Everybody told us we weren’t supposed to be here.”

“You made us believe, you kept us off the street, you put clothes on our backs, food on the table,” he added. “You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”

Daily Commentary – Friday, May 2, 2014 – Will Donald Sterling be Forced to Sell the Clippers?

• Gabe Feldman, director of the Sports Law Center at Tulane University, said forcing an owner to sell usually involves “extreme” circumstances

Daily Commentary – Friday, May 2, 2014 Download

NAACP With Their Own Blind Eye, Says that Donald Sterling’s Lifetime NBA Ban Is Not Enough … This Coming from the Folks Who Were Set to Give Clippers Owner Another ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’

THE NAACP WAS FOR GIVING A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD TO DONALD STERLING, BEFORE THEY WERE AGAINST IT.

The NAACP says that the lifetime ban from the NBA for LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist comments recorded on audio tape talking to his ex-girlfriend is not enough.  The NAACP called for NBA commissioner Adam Silver to to meet with other owner’s to ensure that Sterling’s bigotry and racists views “remains an anomaly among the owners and executives in the league.”  They also stated, “Sterling’s long-established pattern of bigotry and racist comments have not been a secret in the NBA. Yet until now, they have been tolerated and met with a gentle hand and a blind eye.” REALLY? Donald Sterling’s racist past was no secret to anyone. I guess the NAACP missed the multiple federal lawsuits for violating the Fair Housing Act based on race when his company refused to rent to African-American prospective tenants. But that did not stop the NAACP from giving Donald Sterling a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2009 and was about to give him another in May 2014 when it hit the fan. WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE? The NAACP looked the other way as to Sterling’s actions and instead took his money donations for years. Why else would Sterling get an award from a co-called civil rights organization at the same time in 2009 came just before he agreed to pay a $2.765 million settlement in a case that alleged he discriminated against African Americans, Latinos and others at apartment buildings he owned in Los Angeles County? LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, SERIOUSLY?

A note to the NAACP, you might want to evaluate your own policies as to how you vet individuals before you give them awards before you lecture anyone.

Several civil rights organizations are applauding the NBA for its lifetime ban of Clippers owner Donald Sterling because of racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation.

However, those groups still want to meet with NBA commissioner Adam Silver to discuss diversity in the executive ranks of the professional basketball league and to figure out ways to ensure such situations don’t happen again.

The National Urban League, the National Action Network, the NAACP and the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation issued a joint statement cheering Silver’s announcement that he banned Sterling for life and that the league would attempt to force him to sell the Clippers.

That decision, the statement said, was “a bold, courageous and resolute message that the views expressed by Sterling do not represent the National Basketball Association as an organization today or the kind of organization that it seeks to be in the future.”

But Sterling’s suspension isn’t enough, the groups said, calling for Silver to meet with them to ensure Sterling “remains an anomaly among the owners and executives in the league.”

“Sterling’s long-established pattern of bigotry and racist comments have not been a secret in the NBA,” the statement said. “Yet until now, they have been tolerated and met with a gentle hand and a blind eye.”

The Gateway Pundits reminds us that with all the moral outrage from the NAACP … they are still keeping Donald Sterling’s money.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Bans for Life Clippers Owner Donald Sterling from NBA … Pushes to ‘Force Sale’ of Team Over Racist Comments

BANNED FOR LIFE …

Ahead of a possible boycott of NBA playoff games, NBA commissioner Adam Silver gives LA Clippers owner the basketball death penalty. Silver announced that the Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, was banned for life and is not to have any dealings with the Clippers. Sterling was also fined $2.5 million  which will be donated to anti-discrimination organizations. The commissioner is also going to push owners to force Sterling out of the league. Currently, under NBA rules, 75% of the league’s owners must approve the removal of a franchise owner.

Silver spoke to the press at an 11 a.m. news conference from New York, stating he will “do everything in my power” to force the sale of the Clippers.

“The hateful opinions voiced by that man are those of Mr. Sterling. The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful. That they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage,” Silver said. “I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers association or the NBA. Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices, he may not be present at any Clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business or decisions involving the team.”

VIDEO – CNN

The Los Angeles Clippers released a statement following the lifetime banning of owner Donald Sterling: “We wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver today. Now the healing process begins.”

The LA Clippers united last night  … “WE ARE ONE” and won their game 5 playoff game last night over the Golden State Warriors 113-103 to take a 3 games to 2 lead in their best of 7 series.