XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: head-pussy@nba.com   
      
   Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling responded forcefully   
   to the NBA's charges to terminate his ownership Tuesday evening,   
   calling the NBA's penalties "draconian" and the proceedings a   
   "sham."   
      
   In the documents sent to the NBA offices by Sterling's attorney,   
   Maxwell Blecher, Sterling denies every allegation and charge   
   made by the NBA and asks that the proceedings to terminate him   
   at a Board of Governors  hearing on June 3 be dismissed.   
      
   In a statement from vice president of communications Mike Bass,   
   the NBA said it received separate responses from the lawyers   
   representing Donald and Shelly Sterling that will be distributed   
   -- together with the charge -- to the Board of Governors before   
   the hearing next Tuesday.   
      
   "Should the Board vote to sustain the charge, the Sterlings'   
   interests in the Clippers will be terminated and the team will   
   be sold," the league said.   
      
   Donald Sterling argues that the recordings made by his former   
   assistant V. Stiviano were made without his knowledge, making   
   them inadmissible under any circumstances under California law,   
   calling it a "clear and blatant violation of Mr. Sterling's   
   California constitutional rights."   
      
   Sterling also threatens future legal action against the NBA   
   under state or federal law, questions his ability to get a fair   
   hearing from the Board of Governors -- many of whom issued   
   statements condemning his words and praising the actions of NBA   
   commissioner Adam Silver -- and states that he never intended to   
   harm the NBA with his comments.   
      
   "This was an argument by a jealous man and the woman he loved   
   that never should have left the privacy of the living room," the   
   response reads. "And while Mr. Sterling said some terrible words   
   in the passion of the argument -- as he had already publicly   
   admitted and for which he has apologized -- he has not taken a   
   'position' or an 'action.' "   
      
   Pierce O'Donnell, the attorney for Shelly Sterling, issued a   
   statement confirming that "Donald Sterling has authorized Shelly   
   Sterling in writing to negotiate the sale of the Los Angeles   
   Clippers, including his 50 percent ownership of the team" and   
   that his client "and the NBA are working cooperatively on the   
   transaction."   
      
   http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10993013/donald-   
   sterling-strongly-responds-nba-draconian-penalties   
      
       
      
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