It's not over yet, of course. The Los Angeles Clippers are on the brink of being taken out of the hands of disgraced owner Donald Sterling, which is a critical first step toward a final resolution of the Sterling conundrum.
The arrangement being put forth now — to have Sterling transfer the team to his wife , Shelly, who would then facilitate the team's sale — will not be entirely acceptable in the NBA's offices. They want all Sterlings out of the ownership picture altogether. But this situation is close.
And if it works out, if Shelly Sterling can demonstrate she is serious about selling the team quickly, it would be an enormous win for the league and new commissioner Adam Silver.
Ever since Silver emphatically banned Sterling from the NBA on April 29 and delivered a maximum fine of $2.5 million, with a promise to collect the votes to force Sterling to sell the team, the specter of a drawn-out legal battle loomed over the league and the franchise. Despite Silver’s maneuvers, it appeared the Clippers would be left with Sterling’s name still technically on the masthead.
That promised a controversial summer . Coach Doc Rivers did a good job leading the organization through the mess created by the taped conversation in which Sterling made foul and racist remarks. But he would have had to make a decision — quit the Clippers, or risk looking like a hypocrite by continuing to work for a team that was still in Sterling's name. The same could be said for star point guard Chris Paul, who is also head of the players' union.
At the very least, even if all involved with the Clippers continued to honor their contracts, there were free agents who had vowed not to consider going to team this summer. Multiple agents told Sporting News they had clients who would not play for the Clippers as long as Sterling was involved, even if the league was locked in a legal battle with him.
That can change if Shelly Sterling sells, preferably before free agency hits on July 1.
A wide range of interested parties — from Oprah Winfrey to Magic Johnson to Larry Ellison and even Yao Ming and Grant Hill, too — are mentioned in connection with the Clippers. Any transfer out of Sterling's hands will bolster how the team is perceived.
That wasn't supposed to be the case — Sterling's long history of litigiousness was supposed to drag this story at least into next season's training camp and perhaps beyond.
But the NBA's report on the Sterling case this week showed that the Clippers tried to cover up the incident, destroying a copy of the tape before it was released, and that Donald Sterling attempted to get the woman who released the tape, V. Stiviano, to claim she had altered it. That damaging report shows Sterling not as a somewhat clueless and elderly man being "baited," as he said, into controversial remarks, but as a conniver and manipulator.
Another blow came with assurance the league had the owner votes to remove Sterling.
Even Sterling could see his case was hopeless. Part of being litigious, it seems, is knowing when you're defeated.
Sterling is not out yet, and the NBA won't be satisfied until Shelly Sterling completes a sale. But it appears that the league has won, before the fight even began.