Donald Sterling Loses Appeal to Regain Ownership of Clippers: Comments, Reaction

Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling lost his team in 2014. He took another loss Monday.

According to ABC7 in Los Angeles, Sterling lost his appeal to regain ownership of the Clippers, who were sold for $2 billion.

Brian Melley of the Associated Press, via NBA.com, noted, "The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Monday that Sterling failed to show any legal error by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge who approved the sale last year.”

Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reported in October that Sterling wanted the court to "reverse last year's decision by Judge Michael Levanas that Shelly Sterling acted properly in removing her husband as a member of the family trust that controlled the franchise and agreeing to sell it to former Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer."

Fenno added that Levanas "issued an unusual order under section 1310(b) of the probate code that allowed the $2 billion sale of the Clippers to proceed regardless of any appeal by Donald Sterling.

"In a submission to the appellate court, Sterling's attorneys argued that the order was a 'reversible error' that led to a 'miscarriage of justice.'"

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com in August 2014 detailed the lengthy process of the $2 billion sale, which was the highest for an NBA franchise in history. Commissioner Adam Silver "banned Sterling from the NBA for life and fined him $2.5 million ... after audio recordings of the owner's insensitive comments about blacks and other minorities were aired by the celebrity gossip outlet TMZ," Berger wrote.

Although Sterling challenged Silver and the league, the Board of Governors unanimously ratified the sale, 29-0.