US: NBA may hit back with Sterling countersuit

While Donald Sterling is pursuing his antitrust lawsuit against the NBA, suing the league for $1 billion over the forced sale of the Los Angeles Clippers team, reports say the NBA is unfazed by the legal action and could potentially countersue the disgraced mogul.

According to reports, the NBA is set to respond to Sterling’s lawsuit by August 11; reports citing unnamed sources say there is a “good chance” that response will include legal action against Sterling.

Should Sterling’s lawsuit move past a motion to dismiss, reports say the case will likely be built upon digging up hypocritical information against the NVA, its commissioner David Stern, and other team owners and their conduct. Reports say Sterling has already hired a private investigator to discover evidence of the league’s previous responses to misconduct to argue the NBA unjustly required him to sell the Clippers.

Sterling was forced to pay a fine, sell the Clippers and be banned from the league after reports released leaked audio of Sterling’s alleged racist rants.

Since, Sterling has vowed to sue to NBA, taken back that vow, and then changed his mind and decided once again to pursue the suit. Late last week a judge ruled that Sterling is entitled to a hearing to determine his mental competence, reports say. It’s a win for Sterling after his wife and Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling reached an agreement to sell the team for $2 billion under the belief that Sterling was mentally incompetent, giving her sole responsibility and control of the team.

Sterling disagrees and argues his wife did not have legal authority to represent the family trust, which owns the team.

Full content: Sports Illustrated

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