Shelly Sterling has vowed to fight to keep her ownership share of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The NBA has maintained that a vote to terminate the ownership stake of Donald Sterling would also trigger termination for the other owners.
"The owners are afraid of their own issues," said Shelly Sterling. "Because I’m sure if anybody goes into all their records, they have skeletons in their closets. They would probably like to defend Donald, because he’s one of the oldest owners. But I think they’re all afraid because of their players. They’re afraid to get involved because if one sticks up for him, then maybe the players will go against them."
Shelly Sterling is represented by Pierce O'Donnell.
"The situation here from a legal perspective is unprecedented," said O'Donnell. "No professional sports league has ever terminated an owner’s interest involuntarily. And what Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, means when he refers to a “slippery slope” is that if they can do it to Shelly Sterling, they can do it to any other owner. And that invokes a precedent that could then be cited. I’m sure other owners have said things in private. We’ve had owners who have taken anti-civil rights stands on certain issues over the years. So is there dirty laundry? When the owners think about this in the quiet of their thoughts, and they have to render a vote, they have to think about the implications of it."
O'Donnell was asked if he would depose other owners and their team personnel as part of the suit.
"I’d certainly be entitled to discovery. Any fair administrative process would allow us to get discovery. And I want to know a lot of different things about the records of the NBA. and what information they have about the conduct or misconduct of other owners that was not acted upon. The NBA. is as much at risk as Mr. Sterling to have this whole thing aired publicly. So it’s not risk-free for either side. To answer your question, of course I’ll ask for discovery. But it’s in everybody’s best interests to avoid Armageddon."