Donald Sterling’s $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA has been thrown out by a judge. Sterling sued the league for getting booted as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers after his ex-mistress leaked rant that was the final straw in a long history of racism.
Reports the Los Angeles Times:
In a strongly worded 13-page order Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Judge Fernando M. Olguin wrote that “the court is skeptical Sterling suffered any injury at all, let alone an antitrust injury.”
The judge described other portions of the lawsuit as “plainly insufficient” and “clearly implausible.”
Sterling sued in May 2014 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles the day after his wife, Shelly, agreed to sell the Clippers to Steve Ballmer. The lawsuit alleged that the NBA engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy that included Commissioner Adam Silver, Shelly Sterling and others to end Sterling’s 33 years as owner of the Clippers.
Last year, Donald Sterling expanded the lawsuit to include his wife, two doctors who found him mentally incapable of continuing as a member of the family trust that owned the team and former NBA Commissioner David Stern.
The NBA described Sterling as seeking to “portray himself as a victim of a variety of imagined and meritless legal wrongs.”
Sterling’s wife, Shelly, said she’s cool with the end of the “final chapter” of her husband’s legal struggle. And even after the billionaire businessman’s cheated, sued, and embarrassed her, they were able to put the past behind them and give marriage another shot.
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Photo: WENN
