ballmer-headshotDonald Sterling can’t make up his mind, and that’s probably not good news for the NBA and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Sterling, the 80-year-old owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, is now pursuing a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA. Just one week ago, Sterling said he would drop the lawsuit and allow his wife, Shelly, to sell the Clippers to Ballmer for $2 billion.

But now it appears Sterling does not want to lose control of the team and wants the NBA to pay for banning him from the league after his racist comments surfaced online in April. In a statement obtained by ESPN, Sterling apologized for those comments and said NBA commissioner Adam Silver was “wrong” for giving him a lifetime ban with a $2.5 million fine.

“The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans,” Sterling wrote. “I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights. While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled.”

What happens next is uncertain. The NBA board of governors was scheduled to meet next month to approve the sale to Ballmer, who is spending 10 percent of his net worth to acquire his first professional sports franchise.

As this in-depth New York Times piece reveals, Shelly Sterling — who first referred to Ballmer as “this man Bomber from Washington” — had become the sole trustee of the Clippers last month after doctors determined that Donald Sterling could not conduct business affairs. She then solicited offers and ended up agreeing to a deal with Ballmer, who is currently handling his own lawsuits in Seattle.

Interestingly, the NYT story notes that there is nothing in the deal that requires Ballmer to keep the team in Los Angeles. Though earlier reports have indicated that the league may force Ballmer to leave the team in L.A. as part of his acquisition, this is worth noting for Seattle pro hoops fans who saw their Sonics leave town in 2008 to Oklahoma City.

Meanwhile in the Emerald City, Chris Hansen — who teamed up with Ballmer and nearly bought the Sacramento Kings last year — just bought five more acres of land in Seattle’s SoDo district.  KING5 notes that Hansen has now spent nearly $65 million for land that he hopes to use for a new NBA arena — granted Seattle ever gets an NBA team back to the city.

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