Donald Sterling's hopes of possibly reclaiming the Los Angeles Clippers were snuffed out with reports that the $2 billion sale of the franchise by estranged wife Shelley Sterling had been upheld by the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
The courts, apparently, found nothing glaring or erroneous with the sale consummated last year, thus dousing his hopes of possibly reversing the sale.
Shelley sold the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer last year, not far from the 81-year-old Donald Sterling's celebrated racist rant against blacks.
Donald was eventually banned for life by the National Basketball Association (NBA) for making the derogatory remarks, aside from being fined a record $2.5 million.
As that was ensuing, Shelley acted and removed her estranged husband from a family trust owned by the team in a move deemed as preventing the said trust from suffering a loss. The loss was, of course, in reference to the fact that the NBA had threatened to seize the team after implementation of the lifetime ban on Donald.
Shelley was able to seize control when two doctors found Donald to be showing signs of Alzheimer's disease. Donald went on to sue Shelley in an effort to block the sale but ended up futile, with a Los Angeles Superior Court judge approving the sale of the team in July 2014.
The sale was $400 million more than the next best offer.
Donald made his fortune selling apartment building in Los Angeles, allowing him to amass his millions and buy the franchise in 1981 for just $12 million.
With the change of ownership, the Los Angeles Clippers have been back on track and are actually one of the top teams favored for this season.
The Clippers own a formidable cast of veterans handled by a tested and one-time NBA champion coach Doc Rivers, who seems to be doing fine now with Ballmer at the helm.
