Report: Donald Sterling met Steve Ballmer to discuss pending $2-billion sale of Clippers
The trial between Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling resumed on Monday morning, but it was reportedly "a light day in court."
That's partly because - according to ESPN - Donald Sterling had scheduled an afternoon meeting with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the $2-billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the banned Clippers owner and Ballmer since the latter negotiated the record-setting sale with Shelly Sterling, and it apparently turned out to be a "friendly conversation" although no settlement was reached. The meeting was arranged on Sunday night following a three-hour talk between Donald Sterling and his wife.
Shelly Sterling, who already testified once probate court two weeks ago, is due to to testify again on Tuesday as the court seeks to determine whether she was authorized to sell the Clippers to Ballmer.
Her attorneys claim that she followed all of the procedures outlined in the Sterling Family Trust, which owned the franchise when two neurologists determined that Donald Sterling was mentally incapacitated, showed the onset of Alzheimer's disease, and was unfit to conduct his own legal and business affairs.
One of Donald Sterling's primary counterarguments - claiming that the exams were done under false pretenses because he wasn't informed that the results could later be used to exclude him as a trustee - was shut down by Judge Michael Levanas last week.
Also being argued by Donald Sterling is that the sale should be cancelled after he revoked the Sterling Family Trust on June 9. Shelly Sterling's attorneys responded by arguing she had a fiduciary responsibility to sell the trust even after it was revoked, citing legal and financial fees that would would be incurred if the Clippers were sold by the NBA as well as $480 million in loans that became due once the trust was revoked.
As it stands, the NBA is in a holding pattern with the sale of the franchise, with commissioner Adam Silver recently stating that he can't guarantee new ownership will be in place by next season.