Donald Sterling files $1B lawsuit against NBA

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Attorneys for disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver in a Los Angeles federal courtroom Friday afternoon.

The suit alleges that the league violated Sterling's constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording that publicized racist remarks he made to a girlfriend. It also says the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling $2.5 million for those remarks and that it violated antitrust laws by forcing a sale.

The announcement comes as the NBA canceled its hearing to consider Donald Sterling's ownership of the Clippers, saying the team will be sold to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The league says in a statement that it has resolved its dispute over the franchise's ownership with co-owner Shelly Sterling and the Sterling Family Trust. They agreed to sell the franchise to Ballmer on Thursday for a record-breaking $2 billion.

Many Clippers fans were initially worried since Ballmer was part of a group that last year tried to purchase the Sacramento Kings and move the team to Seattle. The NBA, however, immediately balked at moving the franchise. Ballmer said he had no intention of trying to move the Clippers out of Los Angeles.

"I love basketball. And I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that the Clippers continue to win - and win big - in Los Angeles," Ballmer, who is worth about $20 billion, said in a statement.

Shelly Sterling and the Trust have "also agreed not to sue the NBA and to indemnify the NBA against lawsuits from others, including from Donald Sterling."

Shelly Sterling released a statement, saying Ballmer would be a "terrific owner."

"We have worked 33 years to build the Clippers into a premier NBA franchise. I am confident that Steve will take the team to new levels of success," she said.

If approved by the NBA Board of Governors, the $2 billion deal would make the Clippers the most expensive NBA franchise ever sold.

The negotiations between Shelly Sterling and Ballmer were done in record time, despite objections through her estranged husband Donald Sterling's attorney, Maxwell Blecher.

Blecher say Donald Sterling gave Shelly Sterling the right to negotiate, but not to sign a contract. Blecher says Donald Sterling is considering filing additional legal action against his estranged wife over her negotiations to unload the team.

Shelly Sterling has become the sole trustee of the couple's trust after her husband was declared "mentally incapacitated" under the Sterling Family Trust's guidelines because he showed an "inability to conduct business affairs in a reasonable and normal manner." A source familiar with the situation says two neurologists determined Donald Sterling was suffering from dementia earlier this month.

Blecher says "any assertion that Donald Sterling lacks mental capacity is absurd."

Donald Sterling can try to reinstate his trusteeship by appealing to the California Probate Court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.