Donald Sterling threatens to sue NBA, refuses to pay fine

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has hired an attorney and is threatening to sue over the punishment handed down by the NBA for his infamous racist rant.

Sterling is also refusing to pay the $2.5 million fine. His lawyer, antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, sent a letter to the NBA stating Sterling has done nothing wrong and that no punishment is warranted.

The letter claims that Sterling did not violate the NBA constitution, and that his due process rights were violated when the league issued its sanctions after a four-day investigation.

It's clear that the 80-year-old Sterling is not going down without a fight. That's the opposite of what he implied a few days ago when he talked with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"If you fight with my partners, at the end of the road, what do I benefit? And especially at my age," he said to Cooper.

Legal experts say the NBA would likely win the legal battle. The NBA's constitution, which Sterling signed as controlling owner of the Clippers, gives its board of governors broad latitude in league decisions, including who owns the teams.

If Sterling does not pay the fine within 30 days of notice from the commissioner that he is in default on the payment, his ownership could also be terminated, according to the NBA bylaws.

"This is not an antitrust issue. This is not a First Amendment issue," Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School, said to ESPN. "It's a question limited to the interpretation of the NBA constitution and bylaws, and whether those terms are met."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.