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 The three-judge panel rejected Sterling's bid for an immediate
stay of the sale brokered by his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling,
ruling the deal with Ballmer had already been completed and that the
80-year-old real estate billionaire failed to show how the
NBA-record sale would cause him harm.
Ballmer, 58, became the team's owner when the sale closed on
Tuesday, bringing an end to a near four-month saga that saw Sterling
banned for life from the NBA and fined $2.5 million for racist
remarks.
Shelly Sterling, 79, was given the go-ahead by a Los Angeles probate
judge last month as the court said she had the power and fiduciary
duty to complete the deal with Ballmer.
The court also denied Sterling's request to overturn the lower
court's decision.
Sterling will still profit from the sale, pocketing the $2 billion
along with his wife.
The appeals court's rejection of Sterling's petition is another
victory for the NBA as the league has so far been able to remove an
owner without having to take the action itself, legal observers
said.
Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said in a statement:
"It is time for Donald to accept that the game is over and he has
run out of courts."
Lawyers for Sterling had argued that a probate judge ruled too
broadly by allowing Shelly Sterling to employ a little-used section
of California probate code that would let the sale go ahead pending
an appeal.
Shelly Sterling struck the deal with Ballmer in May, a month after
the NBA banned her husband after his privately taped remarks
imploring a girlfriend not to publicly associate with black people
were published.
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Sterling's remarks during the Clippers' playoff run sparked public
outrage, prompted sponsors to cut ties with the team and players
considered a boycott.
Sterling, who originally blessed the deal his wife struck with Ballmer,
refused to accept it after the NBA would not lift his lifetime ban or
rescind his $2.5 million fine.
The NBA still faces civil lawsuits in California and U.S. courts from
Sterling, who says the league's actions relied on illegal evidence and
violated corporate law in its attempts to have the team sold.
Sterling's attorneys called the appellate ruling "harsh."
"Nevertheless, we are confident Donald will be completely vindicated in
his federal case against the NBA," attorneys Maxwell Blecher and Bobby
Samini said in a statement.
Ballmer, who had previously pursued an NBA franchise, will make his
first public appearance as owner at a Clippers fan rally next Monday.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Mary Milliken and Ken Wills)
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