The NBA’s advisory/finance committee held a conference call Thursday to talk about Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, less than a week after a recording of him making racist comments was published online.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that Sterling had been banned for life from the league. Silver also said he would urge the league’s owners to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. On Thursday’s, the NBA’s 10-member advisory/finance committee discussed “the process for termination of Donald T. Sterling’s ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers,” NBA executive vice president Mike Bass said in a statement to ESPN.
“The committee unanimously agreed to move forward as expeditiously as possible and will reconvene next week,” Bass said.
A forced sale would require approval by three-fourths of the league’s 30 owners. According to ESPN, the league’s constitution and bylaws say that to force Sterling out, first Silver or an owner would have to file a written charge against the Clippers owner. Sterling would then have five days to respond, after which Silver would call a hearing of the league’s board of governors, which would then hold a vote after hearing the evidence against Sterling.