It doesn’t look like Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling will bow out of the NBA without a fight.
An attorney for Sterling sent a letter Thursday to the NBA arguing that the banned Clippers owner hasn’t done anything to warrant punishment and will not pay a $2.5 million fine that is already past due, according to Sports Illustrated and USA Today.
“We reject your demand for payment,” the letter reads, as quoted by Sports Illustrated.
NBA commissioner Eric Silver banned Sterling from the NBA for life last month after an audio recording of Sterling making racist comments was published by TMZ. Silver also fined the Clippers owner and encouraged the league’s board of governors to force Sterling to sell the team.
Sterling’s attorney, Maxwell M. Blecher, argued in the letter that his client didn’t violate any article of the NBA constitution and claimed the league violated Sterling’s due process rights. Blecher concludes the matter “will be adjudicated,” so Sterling would be wise not to give any more interviews like this one if he’s going to get litigious.
