LOS ANGELES (CN) — Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling said Thursday that he will appeal the dismissal of his antitrust fight with the National Basketball Association relating to the $2 billion sale of the team.
Sterling lost his NBA team after he made racist comments in a taped conversation with his then-girlfriend V. Stiviano that was leaked to TMZ. During the conversation, Sterling told Stiviano not to bring black men to Clippers games.
In the public fallout, the NBA banned Sterling from the association, levied a $2.5 million fine against him and barred him from attending NBA games. Sterling sued the NBA over its use of what he described in court papers as the illegal recording of a private and confidential conversation. He also claimed that the NBA's actions against him were unlawful, saying he could have gotten more than $2 billion for the Clippers if not for a "forced sale" to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
A federal judge dismissed Sterling's suit last month, finding it unlikely Sterling could support his case.
"The court is skeptical that Sterling suffered any injury at all, let alone an antitrust injury," U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin wrote in dismissing the case.
Sterling filed his notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit on Thursday.
Pierce O'Donnell, Sterling's estranged wife Shelly's attorney, said of Donald's appeal: "With this latest sham legal maneuver, Donald Sterling is abusing the judicial system. There is a far greater chance that the sun will rise in the west than Donald will prevail on his patently frivolous appeal. As Yogi Berra famously said: 'It's like déjà vu all over again.'"
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