"I am humbled and honored to be the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers," Steve Ballmer said in a statement. By BILLY WITZ August 12, 2014 LOS ANGELES — The sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to the former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer was finalized Tuesday, the N.B.A. announced.
The sale, for a record $2 billion, came shortly after a California state court confirmed that Rochelle Sterling had the right to make the sale on behalf of her estranged husband, the longtime team owner Donald Sterling, after he had been found to be incapacitated by two doctors. The N.B.A. said the league's owners had previously approved the sale.
Lawyers for Donald Sterling were going to court Tuesday to file a writ, asking an appellate court to vacate the ruling by Judge Michael Levanas, which allowed for the sale to go through even if the case was under appeal. Levanas had ruled that Rochelle Sterling had followed the directions of the family trust in having her husband removed as co-trustee.
Ballmer's lawyer, Adam Streisand, said the sale was "signed, sealed and delivered," within minutes of Levanas's ruling being finalized.
"I am humbled and honored to be the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers," Ballmer said in a statement. "I will be hard core in giving the team, our great coach, staff and players the support they need to do their best work on the court."
Ballmer paid by far the most for a N.B.A. team, outbidding other suitors by at least $400 million. He plans to attend a fan festival for the team Monday at Staples Center, where the team plays its games.
The move marked a swift downfall for Sterling, who was the N.B.A.'s longest-tenured owner despite a well-documented record of discrimination, mismanagement and poor teams. In April, the website TMZ released an audio recording in which Sterling disparaged African-Americans, including Magic Johnson. The outcry prompted the N.B.A. to try to oust Sterling, but Rochelle Sterling was able to wrest control by invoking terms of the trust.
"This is an amazing new day in Clippers history," said Doc Rivers, the Clippers' coach and president of basketball operations. "I couldn't be more excited to work together with Steve as we continue to build a first-class, championship organization."
Correction: August 12, 2014An earlier version of this article misstated the amount by which Steve Ballmer outbid other suitors for the Clippers. It was $400 million, not $400,000.
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