In brief: Donald Sterling makes attacks, cries in testimony
NBA: Donald Sterling assailed the NBA, attacked two doctors who declared him mentally incapacitated and ridiculed opposing lawyer Burt Fields during almost an hour of rambling, contentious testimony Tuesday afternoon.
Sterling took the stand in the second day of the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court that could determine whether he remains Los Angeles Clippers owner.
In a sweltering courtroom without an empty seat, the 80-year-old Sterling called the 85-year-old Fields a “smartass,” told him to “stand up and be a man” and insisted every minute or two that the attorney needed to speak up.
Sterling didn’t deviate from his decades-long reputation as a difficult witness. He repeatedly claimed not to remember facts. He tried to take control of the proceedings, telling Fields when to ask questions. He shifted from tears to sharp words in an instant. He objected to questions. He left the courtroom laughing and, at times, gasping while Judge Michael Levanas tried to maintain control.
“You’re wrong, like you’ve been wrong on every question today,” Sterling told Fields.
“How can you be wrong when you ask a question?” Levanas said.
Sterling claimed he can sell the Clippers for $2.5 billion to $5 billion, more than the $2 billion Steve Ballmer agreed to pay in the deal negotiated by Shelly Sterling.
Donald Sterling also testified that his wife represented the two competency exams to him as routine appointments to be done in conjunction with his 80th birthday. “She’s terrified and frightened of this NBA that threatened to take everything away from her,” Donald Sterling said. “She’s a good person, but they’re not good people.”
He started crying, apologized and his voice immediately turned combative. Minutes later, he said his wife “can’t run anything.”
Moore leads voting for All-Star game
WNBA: Minnesota star Maya Moore is the leading vote-getter for the WNBA All-Star game.
She will start for the Western Conference alongside Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner, Tulsa’s Skylar Diggins and Los Angeles’ Candace Parker.
Elena Delle Donne received the most votes in the Eastern Conference, earning her second straight trip to the All-Star game. She became the first rookie to lead the league’s All-Star balloting last year, but wasn’t able to play after she suffered a concussion a few days before the game.
Delle Donne is sidelined with a flare-up of Lyme Disease and has only played once for Chicago in the past 10 games.
New York’s Cappie Pondexter, Indiana’s Tamika Catchings, and Atlanta’s Shoni Schimmel and Angel McCoughtry round out the rest of the East starters for the July 19 game in Phoenix.
Miami drops players accused of rape
College football: The University of Miami reacted swiftly Tuesday after sexual battery charges were brought against two of its football players, immediately dismissing both from the Hurricanes team and suspending them as students.
JaWand Blue and Alexander Figueroa, both 20-year-old sophomore linebackers, are accused of getting a 17-year-old girl drunk the night of July 5 and then repeatedly raping her at an on-campus residential hall. Each is charged with sexual battery on a physically helpless victim, and Figueroa is also charged with possessing a stolen or forged driver’s license.
Court records did not list an attorney for either man. But university president Donna Shalala and Blake James, the school’s athletic director, each issued statements condemning sexual assault. Shalala said she had spoken with the victim, a Miami student who was not identified.
“We have zero tolerance for sexual assault and gender-based violence,” Shalala said. “There is no confusion about our responsibility as a university: we will fully and compassionately support the victim of sexual assault.”
The two players turned themselves in Tuesday and admitted “buying and administering several alcohol beverages” for the victim and then performing sex acts without her consent, the police report says.
Chicago dropped as America’s Cup host
Sailing: Chicago has been eliminated from contention to host the next America’s Cup, leaving San Diego and Bermuda to fight for the right to hold the final rounds of sailing’s marquee regatta.
The Windy City would have been an intriguing America’s Cup host. But Russell Coutts, CEO of defending champion Oracle Team USA, says the wind on Lake Michigan is too variable.