NBA: Wife can’t keep team

The NBA says if Donald Sterling’s ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers is terminated, so is Shelly Sterling’s. Hours after Shelly Sterling said she would fight to keep her ownership of the franchise even if her estranged husband can’t, the league said that wouldn’t be possible. League spokesman Mike Bass said that according to the NBA constitution, “if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a three-fourths vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well.” “It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here,” Bass added. “These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.” – AP