Should Shelly Sterling Be Allowed To Attend Games?

Last night after the game, Barkley commented that Shelly Sterling also should not be allowed to attend Clipper games.  Does that make sense?  He made the comments, not her.  But I actually agree.  Under California law, two people who are married have joint, community property.  She owns the team as much as he does.  And in fact, she has supported him for 50 years.  At game 2, as always, there she was sitting right next to Donald at courtside.

It’s been noted that Shelly sued V. Stiviano (try to say that name and not laugh) claiming in court documents that Stiviano ‘preyed on older wealthy men.’  What hasn’t been as widely reported is that Shelly AND Donald together filed a suit against a previous Sterling girlfriend 20 years ago (they lost) in which they made the exact same claim together about a different woman.  Make no mistake, Shelly has been Donald’s partner both personally and professionally for decades.  They are joint owners and when the NBA decreed that Sterling has to sell, they forbade him from selling to anyone in his family – and for good reason.  She is already the owner.  Her attempts to now throw the Donald under the bus are laughable.

By the way, the more I think about the case, I think the NBA has a stronger case than I initially thought.  I think Donald will have to sell this team and I’m not so sure he’ll fight it and it will take that long.  The appointment of a CEO (which will result in Andy Lackey’s removal) shows that the league means business.  I was at the game on Tuesday night, in the VIP dinner room, and there was Andy Lackey (maybe ‘Smithers’ is a better name) drinking and looking care-free.  His ubiquitous son and wife (who know zero about basketball) were there, looking quite pleased with themselves.  I think father will be looking for a job soon.  The reports that Doc had to speak to the entire non-basketball staff (ticket reps, etc) and calm down their anger over Lackey’s defense of Sterling (‘that wasn’t his voice on the recording; she was getting back at him’) might be too much for the league – Lackey is simply too tied to Sterling.

One other note about V. Stiviano.  I didn’t think she could top her line on the tape about Sterling who was ‘supposed to be the scholar’ but she did.  There’s an interview with her on TV (prior to the famous one) in which she says she wants to be President.  Why?  “Because we need laws and legislation.”