US: Sterling’s bizarre antitrust suit bounces back

Donald Sterling is giving the NBA a headache with his decision to revoke his agreement to the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers and pursue a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against the association just days after he withdrew the suit.

According to reports, while Sterling agreed last week to drop the antitrust lawsuit, filed on the basis that the NBA unfairly forced a sale of the Clippers after leaked audio of Sterling’s allegedly racist rant, he has changed his mind because the NBA failed to un-do its $2.5 million fine and lifetime NBA ban lodged against Sterling in the wake of the leak.

Reports say Sterling agreed to drop the lawsuit, which some antitrust experts have criticized as bizarre, because he understood that the NBA’s sanctions were to be withdrawn.

Sterling’s wife Shelly Sterling reached an agreement to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in efforts to avoid a forced sale by the NBA. That fact has confounded competition experts, some of whom say Sterling does not have a solid antitrust case against the NBA.

Representatives for the NBA and Shelly Sterling declined to comment on the matter.

Full content: Bloomberg

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.