Donald Sterling appeals dismissal of lawsuit over Clippers sale

Donald Sterling’s legal struggle with the NBA continued Thursday when the former Clippers owner filed notice that he’ll appeal last month’s dismissal of his federal antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Sterling’s wife Shelly and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are among the defendants in the lawsuit stemming from the $2-billion sale of the Clippers in 2014. It claims they engaged in a conspiracy to remove the longtime owner in the wake of his inflammatory comments about African Americans.

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“With this latest sham legal maneuver, Donald Sterling is abusing the judicial system,” Pierce O’Donnell, the attorney for Shelly Sterling, said in an emailed statement. “There is a far greater chance that the sun will rise in the west than Donald will prevail on his patently frivolous appeal.”

Last month, U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin dismissed Sterling’s lawsuit in Los Angeles that sought more than $1 billion in damages. The judge’s strongly worded opinion described parts of the lawsuit as “plainly insufficient” and “clearly implausible.: But it didn’t dissuade Sterling from appealing to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sterling’s attorney, Bobby Samini, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

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