adminNational Basketball Association team owners have agreed to proceed with efforts to force the sale of the LA Clippers following a heated race row.Owner Donald Sterling was banned from the sport for life this week after he was recorded making racist remarks.
The 10-member NBA advisory committee met on Thursday and unanimously agreed to move forward in the process of terminating Sterling’s ownership.
A number of celebrities have expressed interest in purchasing the sports team.
“The committee unanimously agreed to move forward as expeditiously as possible and will reconvene next week,” said NBA executive vice president Mike Bass.
A forced sale of the LA Clippers would require the approval of three-quarters of the 30 team owners in the NBA.
But Sterling could oppose the sale in the courts, according to sports lawyers.
Television star Oprah Winfrey, media executive David Geffen and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather have been among those touted as prospective buyers.
Another casualty of the row emerged on Thursday evening, when the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) resigned.
Jenkins had intended to present Sterling with a “lifetime achievement award” later this month, a move he withdrew after the recording emerged in which the Clippers owner made racist comments.
In his resignation letter, Jenkins said: “In order to separate the Los Angeles NAACP and the NAACP from the negative exposure I have caused the NAACP, I respectfully resign my position.”- BBC.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter