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LOS ANGELES (AP) - The NBA canceled a hearing to oust Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Donald Sterling, instead moving forward to vote on a record-breaking deal negotiated by his wife to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion.
The league announced the move the same day Sterling’s attorneys filed suit in a Los Angeles federal court against the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver asking for damages in excess of $1 billion. Sterling opposes the sale, but Shelly Sterling was able to negotiate with Ballmer because her estranged husband was stripped of his ability to act as a co-trustee of the family’s assets after two neurologists determined he was suffering from dementia, according to a person close to the Sterling family.
MIAMI (AP) - The Miami Heat are headed to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight season.
LeBron James and Chris Bosh each scored 25 points, and the Heat turned Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals into a laugher, beating the Indiana Pacers 117-92. The Heat led by 37 and eliminated the Pacers for the third straight year. Miami is the third franchise to make at least four consecutive trips to the Finals, joining the Celtics and Lakers. Dwyane Wade and Rashard Lewis each scored 13 points for the Heat.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) - Phil Jackson said he has talked to Carmelo Anthony about postponing free agency, and the All-Star forward responded that he’ll think about it.
Anthony can opt out of the final year of his contract this summer and has repeatedly said that was his plan. But they met recently and Jackson says he told Anthony that “it might be a good idea to hang in here and see what it’s like for a year.”
Jackson is also still looking for a coach after candidate Steve Kerr took the Golden State job. Jackson says he has been doing some interviews. He also indicated he’s interested in talking to Derek Fisher, who played for him in Los Angeles, after Oklahoma City’s season is finished.
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