Donald Sterling case: Judge approves LA Clippers sale

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas has ruled that the LA Clippers basketball team can be sold, despite the objections of banned co-owner Donald Sterling.

Donald Sterling, 80, was not in the cramped downtown courtroom for Monday’s closing arguments.

At every turn, Judge Michael Levanas found Shelly Sterling’s testimony and witnesses believable – and he publicly questioned the credibility of one of the only two witnesses Donald Sterling called.

Ultimately, the judge ruled that Shelly Sterling acted properly when she removed Donald Sterling from a decision-making position in the family trust that controlled the team.

Shelly Sterling burst into tears after Judge Michael Levanas’ final pronouncement, hugging her lead attorney, Pierce O’Donnell, in the second row of the courtroom as Donald Sterling’s lawyers sat nearby.

“This is going to be a good thing for the city, for the league, for my family, for all of us,” Shelly Sterling said outside the courthouse, facing a phalanx of reporters and cameras.

Donald Sterling – who last week filed a new lawsuit trying to block the sale – is not expected to go away quietly. He is suing the NBA, alleging it violated his constitutional rights by relying on information from an “illegal” recording.