Doc Rivers has got to e one of the most disingenous, dishonest coaches ever in the game. When his team makes a stirring comeback partially based on luck (as most of the great "comebacks" are), he praises his team for having guts, poise, and desire. But when his team "blows" a big lead and loses a game, it's "we got robbed". He is blaming the ref's awarding the balll to the Thunder on that plsy where the Clips' player appeared to strip the ball from the Thunder player, but the ball clearly is last touched by the Thunder. Rivers admits his player fouled the Thunder on the play, but dismisses it with "they didn't call it". Imagine if the Clips had been fouled and no call was made. Doc would have been been apoplectic. The refs screwed up by failing to call a foul, but came to a reasonable compromise by awarding the ball to the Thunder. Doc's going crazy because he saw a chance to get that second road win and take control of the series (just like OKC almost did). Now that chance is gone and (assuming a Clips win in game 6), they will have to win a game 7 on the road. That is an monumentally tough thing to do. It's not that I think OKC is that good, I just don't think the Clips have the mental toughness to gut it out.
This is my understanding of the situation. What, I believe, Shelly is asking is to be allowed to retain ownership of the team whether they kick Donald out or not. I don't think the league sees any difference between Shelly or Donald in terms of who owns the team. Adam Silver wants the team sold to a new owner(s) and Shelly and Donald can work it out between the two as to how to divide their profit from the sale.
I was surprised that Rivers actually screamed at the Thunders' owner after the game. Gblews pretty much has the jist of it. The play was close, but the Thunder may have touched it last. However, on replay the refs see they should have called the foul. When a foul is called in that situation and it goes out of bounds, the team that had possession gets the ball back. The refs basically made a "make up" call. Rivers admitted that the foul should have been called, but hey since it wasn't...... I get him being upset and frustrated in the moment, very frustrated. But he took it too far yellling at Clay Bennett.. Seriously? At least Chris Paul had his head on straight. He knows he could have made a play to tie or win. I admire him for that.
I don't either. If Shelly retains her ownership, she would probably try to hand it off to Donald 'under the table' and serve as a figurehead. Kind of an "owner-laundering" thing.
Correct, but California is a joint property state, so if the Sterlings' divorce gets fast-tracked, then Shelly Sterling does own 50 percent, and the whole saga gets even more messy.
Sterling is refusing to pay the fine and he's going to fight losing the team in court. He's now said so publicly (though, to be fair, if someone was kicking me out I wouldn't pay them either ). The man has FU money. He can drag it out in court for years and he'll win. His wife filing for divorce will complicate matters legally in the extreme. Sterling's not going to go quietly. Now Lebron James and all the players who've said they'll boycott next season if he's still the owner are going to be in quite the pickle. Call me cynical, but I don't see any of them voluntarily giving up their million dollar paychecks. Oh, and awesome game last night. Oklahoma boy or not, Blake Griffin needs to shut up.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but Shelly's "50%" ownership after a divorce would still mean only that she is co-owner of whatever share of the team Donald owns. Her ownership would not be separate from Donald's. Her name and Donald's would appear as owners of whatever share Donald owns. The league might still take the position that they are forcing a sale of the Donald/Shelly share of the team because that "ownership" is in breach of league bylaws. I say, "might".
I doubt the Sterlings can avoid the forced sale of the team, or even half of the team, by "fast-tracking" a divorce or otherwise transferring ownership to family. Courts tend to take a dim view of such shenanigans.
This is when I'd normally chime in, but California is a community property state so I'll steer clear. My instinct says 50% owner of the whole and it would be independent of her ex-husbands (which is certainly the case, at least legally).
Well with a hobbled Parker things could still be interesting; if anything, this will prove whether Brooks is a good or great coach.
I don't think I have ever seen that little psychological burst teams sometimes get during the regular season when one of their stars goes down, result in winning a playoff series, especially in the conference Finals. If Parker plays then I suspect his injury won't be much of a factor. Spurs may finally go to b2b Finals.
Cleveland Cavaliers get the first overall pick again (with something like a 1.7% odds). Bucks are second and Sixers are third. The Sixers also get to keep the Pelicans number 10 pick. So let the speculation on the number one pick begin. Will it be Parker or Wiggins or will Cleveland go for some other position (perhaps Embiid) instead?
And will Lebron rejoin them in 2015? 1-1 Miami ties it up. Don't think Indiana has the personnel for too many adjustments...
Unless there is a no brainer pick out there like LeBron, the Cavs have proven time and again that they don't know what they are doing in many areas, especially the draft. With all the lottery picks they've had over recent years, not just the 3 no. 1's, they remain stuck in mediocrity and have taken the Clips' role in the league as the face of incompetence. I'm not thrilled about the Lakers having to move down one number to 7th, but they also have a great track record when it comes to lottery picks -- Eddie Jones, Andrew Bynum, James Worthy, Magic Johnson. Kobe, though not technically drafted by the Lakers, was a 13th pick. Plenty of great players found in the second rounds too. I'm glad the Celts got no higher than no. 6. They were one of the teams who was actively tanking. Cavs will likely stick with whomever is the consensus choice as number 1, Wiggins or Embiid.