NBA News Wire
NBA roundup: Silver fears legal holdup in Clippers’ sale
Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.
All posts by Alan DraperUpdated5 hours ago on April 20, 2024
NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged Wednesday that he is worried the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer will be slowed down in the courts.
“The biggest concern is that we’re going to get stuck in a quagmire, of sorts, in litigation,” Silver said during an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike.”
“But the outcome seems pretty clear as I said the other day: Shelly (Sterling) has an agreement with Steve Ballmer. She sold the team. There was a document signed by Donald Sterling giving her the right to negotiate that sale.”
Shelly Sterling negotiated a $2 billion sale of the team to Ballmer on May 29 that her husband said last week he would sign off on. But Donald Sterling has since issued statements vowing to fight the sale.
—Timing was not on the side of the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals.
Chris Bosh said Miami played its “worst game of the season, probably the worst game we’ve played together” Tuesday in a 111-92 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
LeBron James called for a more physical mindset in Game 4 on Thursday after a two-hour film session with coach Erik Spoelstra during which the coach tried to light a fire under his team.
The Spurs shot lights-out from the start of the game. The Spurs shot an otherworldly 86.7 percent from the floor in the first quarter. San Antonio shot 75.8 percent for the first half, which set an NBA Finals record for the opening two quarters, and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game.
— Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals generated a 10.3 overnight rating on ABC, up from last year’s Game 3 between the same teams.
The broadcast marked the 40th consecutive time an NBA Finals game won the night across all television, nearly doubling its competition. San Antonio (40.5), Miami (30.9), West Palm Beach (18.2), Austin (17.9) and Memphis (14.8) were among the top local markets.
Game 3 also generated 346,000 unique viewers on the ESPN3 digital platform, up 61 percent from last year.
Game 4 is Thursday at 9 p.m.
