NBA commissioner Adam Silver denied the request of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to delay Sterling's termination hearing, which is scheduled for June 3.
The NBA charged Sterling with damaging the league by making racist remarks in an audiotape that was ultimately released. The hearing is scheduled for June 3, and Sterling will have the opportunity to defend himself before the NBA's board of governors.
The league office denied Sterling's request for a three-month delay before the hearing.
"In terms of additional time, the answer has been no," Silver said, via ESPN. "The proceedings and the process is set out in our constitution, something they signed on for when they became owners in the league."
The owners will vote after the hearing on whether Silver should be ousted. Sterling's ownership would be terminated if three-fourths of the owners vote to sustain the charge against him.
In addition to making it clear that Shelly Sterling, Donald's wife, has no legal claim to retain ownership, Silver urged Donald to sell the team on his own accord and avoid the hearing.
"Mr. Sterling still owns the Los Angeles Clippers," Silver said. "Mrs. Sterling as I understand it through a trust owns 50 percent of the team, as well. It is their team to sell, and so he knows what the league's point of view is, and so I'm sure if he wanted to sell the team on some reasonable timetable, I'd prefer he sell it than we go through with this process."
Silver reiterated how Sterling's remarks have hurt the league.
"I mean, it's no secret we have a league that the majority of the players are African American; the vast majority of the owners are not," Silver said. "... There's a certain sadness, and you feel it, it's almost a malaise around the league. That's what I sensed when I first met with the Clippers. It was something deeper than anger."
