The deadline to bid on the Los Angeles Clippers passed at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the bidding term sheet required a $300 million deposit.

Although Donald Sterling’s formal response to the NBA on Tuesday asked that he not be terminated as Clippers owner — followed by his attorney’s vow to ESPN to “fight to the bloody end” — his wife Shelly Sterling is proceeding with a sale.

Her attorney Pierce O’Donnell said in a statement Tuesday night that she is managing the sale of the team with written consent from her husband.

Multiple reports indicate that Donald Sterling had sent another letter to the NBA on May 22, saying that he had empowered Shelly to sell the franchise they have owned since 1981. However, the league has never approved Shelly Sterling as a controlling owner.

The NBA advisory-finance committee also met again on Wednesday via conference call to discuss Donald and Shelly Sterling’s responses to the charge to terminate their ownership of the Clippers.

“These documents, along with the charge, were distributed to the NBA Board of Governors, which will meet on June 3 at 1 p.m. in New York City to hear and vote upon this matter,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said in a statement.

A three-fourths majority vote by the board would terminate Sterling’s stake in the team.

With several suitors now circling, just how much might the Los Angeles Clippers sell for?

According to NBC, potentially more than $2 billion — an amount that would set a new record in American sports.

#BREAKING: #DonaldSterling lawyer tells @NBCNews #Clippers owner "…has received offers in excess of $2.5B" for the team.

— Robert Kovacik (@RobertNBCLA) May 27, 2014

The Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion in March 2012, though the Los Angeles baseball team has a far more storied history than the Clippers. That purchase nearly doubled the previous top price tag for a U.S. sports franchise: the Miami Dolphins selling for $1.1 billion in 2009.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons also reported on Monday that the “basement” offer for the Clippers will start at around $1.8 billion. Continue reading “Could the Clippers sell for more than $2 billion?” »

Clippers owner Donald Sterling wants to cede control of the Los Angeles basketball franchise to his wife, Shelly Sterling, and allow her to orchestrate a sale.

The NBA, however, has yet to approve the transfer.

“We continue to follow the process set forth in the NBA Constitution regarding termination of the current ownership interests in the Los Angeles Clippers and are proceeding toward a hearing on this matter on June 3,” league spokesperson Mike Bass said.

Article 5 of the NBA Constitution states that no membership can be transferred “in whole or in part, directly or indirectly” without league approval.

The member in question — in this case, Donald Sterling — must submit a written request to the NBA commissioner, who then takes steps to vet the new prospective member. League owners must then approve the transfer with a three-fourths majority vote.

As he officially introduced himself to Los Angeles, Clippers interim CEO Dick Parsons made one of his beliefs clear: the NBA franchise’s transfer to new ownership is “inevitable.”

“There’s so much momentum for doing the right thing,” he said in a Monday press conference.

Parsons, a former Citigroup and Time Warner chairman who was appointed by the NBA last week, said he has not yet talked with either owner Donald Sterling — banned for life by the NBA two weeks ago — or his wife, Shelly, who has vowed to fight for her 50 percent share of the Clippers regardless of what happens to her husband.

The NBA Board of Governors needs a three-fourths majority vote to force Donald Sterling to sell the team, something league commissioner Adam Silver was confident he could get. The league also issued a statement on Sunday that if the controlling owner of a team is ousted, all other owners’ interests are also terminated. Donald is the only controlling owner of the Clippers approved by the league.

Shelly Sterling’s lawyer, Pierce O’Donell, called the league’s interpretation of its constitution “self-serving.”

While Parsons acknowledged the potential of a Sterling lawsuit, he said it would not be good for any of the involved parties.

“I think a prolonged legal battle is in no one’s interest,” Parsons said. “Literally, no one. Certainly not in the league’s interest. … Not good for the team, not good for the players. And I don’t think good for the perception of our country. And I don’t think it’s good for the Sterlings. Continue reading “Interim CEO Dick Parsons believes new Clippers ownership is ‘inevitable’” »