Sterling appeals ruling that OK’d Clippers sale

An appellate court caught in an extraordinary legal snafu refused Friday to consider Donald Sterling’s request to block the $2 billion sale of the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer but said he could file it again.

In a purely procedural move, Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas withdrew his final statement of decision in the probate case between Sterling and his estranged wife Shelly Sterling over the impending sale of the team.

The reason was a series of miscommunications between the judge and the lawyers for Donald Sterling who had asked on Thursday for more time to file objections to his ruling.

Earlier, when Donald Sterling’s writ request was filed, Ballmer’s lawyer quickly denounced the move.

Lawyers for Sterling had asked the Second District Court of Appeal to stay Levanas’ ruling that cleared the way for the sale.

Sterling’s appellate lawyers said in their request for a writ of mandate that if the sale goes through, “Donald will have lost a unique and irretrievable asset: a ‘trophy asset’ coveted by high net worth individuals around the world one of thirty NBA franchises in the country, and one that under Donald’s thirty-year ownership has recently become one of the most successful.” The appellate lawyers who filed the writ petition late Friday afternoon acknowledged that Donald Sterling has a public image problem.

The writ filed by the Donald Sterling legal team demanded an immediate stay of the judge’s ruling.