Sterling filed last week at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and claims the three worked with league commissioner Adam Silver, forcing the 80-year-old to sell his team after racial remarks where leaked to the press.
The comments drew outrage from the fans, players, and coaches and eventually led to the sale of the team to Steve Ballmer for a record $2 billion.
The amended suit claims, “Additionally, the NBA and Silver isolated Rochelle from her husband and scared her into undertaking certain conduct hereinafter alleged, including the signing of papers … that she did not understand,” the 32-page complaint said. “All of this conduct constituted elder abuse.”
The LA Times has reported the story and the league has yet to comment, but Silver banned the real estate tycoon for life and fined him $2.5 million for the recorded message that had disparaging remarks against African-Americans.
Sterling originally had the league and Silver in his filed complaint, but the addition of the two doctors, both of whom diagnosed the former owner mentally incapable of continuing as a member of the family trust, clams they broke a doctor-patient confidentiality agreement with the release of their findings to the NBA.
Rochelle’s attorney Stephen Smith issued a statement on Tuesday, calling the whole fiasco “desperate and frivolous.” Smith failed to comment on the escrow agreement between his client, Sterling, and the league which is reported to have half of the money from the sale of the team still sitting in hold.
No court date has been issued, but if this case does head to trial, it could set precedent for future cases against owners and even players who fail to think before they speak.
