LOS ANGELES—Donald Sterling assailed the NBA, attacked two doctors who declared him mentally incapacitated and ridiculed opposing lawyer Burt Fields during almost an hour of rambling, contentious testimony Tuesday afternoon.
LOS ANGELES—Donald Sterling assailed the NBA, attacked two doctors who declared him mentally incapacitated and ridiculed opposing lawyer Burt Fields during almost an hour of rambling, contentious testimony Tuesday afternoon.
Sterling took the stand in the second day of the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court that could determine whether he remains Los Angeles Clippers owner.
In a sweltering courtroom without an empty seat, the 80-year-old Sterling called the 85-year-old Fields a “smartass,” told him to “stand up and be a man” and insisted every minute or two that the attorney needed to speak up.
“I thought you were going to make me cry,” Sterling told Fields, part of the team representing Shelly Sterling. “Isn’t that what you said in the paper?”
Sterling didn’t deviate from his decades-long reputation as a difficult witness. He repeatedly claimed not to remember facts. He tried to take control of the proceedings, telling Fields when to ask questions. He shifted from tears to sharp words in an instant. He objected to questions. He left the courtroom laughing and, at times, gasping while Judge Michael Levanas tried to maintain control.
“You’re wrong, like you’ve been wrong on every question today,” Sterling told Fields.
“How can you be wrong when you ask a question?” Levanas said.
Sterling claimed he can sell the Clippers for $2.5 billion to $5 billion, more than the $2 billion Steve Ballmer agreed to pay in the deal negotiated by Shelly Sterling.