LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling (in Black suit), his estranged wife Rochelle Sterling and, Billionaire Steve Ballmer, who is slated to buy the Clippers for a record high $2 billion

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief

Kathy Wray Coleman is  a community activist and 20 year investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)

LOS ANGELES, California —Embattled anti-Black LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Wednesday signed an agreement to a sell of his NBA team for a reported $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, a compromise that comes behind his lifetime NBA ban for racist remarks and that puts him on footing with his estranged wife Rochelle, 80, who pushed the deal.

The 29 other team owners had the power to force a sell of the team, which requires a 75 percent vote, but it did not come to that.

Rochelle Sterling, also part owner of the Clippers, and who has laid claim to half of her husband's $1.8 billion financial empire, told reporters during the height of the controversy that she is not a racist.

The deal is pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors and would be a record high behind the $550 million price tag for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sterling, 80, is the longest tenured owner of any of the 30 NBA teams and bought the Clippers in 1981 for a reported $12.5 million. And though under pressure to sell the team in the midst of the fallout that has Blacks and many Whites and others simply upset, he had said previously that he would not sell, and he hired a high priced lawyer to sue on his behalf for billions. He said just days before he agreed to give up the team that the punishment behind his racist rant was too harsh, that his rights and his company's rights had been violated, and that his contract had been breached.

He said publicly earlier this week that he will not pursue the lawsuit either.

Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the NBA for life in late April and fined the billionaire $2.5 million  after racist comments surfaced publicly that were recorded by a girlfriend, V. Stivano. The punishment, which the NBA hoped will quell slated protests over the matter by some NBA players, is the harshest in NBA history.

The suspension bans Sterling from ever sitting court-side at an NBA game or attending any Clippers' practices. And he cannot set foot in any Clippers' facilities.

"The world will think certain things if you're seen with black people, so you should not be seen with them in public, and under no circumstances should you bring them to Clippers' games," Sterling tells his alleged mistress, the now infamous 10 min. audio recording reveals in part. He also made racially insensitive remarks about retired former LA Lakers ball player Magic Johnson, the recording also depicts.

The purported racist comments that Sterling admits he made, have unnerved people across America from President Obama and Oprah Winfrey, to NBA ball players and team owners, including Miami Heat power forward LeBron James, and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.

"There's no room in the NBA for Donald Sterling, there's no room for him," said James, who played for the Cavaliers for seven years before joining the Miami Heat in 2010 and leading the team to two subsequent NBA championships, first in in 2012, and for second a time in 2013.(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)