A California judge wants more information before deciding if the dispute between Donald and Shelly Sterling over the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise is a court matter.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas said on Monday that Sterling family trust documents indicated that once he received testimony of at least two doctors, saying Donald Sterling was mentally incapacitated, the $US2 billion ($A2.15 billion) sale of the club to former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer could go ahead.
Donald Sterling, banned from the NBA and fined $US2 million ($A2.15 million) over racially charged remarks, is trying to block the sale negotiated by his wife, with the case tentatively set to go to trial on July 7.
Shelly Sterling has argued she is authorised to take control of the trust and arrange the sale - with two doctors finding her 80-year-old husband to be incapacitated - and that the findings of those doctors are enough for Levanas to rule on.
Attorneys for Donald Sterling, however, said a provision of the trust that allowed outside evidence - including rebuttal testimony from other doctors - was inadvertently removed last year.
Shelly Sterling's lead attorney Pierce O'Donnell said the provision had been removed with the approval of both Sterlings, noting: "It's too little, too late, to say 'Whoops.'"
Levanas said on Monday he wanted more briefs on that issue, as well as whether Donald Sterling should be granted a delay in the start of the trial.
In seeking a postponement until August 7, Donald Sterling's attorney Maxwell Blecher said an expert witness for his client would be in Europe until July 20.
Ballmer's attorney Adam Streisand suggested the neurologist's testimony could be provided by sworn deposition.
Shelly Sterling and Ballmer want the trial to proceed on schedule, so the NBA Board of Governors has a chance to vote on the Clippers' sale at its July 15 meeting.
Shelly Sterling negotiated the sale of the Clippers on May 29 as the NBA was preparing to strip her husband of the team.
Donald Sterling is also suing the league and commissioner Adam Silver for $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion), saying he can't be sanctioned for comments made in a private conversation that he says was illegally recorded.
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