A feisty Donald Sterling testified he was duped into taking two mental health exams that he said his wife used to try and strip him of ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Sterling displayed a wide range of emotions in court on Tuesday, repeatedly clashing with veteran Hollywood lawyer for the stars, Bert Fields.
But then other times he seemed on the verge of tears when talking about the NBA, saying "they are not good people".
But the 80-year-old billionaire Sterling was most interested in sparring with the 85-year-old Fields, the lawyer for his estranged wife Shelly Sterling, who is seeking the authority to sell the NBA team.
"I thought you were going to make me cry. Isn't that what you said in the paper?" Sterling told Fields.
Sterling insists he doesn't want to sell the team because of "economic reasons", claiming he could get up to $US5 billion ($A5.4 billion) in a sale for the team he has owned since 1981 and predicted an antitrust suit he launched against the NBA would net him $US9 billion ($A9.7 billion).
The main issue the court must determine is whether Shelly Sterling properly removed her husband as a trustee of the family foundation that controls the Clippers.
Shelly Sterling arranged for two medical exams that led to the determination that Donald Sterling was unfit to administer the trust.
The trial in Los Angeles Superior Court is expected to continue at least through Thursday, with Judge Michael Levanas to rule on whether the incapacity finding was properly reached.
A combative Sterling criticised the doctors who found him to be suffering from Alzheimer's, saying their findings could be used as a way for Shelly Sterling to sell the team without his approval.
One doctor, he claimed, sat so close to him "I couldn't even breathe" and the other was "intoxicated".
Levanas also must decide whether Sterling's revocation of the trust on June 9 effectively cancels out Shelly Sterling's record $US2 billion ($A2.16 billion) sale of the team to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.
He also said it was "ludicrous to think" Shelly Sterling could managed their five corporations with "millions in liabilities". Then he said of his wife - who sat across the aisle - she is "beautiful".
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