Day three of the probate trial between exiled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his wife, Shelly, delved into the bizarre and uncomfortable - so much so that Judge Michael Levanas, speaking from his bench, deemed the scene to be "disturbing."
Before Shelly took the stand on Wednesday, Donald Sterling admonished the court at the conclusion of his second day of testimony.
"Make no mistake today," Sterling screamed about the prospective sale of the team, via TSN. "I will never, ever sell this team and until I die I will be suing the NBA for this terrible violation under antitrust."
Shelly's testimony was flecked with seemingly genuine concern over her husband's mental health. However, when she left the stand and passed by Donald, things took a very ugly turn.
"Stay away from me, you pig," Donald Sterling sniped, according to David Leon Moore of USA Today.
After Sterling's outburst, Judge Michael Levanas scolded him in front of a hushed courtroom: "Please don't make any comments about your wife. That's somewhat disturbing."
A few minutes after that, Shelly Sterling exited the courtroom in tears.
Shelly's lawyers, and representation for prospective Clippers buyer and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, took Sterling to task in front of the assembled media.
"Today, he was rude to his own lawyer. He was rude to the court," stated Shelly Sterling's lawyer Bert Fields. "And then she walks off the stand, he says, 'You pig.' ... If there's one pig in the courtroom, it was Donald Sterling."
Ballmer's lawyer, Adam Streisand, took that condemnation one step further.
"It was a shameful display by a seriously demented tyrant," Streisand said. "He proved today that he absolutely has to go. And his outburst, yelling at his wife ... was just hideous but just revealed how truly demented he is.
"I think Shelly Sterling is probably correct, that his Alzheimer's has truly changed his personality, that he's not the man he used to be."
Despite the growing case building against his client, Donald Sterling's lawyer, Bobby Samini, tried his best to cast the day's events in a different light.
"Obviously, emotions were really high in the courtroom today," Samini stated. "I know that Donald felt very upset by watching her testimony. I think he felt betrayed by it. Obviously not a happy time for him. It's hard to say much more about it.
"I don't think it helps or hurts the case. I don't think the emotions between a husband and wife are a factor in the case as far as the judge is concerned."
For the latest on the Sterling/Sterling probate case, stay tuned to Chat Sports and our Los Angeles Clippers team page.
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