A cadre of attorneys and a flurry of lawsuits could certainly slow down the NBAs plan to force Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers over his recent racist comments, but legal experts say the league would likely prevail in the end. And that goes for Sterlings wife, Shelly, who has said shed like to keep her stake in the team even if her husband is ousted. The NBAs constitution, which Donald Sterling signed as controlling owner of the Clippers, gives its board of governors broad latitude in league decisions including who owns the teams. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is pushing for a swift vote against Sterling, which requires a minimum of three-fourths of the other 29 controlling owners to agree. Silver also has imposed a lifetime ban on Sterling and a $2.5 million fine. The ban does not apply to Shelly Sterling. SI.com and ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported Thursday that Sterlings lawyer, antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher, wrote a letter to Rick Buchanan, the NBAs executive vice-president and general counsel, threatening to sue the league and saying Sterling will not pay the $2.5 million fine. "Sterlings own signature will come back to haunt him," said Michael McCann, founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire. "You agree to certain basic understandings. Thats what makes a sports league different from other businesses." The key to the NBAs authority, attorneys say, is Article 13(d) of the leagues constitution. That section says that, whether Sterling intended to or not, an owner cannot "fail or refuse to fulfil" contractual obligations to the NBA "in such a way to affect the Association or its members adversely." Theres plenty of evidence Sterlings comments, revealed in a recorded conversation with a female companion, affected the league adversely. They provoked threats of a player boycott, led sponsors to withdraw support and created a racially charged image problem in the midst of the NBA playoffs that even President Barack Obama remarked upon. If Article 13(d) was violated, the legal experts say the board of governors has solid grounds to force Sterling to sell the team along with any other owners, in this case his wife. As long as the NBA meticulously follows its own constitution and rules regarding the Clippers sale, it will be difficult for Sterling to find a legal theory that would stand up in court, said Daniel Lazaroff, director of the Sports Law Institute at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "This is not an antitrust issue. This is not a First Amendment issue," Lazaroff said. "Its a question limited to the interpretation of the NBA constitution and bylaws, and whether those terms are met." Another question involves California family law. Its a community property state, meaning spouses jointly own property they acquired while married. The Sterlings were already married when he bought the Clippers in 1981. Although a potential divorce could complicate the Clippers sale, McCann said the couples joint ownership actually works to the NBAs favour because — legally speaking — they are a single entity. So if the NBA forced Donald Sterling to sell, even under a divorce scenario, Shelly Sterling would have to sell, too. They have been married since 1955. "The NBA is well positioned to ultimately prevail," McCann said. For his part, Donald Sterling has repeatedly said he does not want to sell the Clippers. In his recent interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper, he cast doubt on going to court if the NBA governors ultimately do vote to force him out. "People want me to hire a wall of lawyers and them to have to hire a wall of lawyers and go to war," Sterling said on CNN. "I dont think thats the answer." Sterlings longtime attorney, Robert Platt, declined to comment when contacted Wednesday. Shelly Sterlings attorney, Pierce ODonnell, did not respond to email requests for comment from The Associated Press. But he has previously said she wants to remain a passive owner of the Clippers even if her husband is no longer involved. For now, the NBA has installed former Time Warner and Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons to oversee the teams business operations. Parsons said this week that a prolonged legal battle "is in no ones interest." "I would hope we could avoid that," he said. If he is forced out, Sterling still stands to reap a huge financial windfall in a Clippers sale. He bought the team for $12.5 million in 1981, and Forbes magazine recently placed its 2014 value at $575 million, or No. 13 in the NBA. 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A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. Craig Biggio Astros Jersey . The Canadians led for much of the game before Argentina forced overtime in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Canada weathered the storm after squandering a lead with a series of made shots. "Its a fantastic win for our country with 11 first-time Canadian national team members," said head coach Roy Rana. LONDON -- Milos Raonic and Frank Dancevic threw a one-two winning punch for Canada on Tuesday as the eighth seed and the lucky loser combined for a pair of first-round Wimbledon victories within minutes of each other. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., fired 30 aces -- compared to two for his opponent -- in a comfortable 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Australias Matthew Ebden that took little more than 90 minutes. It was a two-hour victory for the 107th-ranked Dancevic, who won his first Wimbledon match since 2011 as he upset 29th-seeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(4). Raonic, who lost his only grass tuneup match this month at Halle, Germany, is into the Wimbledon second round for the fourth consecutive year, but hopes to go farther after never winning two matches in a row at the event. The 23-year-old was never in trouble from Ebden, with the Canadian claiming the first two sets and breaking for a lead in the third. Raonic sent over a service winner for three match points, but needed only one as he put a volley into the far corner out of Ebdens reach. "I feel really good about this win, I played a lot better than I expected to," said Raonic. 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