NBA

Sterling hires investigators to dig up dirt on NBA owners

Lawyers for bigoted LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling have hired four private-investigation firms to dig up dirt on fellow NBA owners — including any racist comments they may have made in the past — said a person familiar with Sterling’s legal strategy.

Investigators were given a six-figure budget over the next 30 days to examine his peers’ record on race, including any off-color jokes, or biased or sexist remarks.

They will also probe the league’s finances, allegations of previous discriminatory conduct and compensation to past Commissioner David Stern and current Commissioner Adam Silver, said the source.

“The gloves are off, as they say,” the source said. “Have them dig up all the dirt they can find.”

Sterling, 80, is suing the NBA for $1 billion in federal court after the league tried to oust him as Clippers owner for making racist remarks to a girlfriend that were recorded and publicized.

Silver fined Stern $2.5 million and banned him for life.

The suit alleges that the league violated Sterling’s constitutional rights by ­relying on information from an “illegal” recording.

Sterling’s attorneys will also be facing off with his wife’s attorneys in probate court during a four-day hearing scheduled for July.

The probate court hearing centers on whether Shelly Sterling had the right to unilaterally negotiate a $2 billion deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Shelly Sterling’s attorney, Pierce O’Donnell, said she made the deal as the sole administrator of The Sterling Family Trust, which owns the team, after two doctors determined her estranged husband was mentally “incapacitated.”

The person who spoke to the AP said Donald Sterling reluctantly agreed to hire private investigators after this week’s legal proceedings in probate court. The NBA submitted a legal filing Wednesday urging a judge to confirm Shelly Sterling’s authority to sell the team.