Turmoil In Los Angeles: Sports Business Wrap For The Week of April 28

Top Stories NBA Bans Donald Sterling For Life Commissioner Adam Silver came down strongly on the Los Angles Clippers owner, fining Sterling the maximum allowable fine and banning him from the Clippers and the NBA forever. The league owners will hold a vote that will determine whether or not Sterling must put the team he's owned for 33 years up for sale. Reports spread Thursday night that Sterling has been battling cancer. Over 80 years old and facing mounting criticism, it is unclear if Sterling will file an antitrust lawsuit against the league, should he be forced to selling his Clippers. D'Antoni Quits Lakers Elsewhere in Los Angles, Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni resigned after two seasons with the franchise. He leaves the team with a 67-87 record. The Lakers will pay D'Antoni an undisclosed amount of the $4 million he was owed as part of the resignation. D'Antoni's previous head coaching stint also ended in resignation: he coached the New York Knicks from 2008-2012 to mostly failed results. Related: 5 Candidates To Purchase The Los Angeles Clippers Who's Watching What? The NBA Playoffs, according to Sports Business Daily, are averaging 3.24 million viewers through 34 games across TNT, ABC, ESPN and NBA TV, up 15 percent compared to the same period last year. Eight games have gone into overtime and 14 games have been decided by four points or less. A Closer Look At... Finish Line Finish Line FINL has seen a nice seven percent uptick over the last five trading sessions. It approached its high close year-to-date, but closed Friday's trading day at $28.34, $0.25 below its January 3 high. Tweet Of The Week Following the NBA's decision, it seemed like almost anyone with some pocket change was either labeled a potential buyer or came right out and said it. Usual suspects like Magic Johnson and Chris R. Hansen have floated around, while Oprah Winfrey even threw her name into the fold.

Not sure how Skechers thinks buying the Clippers would be a natural fit as no NBA player has ever worn their shoes

— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) May 2, 2014