In addition to this, I have seen it proffered that the NBA constitution confers the status of arbitration to decisions rendered by the commissioner and that the courts are typically very quick to throw out cases challenging the results of arbitration.
If you think this series of events will have more to do with Silvers intelligence than the huge overreaction to racism, you are in denial.
The problem is this whole thing has, to a certain point, gone beyond the control of the NBA really. They can't make sponsors stay. They can't proclaim an end to any fan driven boycotts of ticket sales. They have a players union, more unified and motivated by this event than it ever has been, that they have to contend with. In order for Sterling to remain as owner, they actually need to loose the battle in the courts to give them the cover of saying they tried as hard as they could to remove him.
I get that you working with black women makes you an expert in legal matters, but Sterling will lose. The only thing he's doing now is dragging this out as long as he can to be as much of a pain in the ass as possible. Adam Silver wouldn't do this if he thought he might lose
Dragging it out long enough to make the public forget about it is winning enough. Plus, Sterling might just not care because what a few million here or there to him, so fuck that, fight. Might be dead next year.
I don't disagree with you that the NBA will win. However, even if Adam Silver thought the NBA would lose, would his actions really change? He didn't have a choice really, with all the outrage, in trying to get rid of Sterling. Even if they lose, he can at least say he did all he could and boycotting the NBA would be pointless.
He may be a semi-senile old-school racist, but the dude is apparently a sharp lawyer. I doubt he can beat the NBA, but he probably can drag things out forever and make them wish they had just dropped the banhammer and left well enough alone. Worse, he has a nearly infinite war-chest of funds and nothing better to spend it on.
