Donald Sterling plans to still sue the NBA, according to a statement released by his attorney Monday. 
 
 "The action taken by [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans," Sterling said through attorney Bobby Samini. "I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights. While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled." 
 
 While Sterling may be ready to continue to press his case against the NBA, including a $1-billion lawsuit he filed two weeks ago, his wife, Shelly, can also go to court in an attempt to clarify her right to control the team and its sale to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. 
 
 Shelly Sterling had previously become the sole trustee after her lawyers sent a letter to Donald Sterling on May 29, informing him that she was in charge because of his inability to conduct business affairs. 
 
 While it is not required in the terms of the trust, Shelly Sterling could go to court to try to get a judge to validate her position. That would prevent another 11th-hour challenge from her husband. 
 
 In such a court action, Shelly Sterling would presumably bring forward the brain scans that her husband submitted to as well as reports written by the pair of neurologists. 
 
 People familiar with the bidding for the Clippers, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Donald Sterling's topsy-turvy behavior in regard to the sale also could be presented as evidence. 
 
 After signing a letter May 22 saying he gave his wife the right to negotiate a sale of the Clippers, including his 50% interest, Sterling later said he only meant for her to negotiate, not complete a deal. 
 
 Then, last week, Sterling sent signals that he was at peace with the transaction and would let it go through, even issuing a statement through Samini saying he would not continue his fight. 
 
 A different attorney for Donald Sterling later said that Sterling believed the NBA would drop its $2.5-million fine and lifetime ban against him, something the league said it never agreed to do. When Sterling learned that the fine and ban remained in place, his camp again gave combative signals. 
 
 Monday's statement from Samini was the latest sign that Donald Sterling was not ready to give up the team he has owned for 33 years. 

 In a reversal, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling will pursue a $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver, and withdraw his support for the sale of the team negotiated by his wife. 
 
 "I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights," Sterling said Monday in a letter circulated widely among those involved in the sale and obtained by ESPN.com. "While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled." 
 
 Sterling's attorney Max Blecher earlier told ESPN.com in an email, "The deal is off." 
 
 Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Shelly Sterling and her lawyers intend to seek an emergency order from a California probate court Wednesday morning for an expedited hearing to resolve the situation with her estranged husband. 
 
 Last week, both Donald Sterling and Blecher indicated publicly that they would accept the record $2 billion sale to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In an interview with NBC4 during a charity function, Sterling said he was ready to "move on." 
 
 However, Sterling has since changed course. Whether he will be successful in this new challenge remains to be seen. 
 
 "From the onset, I did not want to sell the Los Angeles Clippers," he said in the letter. "I believe that Adam Silver acted in haste by illegally ordering the forced sale of the Clippers, banning me for life from the NBA and imposing the fine. Adam Silver's conduct in doing so without conducting any real investigation was wrong. 
 
 "The action taken by Adam Silver and the NBA constitutes a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans." 
 
 Blecher and another Sterling attorney, Bobby Samini, declined Monday to comment on whether the NBA's refusal to drop Sterling's lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine is the impetus for his change of heart. 
 
 "There was never a discussion involving the NBA in which we would modify Mr. Sterling's penalty in any way whatsoever," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. "Any suggestion otherwise is complete fabrication." 
 
 The lawsuit alleges the league violated Sterling's constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording that publicized racist remarks he made to a girlfriend. It also said the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale. 
 
 Meanwhile, Shelly Sterling, Ballmer and the league remain confident the sale will proceed. 
 
 "Nobody doubts this thing will go through in the end. I guess it's just a matter of what mood Donald wakes up in tomorrow," one source close to the situation said. 
 
 In an interview taped Sunday and released Monday, Silver told CNN that the league will be able to "take a deep breath" when the sale is complete. 
 
 "He's unsold his club several times over the years," Silver said. "There's well-noted incidents in the league when he was right there at a closing and at the last minute decided not to sell. And until he signs that document, we still have a pending litigation with him." 
 
 Shelly Sterling indemnified the NBA from damages in future lawsuits from her estranged husband as part of the sale agreement with the league. She negotiated the sale as the sole trustee of the Sterling family trust, which owns LA Clippers LLC, after two neurologists had declared Donald Sterling unable to conduct his own business and legal affairs. 
 
 The provisions of the family trust did not require a court order. To challenge her authority to conduct the sale, Donald Sterling would have to challenge her in California probate court, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. 
 
 Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
– Looks like Donald Sterling has decided he wants a fight after all. The $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers he agreed to last week is off and his $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA is back on, Sterling's lawyer tells ESPN. "I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights," Sterling said in a letter yesterday. "While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled." His lawyer declined to comment on whether the U-turn was the result of the NBA refusing to drop the lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine it levied over racist remarks made by the owner. After first agreeing to sell the team to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Sterling said he was ready to move on and felt "fabulous," but in yesterday's letter, he said he never wanted to sell the team and the NBA's actions constitute "a violation of my rights and fly in the face of the freedoms that are afforded to all Americans." Sterling's wife, Shelly, finalized the sale as sole trustee after Sterling was declared mentally unfit, and insiders say the owner's erratic stance on selling the team could be presented in court as further evidence of unfitness, reports the Los Angeles Times.