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Donald Sterling aims to 'dig up' dirt LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's team of lawyers has hired four private investigation firms to dig up "dirt" on the NBA's former and current commissioners and its 29 other owners, a source confirmed to ESPN.com.

The move was earlier reported by The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with Sterling's legal strategy.

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 him $2.5 million and banned him for life.

The suit alleges the league violated Sterling's constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording. It also says the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale.

In addition, Sterling's attorneys will face off with his estranged 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 husband was mentally "incapacitated." Donald Sterling is fighting that conclusion and her authority to sell.

The firms will be engaged in an "audition" of sorts, the individual said: "Whoever delivers the best [material] is going to stay on for the next round, and it might be all four of them ... 29 owners is not a small undertaking."

ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
 Sterling Hires 4 PI Firms To Dig Up Dirt
Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg react to the news that Clippers owner Donald Sterling's lawyers have hired four private investigation firms to dig up dirt on the NBA's former and current commissioner and its 29 other owners.

sportsespnprivate investigationprivate investigatorlos angeles clippersdavid sternadam silvernbadonald sterling