PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Thursday that "it would be a very hard situation'' if Shelly Sterling, the wife of deposed owner Donald Sterling, remained as owner of the team as she has publicly expressed a desire to do in the wake of the scandal around her estranged husband's racist comments that were published by TMZ.

"I don't even want to comment on it because I don't know yet," Rivers said. "I think it would be a very hard situation, I'll say that much. I think it would be very difficult. I guarantee you every person wouldn't be on board with it. Whether I would or not, I'm not going to say, I just know that would be a very difficult situation for everybody."

Asked to elaborate why it would be so difficult, Rivers, who is consulting with the NBA in its search for a new CEO of the franchise, said that "because of the relationship" she's had with her husband it would be difficult for her to continue on as owner "because we wouldn't know who was really in charge."

Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said Thursday that his client intended to fight to retain her ownership stake in the Clippers. She has been a co-owner and alternate governor of the franchise, which is owned by a family trust, since 1981.

"Despite all of the furor during the past week, Mrs. Sterling still has property rights," O'Donnell said. "She has worked tirelessly over the years to build up a franchise that was once a cellar dweller into a sports powerhouse. She has the same right as anyone else in America to enjoy and control the fruits of those labors, and that includes deciding whether to keep or sell her 50 percent interest in the team."

O'Donnell stressed that Shelly Sterling "abhors" her estranged husband's views on race, and has supported the NBA's decision to ban him for life. He also noted that the allegations against Shelly Sterling, who was named as a defendant in previous housing discrimination lawsuits against her husband's companies, came from testimony in cases that were settled -- which is not an admission of guilt.

"They may share the same last name," O'Donnell said. "But they don't share the same values on race."

Rivers noted that "I don't know what she's done wrong" but said that his concern right now had to be with preparing the team for its second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Clippers host Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Friday night.

"We need to be uneasy about [Russell] Westbrook and [Kevin] Durant," he said. "That's what we need to be really uneasy about, because they're putting more pressure on us right now."