Brent Schrotenboer

USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling says the NBA is unfairly singling him out and slamming him with "draconian" punishment, all prompted by the leak of a private conversation he claims was illegally recorded.

Sterling's attorney, Max Blecher, told USA TODAY Sports late Tuesday that Sterling is not interested in selling the Clippers, contrary to a statement made Tuesday by his wife's attorney. Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said Donald Sterling authorized Shelly Sterling in writing to sell the team, including his 50-percent stake.

In a scathing 32-page response sent to the league Tuesday and obtained by USA TODAY Sports, Donald Sterling instead says he will fight the league's move to force him to sell his team, and he noted he has received offers of more than $2.5 billion for the franchise. Sterling also says the league's proposed punishment would cause his family to take an "egregious" tax hit on the sale of the club.

Regardless of his comments in the recording, Sterling says, nothing he said violated his contractual agreements with the league.

"A jealous rant to a lover never intended to be published cannot offend the NBA rules," said the document, signed by Sterling.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is trying to force a sale of the Clippers after Sterling was heard in an audio recording making racist remarks about African-Americans in a private conversation last September with his companion, V. Stiviano. The recording was leaked months later to the gossip site TMZ, prompting Silver on April 29 to ban Sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million. The NBA has set a hearing for June 3, with approval by three-quarters of the league's owners required to strip him of ownership.

"This evening, the NBA received responses from Donald and Shelly Sterling to the charge to terminate the current ownership interests in the Los Angeles Clippers," NBA vice president Mike Bass said in a news release Tuesday night. "The NBA Board of Governors will meet on June 3 at 1 p.m. in New York City to hear and vote upon this matter. Should the Board vote to sustain the charge, the Sterlings' interests in the Clippers will be terminated and the team will be sold."

Sterling says he did not consent to being recorded by Stiviano, making the recording illegal in California. He also says he helped the league achieve its diversity goals, and that the penalties for his offensive speech are far beyond what any other player, coach or owner has suffered. He cited several examples, including NBA star Kobe Bryant being fined "only a modest $100,000" in 2011 after using a gay slur against a referee.

The league says Sterling ran afoul of a morals clause in Article II of its joint venture agreement with him. But Sterling stays the provision "is not meant to oversee morals and ethics in the home; it is meant to govern morals and ethics in conducting the sport of professional basketball."

Sterling alleges he was baited by Stiviano into making his remarks while he was in a distressed and vulnerable state. While he has acknowledged the remarks were "uneducated" and "hurtful," his response asserts they could not draw a fine of $2.5 million under NBA rules.

"Judging in terms of the punishment already imposed, and the Commissioner's current request, Mr. Sterling's offense is far and away the worst offense that any player, coach or owner has ever committed in the history of the NBA," his attorneys wrote. "In the past, the NBA has either punished offensive speech with a modest fine or ignored it."

Sterling argues that the league could fine him no more than $1 million.

"We do not believe a court in the United States of America will enforce the draconian penalties imposed on Mr. Sterling in these circumstances, and indeed, we believe that preservation of Mr. Sterling's constitutional rights requires that these sham proceedings be terminated in Mr. Sterling's favor," the response says.

His wife, Shelly Sterling, planned to file a separate response to the NBA by midnight Tuesday to assert her position that she is an innocent bystander in the league's efforts to strip her family's ownership of the Clippers, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnnell, said Donald Sterling made a written agreement with her to sell the team.

"Donald Sterling has authorized Shelly Sterling in writing to negotiate the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, including his 50 percent ownership of the team. Shelly is managing the sale of the Clippers," O'Donnell stated. "While no formal offers have yet been received, Shelly and the NBA are working cooperatively on the transaction."

That differs from what Donald Sterling's attorney said late Tuesday after filing his response to the NBA.

"Present position is no sale," Blecher said.

By reasserting her position as the innocent 50% owner, Shelly Sterling is building on her case that she should be able to retain a minority ownership stake in the team. Meanwhile, she has been talking to potential buyers. On Sunday, she visited with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at her residence in Malibu and received a strong offer for the team and a commitment to keep the team in Los Angeles, said the person, who is familiar with the negotiations.

Several other potential buyers have expressed serious interest, the person said, with Bank of America working to help Shelly Sterling sell the team on her own terms and not through a forced sale by the NBA.

But the NBA isn't likely to agree to her terms. The league said last week it will proceed as planned to terminate the family's ownership. However, the person said the NBA is aware of Shelly Sterling's efforts to sell the team on her own and might be open to the team being sold without a forced termination. Depending on the negotiations, the June 3 deadline could be extended.

A sticking point could be Shelly Sterling's effort to remain a part-owner — a prospect the NBA opposes.

"As the Commissioner said last week, it would be a preferred outcome if the Sterlings were to voluntarily transfer 100% of the ownership in the team to new owners, rather than to have their ownership in the team terminated," Bass told USA TODAY Sports via e-mail.

The Sterlings bought the team in 1981 for around $12 million.

If the NBA votes to terminate the Sterlings' ownership, Silver would take over the team and the team could be sold "at such prices and on such terms as the Commissioner shall deem reasonable and appropriate," according to the NBA Constitution.

Follow Brent Schrotenboer on Twitter @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com