NBA commissioner Adam Silver has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for making racist remarks to his girlfriend on tape.

In an unprecedented step, he also encouraged the NBA board of governors to vote to terminate Sterling's ownership — forcing him to sell the team. It would require a three-fourths majority vote to force a sale. Silver says those proceedings will start as soon as possible.

"As for Mr. Sterling's ownership interest in the Clippers, I will urge the board of governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team and will do everything in my power to ensure that that happens," he said.

Even if the owners don't vote to terminate Sterling's ownership, the lifetime ban will remain, Silver said.

He is confident that the owners will back his effort to force a sale, saying, "I fully expect to get the support I need from the NBA owners to remove him."

Sterling will also be fined the maximum $2.5 million, which will be donated to anti-discrimination charities.

It's a surprisingly bold move. The consensus was that Silver would suspend him indefinitely and fine him seven figures. There was disagreement among experts about whether forcing a sale of the team was even allowed under NBA bylaws.

"Whether or not these remarks were shared in private, they are now public," he said of the racist statements.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo reports that there will be a bidding war of $1 billion or more.

At the beginning of the press conference, Silver confirmed that the man caught on tape making racist remarks to his girlfriend is Sterling.

Before today, Sterling had never been punished for his past deplorable behavior. Silver gave him the most severe punishment the league has ever seen.

The Clippers website was changed to this immediately after the announcement: