NEW YORK – In response to statements made by Shelly Sterling, wife of Donald Sterling, NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated:

“Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well.  It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here.  These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.”