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.
Investigators were given a six-figure budget over the next 30 days to examine the league's finances, allegations of previous discriminatory conduct, and compensation to past commissioner David Stern and current commissioner Adam Silver, said the AP source, who spoke Thursday night on condition of anonymity. The person wasn't authorized to talk publicly.
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"Now his objective is to demonstrate for everybody that the NBA is a damned hypocrite," Sterling attorney Bobby Samini told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "We're going to pull every case against the NBA. Then we'll demonstrate that the culture of racism and gender discrimination is born at the NBA, where Adam Silver has worked in a high-level position for a long time."