[AU72]

Franchises are a license to own. You agree to the (in this case) the NBA Constitution and by-laws. The NBA Constitution gives the Commissioner almost unlimited power to do whatever "for the good of the league".

Sterling may have a case in not getting fair market value in a forced sale. Then the issue is compensation.

[chris37]

According to the rules Mark Levin read on his show yesterday, the NBA did not have the authority to do anything that it did outside of banning him form games.