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A feisty Donald Sterling has testified that he was duped into taking two mental health exams he said his wife used to try and strip him of ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Sterling displayed a wide range of emotions in court on Tuesday, repeatedly clashing with veteran Hollywood lawyer Bert Fields. At other times he seemed on the verge of tears when talking about the NBA, saying "they are not good people".
But the 80-year-old billionaire seemed most interested in sparring with 85-year-old Fields, the lawyer for his estranged wife Shelly Sterling, who is seeking the authority to sell the National Basketball Association team.
"I thought you were going to make me cry. Isn't that what you said in the paper?" Sterling told Fields.

	I thought you were going to make me cry. Isn't that what you said in the paper?

	Donald Sterling, addressing Bert Fields
Sterling insists he does not want to sell the Clippers because of "economic reasons", claiming he could get up to US$5 billion in a sale for the team he has owned since 1981 and predicting an antitrust suit he launched against the NBA would net him US$9 billion.
The main issue the court must determine is whether Shelly Sterling properly removed her husband as a trustee of the family foundation that controls the Clippers. Shelly arranged for two medical exams that led to the determination that her husband was unfit to administer the trust.
The trial in Los Angeles Superior Court is expected to continue today, with Judge Michael Levanas to rule on whether the incapacity finding was properly reached.
Donald Sterling is seeking to halt the sale, arguing his privacy rights were violated by the release of his medical records and that one of the two neurologists he saw was too drunk to have conducted a proper exam.
Levanas also must decide whether Sterling's revocation of the trust on June 9 effectively cancels out Shelly Sterling's record US$2 billion deal to sell the team to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer.
It all adds up to a pro-sports family spectacle that reads like a Hollywood soap opera script.
After his no-show on the first day, Donald Sterling entered the downtown courtroom at around 2.30pm, wearing sunglasses and took a seat in the aisle close to Shelly Sterling. During a break he spoke, briefly with his wife.
Sterling criticised the doctors who found him to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease, saying their findings could be used as a way for Shelly Sterling to sell the team without his approval. One doctor, he claimed, sat so close that "I couldn't even breathe" and the other was "intoxicated".
He also said it was "ludicrous to think" Shelly Sterling could manage their five corporations with "millions in liabilities". Then he said of his wife - who sat across the aisle - she is "beautiful".
Sterling said he had had his own doctor do an exam and was deemed to be "razor sharp".
In the afternoon, Sterling repeatedly sparred with Fields, who has represented Hollywood legends Tom Cruise and Warren Beatty, and the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
He castigated Fields about his questions, saying they were unimportant and unnecessary.
Sterling became even more agitated when asked about some financial loans.
"What do my bank loans have to do with this weird lawyer?" he said.


Donald Sterling turns up in court fighting

Donald Sterling, as depicted in a courtroom sketch, on Tuesday sparred with his estranged wife's attorney. Photo: Reuters

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After first-day no-show in court, embattled billionaire rounds on his wife's lawyer over alleged attempts to dupe him into selling Clippers
