LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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, said 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 person who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday night on condition of anonymity. The person wasn't authorized to talk publicly. 
 
 The person said the investigators also are looking into whether other owners made any off-color jokes, or racist or sexist remarks. 
 
 "The gloves are off, as they say," the person said. "Have them dig up all the dirt they can find." 
 
 The 80-year-old Sterling is suing the NBA for $1 billion in federal court after the league tried to oust him as Clippers owner for making racist remarks to a girlfriend that were recorded and publicized. Silver fined him $2.5 million and banned him for life. 
 
 The suit alleges the league violated Sterling's constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording. It also said the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale. 
 
 Sterling's attorneys will also be facing off with his wife's attorneys in probate court during a four-day hearing scheduled for July. 
 
 The probate court hearing centers on whether Shelly Sterling had the right to unilaterally negotiate a $2 billion deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said she made the deal as the sole administrator of The Sterling Family Trust, which owns the team, after two doctors determined her estranged husband was mentally "incapacitated." Donald Sterling is fighting that conclusion and her authority to sell. 
 
 The person who spoke to the AP said Donald Sterling reluctantly agreed to hire private investigators after this week's legal proceedings in probate court. The NBA submitted a legal filing Wednesday urging a judge to confirm Shelly Sterling's authority to sell the team. 
 
 "He realized these guys will literally go to any low to get this sold," the person said. "Even if it gets (him) nothing other than exposing all these guys and shaking up the league and seeing a change in the leadership of the league, it'll be worth it to him." 
 
 The firms will be engaged in an "audition" of sorts, the individual said: "whoever delivers the best (material) is going to stay on for the next round and it might be all four of them...29 owners is not a small undertaking." 
 
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 Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams ||||| The NAACP said today they are still willing to work with Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling despite yanking an offer of a lifetime achievement award over an audio tape containing racist comments that Sterling allegedly made. 
 
 At a news conference today, NAACP Los Angeles president Leon Jenkins said that an audio recording that surfaced this weekend on TMZ, which purportedly had Sterling's voice recorded making racist comments, was "devastating." 
 
 But the organization would be open to talking to Sterling, with whom they've worked for nearly 20 years. 
 
 Catch up on Donald Sterling Scandal Here 
 
 What We Know About V. Stiviano, Woman Accused of Leaking Racist Rant 
 
 "God teaches us to forgive, and the way I look at it, after a sustained period of proof to the African American community that those words don't reflect his heart, I think there's room for forgiveness. I wouldn't be a Christian if I said there wasn't," Jenkins said. 
 
 "We are negotiating with him about giving more moneys to African American students at UCLA, and so we are in preliminary discussions," Jenkins said. He also noted, however, they had not spoken since the scandal broke. 
 
 The news conference was held to discuss the organization's decision to cancel plans to honor to Sterling with a lifetime achievement in the wake of the tape, which allegedly contained an argument between Sterling, 80, and his girlfriend, Vanessa Stiviano, 31, in which the male voice on the recording makes many racist comments. 
 
 The male voice is heard telling Stiviano not to post pictures of herself with black people to Instagram or bring black people to Los Angeles Clippers games, including Magic Johnson. Stiviano's lawyers claim the recording is authentic and contains the voice of Sterling. 
 
 LA Clippers President Andy Roeser said in a statement Saturday the team did not know if the tape is legitimate or has been altered. Roeser said that Donald Sterling told him that Stiviano had previously said she would "get even" for the lawsuit brought by Rochelle Sterling. 
 
 The team released a statement saying, “Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings. It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life." 
 
 The recording sent shock waves through the NBA. The Clippers players protested Sterling by wearing their jerseys inside out at a playoff game Sunday, and the league is investigating what actions it may take against Sterling if the voice on the tape is verified to be his. 
 
 The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP posted on its website over the weekend that it would not give Sterling the Lifetime Achievement award after all. 
 
 Jenkins said that the NAACP had been working closely with Sterling on contributions to the black community in southern California, including creating an endowment at a predominantly black college in the LA area and a scholarship program for black students at UCLA. 
 
 "The mission of the NAACP is to eradicate discrimination and racial hatred in all its forms, and each year our executive board votes on who we decide that we are going to honor," Jenkins said. "Mr. Sterling has given out a tremendous amount of scholarships, he has invited numerous African American kids to summer camps, and his donations are bigger than other sports franchises." 
 
 "That is something that shows that there is a consciousness of the plight of African Americans in this country," Jenkins said. 
 
 Jenkins noted that Sterling had previously been awarded a humanitarian honor from the group and that it would not revoke that. 
 
 In 2009, ESPN Magazine went with Sterling to the awards ceremony for that honor, which the magazine described as Lifetime Achievement Award, though Jenkins denied that term today. The magazine profiled Sterling amid legal allegations by the Justice Department that he discriminated against minorities in housing units he rented. Sterling ultimately settled with the government. 
 
 Jenkins was quoted in the 2009 article saying that Sterling had donated $10,000 to $15,000 in that year alone to the NAACP. 
 
 Sterling is quoted in the story saying about the reporter, "Do you know why they're here? They want to know why the NAACP would give an award to someone with my track record." 
 
 Jenkins said at the press conference today that the NAACP has worked with Sterling for 15 to 20 years and that Jenkins' predecessor nominated Sterling for the 2009 award. ||||| 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. 
 
 The person said the investigators also are looking into whether other owners made any off-color jokes, or racist or sexist remarks. 
 
 "The gloves are off, as they say," the person said. "Have them dig up all the dirt they can find." 
 
 Sterling, 80, is suing the NBA for $1 billion in federal court after the league tried to oust him as Clippers owner for making racist remarks to a girlfriend that were recorded and publicized. Silver fined him $2.5 million and banned him for life. 
 
 The suit alleges the league violated Sterling's constitutional rights by relying on information from an "illegal" recording. It also says the league committed a breach of contract by fining Sterling and that it violated antitrust laws by trying to force a sale. 
 
 "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." 
 
 In addition, Sterling's attorneys will face off with his estranged wife's attorneys in probate court during a four-day hearing scheduled for July. 
 
 The probate court hearing centers on whether Shelly Sterling had the right to unilaterally negotiate a $2 billion deal to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, said she made the deal as the sole administrator of the Sterling Family Trust, which owns the team, after two doctors determined her husband was mentally "incapacitated." Donald Sterling is fighting that conclusion and her authority to sell. 
 
 The person who spoke to the AP said Donald Sterling reluctantly agreed to hire private investigators after this week's legal proceedings in probate court. The NBA submitted a legal filing Wednesday urging a judge to confirm Shelly Sterling's authority to sell the team. 
 
 "He realized these guys will literally go to any low to get this sold," the person said. "Even if it gets [him] nothing other than exposing all these guys and shaking up the league and seeing a change in the leadership of the league, it'll be worth it to him." 
 
 The firms will be engaged in an "audition" of sorts, the individual said: "Whoever delivers the best [material] is going to stay on for the next round, and it might be all four of them ... 29 owners is not a small undertaking." 
 
 ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
– "It was almost like everybody wanted to exhale tonight, and it was good," LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers said last night when the team soared to a 113-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors just hours after the NBA banned owner Donald Sterling for life over racist remarks. With the cloud of controversy lifted, the Clippers "played as if on wings, flying around with hustle and heart" before ecstatic fans who gave a standing ovation when two fans wearing T-shirts with Sterling's face crossed out appeared on the video screen, writes Bill Plaschke at the Los Angeles Times. More: If the NBA hadn't chucked Sterling, the game would never have happened, because both teams had planned to walk off the court in protest moments before it was supposed to begin, Sports Illustrated reveals. "It was a real option," says Warriors coach Mark Jackson. V. Stiviano, the woman Sterling was recorded making racist remarks to, is "saddened" by the owner's lifetime ban and is "devastated" that the recording was released, her lawyer tells the Los Angeles Times. He says that his client wasn't Sterling's girlfriend and never had a romantic relationship with him. The lawyer says she was hired as an "archivist"—an archivist who received $1.8 million in gifts from Sterling, according to a lawsuit filed by his wife of more than 50 years. What now for Sterling? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver plans to push him to sell the team, and fellow team owners appear willing to follow the recommendation to force him out. He could fight back in the courts, but his chances of success are "basically zero," a CNN legal analyst says. If he does sell, it will be for a huge profit: He bought the team for $12 million in 1981 and it is now valued at $575 million, though some experts believe it could sell for closer to $1 billion.