Ruling Is Setback for NBA in Suit Against Clippers for Move to L.A.

The Clippers apparently scored a major victory in court Monday, when a San Diego district court judge essentially threw out the National Basketball Assn.’s $25-million suit against the club for moving from San Diego to Los Angeles without league permission after the 1983-84 season.

Leland C. Nielsen, the federal judge presiding over the suit since it was filed in May, 1984, granted the Clippers and their landlord, the Coliseum Commission, a summary judgment in a two-hour hearing Monday. The suit, in which the NBA sought $25 million in damages and also asked the court to determine whether the league had the right to terminate the franchise, was expected to go to trial this summer.

Russell T. Granik, the NBA’s executive vice president, said from his New York office Monday that the league plans to appeal the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That is the same court that ruled in favor of the Raiders when the National Football League challenged that team’s move from Oakland to Los Angeles. Nielsen said after Monday’s judgment that the NBA did not have a “factual issue” to support its contention that the Clippers had no right to move to Los Angeles without first seeking permission from the league.

Although the litigation appears far from over, Clipper executives were claiming a victory Monday.

“We won a total victory in the court instead of on the court,” Clipper President Alan Rothenberg said. “It’s a big, big victory. It was a total uphill struggle for the NBA. Now, maybe we’ll nail them on some damages.”

Still pending is the Clippers’ $100-million state suit against the NBA and the 22 other NBA teams, in which the Clippers are seeking $50 million in punitive damages and $50 million in general damages.

Rothenberg said that the NBA’s suit against the Clippers hurt the team’s credibility and affected ticket sales.

“(The NBA) threw a cloud over us the day we moved here,” Rothenberg said. “But we had the absolute right to move here and they knew that. Now, that cloud is lifted, but they can never undo the damages they have caused us.”

Gary Bettman, general counsel for the NBA, attended the hearing Monday but was unavailable for comment. But Granik said that the league is confident it can win in appeals court.

“(The ruling) is unfortunate in our minds, because it’ll just delay what the final ruling on the case will be,” Granik said. “From what I understand, at no point in the proceedings today did the judge say our case should be thrown out. He said he needed some guidance from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Carl Scheer, the Clippers’ general manager, said that Monday’s ruling might have a positive effect on the Clippers’ on-court performance. The Clippers are 28-47 with seven games left in the regular season.

Staff writer Thomas Bonk contributed to this story.