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Sterling's wife, girlfriend to face off in court

LOS ANGELES — The girlfriend whose recording of Donald Sterling making racially insensitive remarks cost him ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers faces a fight with his estranged wife that could cost her the fortune he gave her.

Shelly Sterling is going after the $2.5 million in real estate and cars her husband lavished on V. Stiviano in a trial scheduled to begin today in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Shelly Sterling accused Stiviano, 32, of befriending and seducing older, wealthy men into loaning her money, giving her gifts or cheating them out of their wealth. She claims the gifts were community property her husband of 58 years had no right to give away.

The trial comes nearly a year after Stiviano’s recording of Donald Sterling telling her not to publicly associate with blacks led to a bizarre series of events culminating with his lifetime ban from basketball and the record $2 billion sale of the Clippers.

Sterling, a lawyer known for relishing a skirmish, vowed to fight the NBA to his death, filing lawsuits against the league and his wife in state and federal courts. He is also suing two doctors who said he had symptoms of Alzheimer’s, a diagnosis that allowed his wife to seize the family trust and sell the team.

The recording created a minor celebrity out of Stiviano, who was seen in photos cozying up to the 80-year-old billionaire courtside at Clippers games.

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