Ex-Clippers owner Donald Sterling, wife Shelly decide not to divorce

— -- Former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his wife, Shelly, have decided to call off their divorce

"Notwithstanding all the difficult events of the last two years, the Sterlings have resolved their differences," Donald Sterling's attorney, Bobby Samini, wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times.

Donald Sterling, 81, filed for divorce from his wife of nearly 60 years last year amid their battle over ownership of the franchise. He cited irreconcilable differences in paperwork submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court and said the couple had been separated since 2012.

The move is the latest twist in the long, strange saga of the Sterlings, who ended up selling the Clippers for $2 billion to Microsoft magnate Steve Ballmer in the aftermath of racist comments Donald Sterling made on a recording to an ex-girlfriend that saw him banned from the NBA.

Shelly Sterling won court approval to negotiate the sale of the franchise by showing her husband had dementia and couldn't handle his business affairs.

She remains a defendant in Donald Sterling's federal lawsuit against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver, in which he alleges they defrauded him and violated corporate law by selling the team against his wishes. 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.