New York: The National Basketball Association on Thursday launched its bid to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for racist comments as a panel of 10 fellow team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed to proceed “as expeditiously as possible,” the NBA said.

The decision, reached during a telephone conference call of the NBA Board of Governors’ advisory-finance committee, seemed to indicate a strong base of support among Sterling’s fellow owners for his removal, as urged by league commissioner Adam Silver.

Silver on Tuesday declared Sterling banned from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million (Dh9.2 million) — the league maximum — and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.

The unprecedented move would require a three-fourths majority vote under the league’s constitution and bylaws. If approved, the board could then go further still and vote to seize ownership of the team for the NBA itself to sell, cutting Sterling out of the negotiations.

The decision came hours before sports network ESPN and other media reported that Sterling has been battling prostate cancer. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

Silver and at least two of the owners, including the interim chairman of the board, Glen Taylor of the Minnesota Timberwolves, have expressed confidence they could muster the votes necessary to force a sale.

The teams represented in Thursday’s initial strategy session were Minnesota Timberwolves, the Miami Heat, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs, and Phoenix Suns, the Indiana Pacers and the Toronto Raptors.

In a brief statement, the NBA said the panel discussed terminating Sterling’s ownership and “unanimously agreed to move forward as expeditiously as possible.” It said the panel would reconvene next week.

The committee’s decision was in line with an outpouring of support expressed by the owners as a whole for Silver following Tuesday’s announcement of a ban.

But experts have suggested that some of Sterling’s fellow owners might be hesitant to support action they felt could set a precedent weakening their own future property rights.

Sterling, who bought the Clippers in 1981 for $13 million when the team was based in San Diego, has not indicated whether he would relinquish ownership without putting up a fight.

Experts have estimated that the franchise, which moved to Los Angeles in 1984, could now be worth as much as $1 billion, posing an enormous potential capital gains tax liability on Sterling if he were to sell the team.

A number of legal scholars and sports business analysts have said they expect Sterling and the NBA to be on a collision course that will be fought out in court.

“The guy has a reputation for being highly litigious,” said Adam Schlatner, a sports business attorney and commercial litigator. “I just can’t possibly imagine him rolling over and handing the team over and not fighting back.”

Schlatner, who handles legal matters for the National Hockey League’s New York Islanders’ owner Charles Wang and has had dealings with clients involving the NBA, said the league might consider allowing Sterling to sell the team himself by a prescribed deadline.

But he predicted that, one way or another, Sterling would end up severed from the Clippers and would realise that “the franchise would not be economically viable if he continues to own it.”

The scandal sparked outrage from fans and players, and numerous commercial sponsors pulled their support from the team before and after the NBA moved to expel Sterling.

Sterling was banned from any further ties with his team or professional basketball, and stripped of his seat on the NBA governing board, days after two websites released audio recordings in which a voice said to be Sterling’s is heard criticising a female friend for “associating with black people”. Silver said Tuesday that Sterling has acknowledged to the NBA that the recording was authentic but did not apologise.

The sale of the Clippers could take weeks. According to NBA bylaws, Silver must present Sterling a written copy of any allegations justifying a forced sale within three days, and Sterling would have five days to answer.

A special hearing of the board of governors, consisting of all the owners, would then be held on a date no more than 10 days after Sterling’s reply.

The prospect of Sterling’s exit led several luminaries of sport and show business to signal interest in buying the team. Among them were talk show host turned media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Hollywood executive David Geffen, computer technology titan Larry Ellison, former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson and boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

Meanwhile, Indiana, Oklahoma City and Golden State were all victorious in their must-win games on Thursday, staying alive in the NBA play-offs and forcing their respective series to a decisive Game 7.

Indiana scored 16 of the final 20 points of the game to overrun Atlanta and win 95-88, giving them a chance to win the series that most thought the Pacers would take comfortably as the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

Oklahoma City also won on the road, with Kevin Durant getting back to near his best with 36 points to lead the Thunder to a 104-84 win at Memphis.

Golden State edged the Los Angeles Clippers 100-99, hanging on as the visitors missed good scoring opportunities in the final minute.

Indiana’s David West was the key player in the Pacers’ closing surge that overwhelmed Atlanta.

Trailing 3-2 after losing at home for the second time in the Eastern Conference series, Indiana was poised for an early summer when the Hawks pushed out to an 84-79 lead with around three minutes remaining, cheered on by a raucous crowd. But, for the fourth time in this back-and-forth affair, the away team won.

West seemed to make every big play in the decisive closing moments, scoring four straight points and forcing a huge turnover to begin the turnaround. West hit two more baskets in the final minute to wrap things up, finishing with 24 points.

Paul George also scored 24 points for the Pacers, making four straight free throws to help finish off the Hawks, who are trying to become only the sixth No 8 seed in history to knock off a No 1 seed.

Jeff Teague scored 29 points for Atlanta.

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant added 10 rebounds to his big points haul and made 14 of 15 free throws as the Thunder comfortably defeated Memphis 104-84.

Russell Westbrook added 25 points for the Thunder, who have not been eliminated in the first round of the play-offs since 2010. They took control early with Durant scoring 14 points in the first quarter, led by 15 at half-time and never let Memphis get closer in the second half.

The previous four games of the series had all gone to overtime, but this time Oklahoma City was soon in command.

Marc Gasol had 17 points and Zach Randolph 16 for Memphis. Guard Mike Conley strained his right hamstring, briefly returned and left for good with 8:48 left.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry scored 24 points and dished out nine assists to guide the Warriors to the nerve-wracking win over the Clippers.

Andre Iguodala added 15 points and Draymond Green had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Warriors, handing Los Angeles one more obstacle to overcome in a week full of them after Clippers owner Donald Sterling earned a lifetime ban from the NBA for racist remarks.

The Warriors limited Clippers big men Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan even after centre Jermaine O’Neal left with a sprained right knee in the second quarter.

Los Angeles ran out of time in the closing minute, missing three shots before Matt Barnes made a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play.