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LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers President Andy Roeser is taking an indefinite leave of absence while the NBA restructures the franchise in the wake of owner Donald Sterlings lifetime ban. Roesers immediate departure was announced Tuesday by the NBA. The league announced plans last week to appoint a CEO to oversee the franchise in Sterlings absence. "This will provide an opportunity for a new CEO to begin on a clean slate and for the team to stabilize under difficult circumstances," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and urged owners to force him to sell the Clippers a week ago, responding to league-wide outrage over racist comments made by the 80-year-old real-estate mogul. Sterling is the NBAs longest-tenured owner after buying the Clippers in 1981. Roeser, one of the Clippers alternate governors, is one of the leagues longest-tenured executives, having just completed his 30th season with the team. Roeser has been a loyal frontman for Sterling since the franchises days in San Diego, and he stood by Sterling during every controversial stretch of the owners career. Only radio and television play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler has worked for the Clippers longer than the 54-year-old Roeser, who became team president in 2007. But Roeser infuriated many longtime Clippers employees last week after Sterlings private conversation was made public by TMZ. While nearly everyone else was reacting with outrage, Roeser released a statement questioning whether the recordings of Sterling were legitimate, while simultaneously apologizing on Sterlings behalf for sentiments about Magic Johnson on the recordings. Roesers statement was sympathetic to Sterling and criticized V. Stiviano, Sterlings longtime associate and the other voice on the recordings. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Roesers statement upset many loyal Clippers employees who had been horrified by Sterlings comments. Rivers held meetings with much of the Clippers front-office staff last week while Sterling was ousted, encouraging them to keep working for the franchise. Roeser joined the organization in 1984 from an accounting firm. Two years later, he became executive vice-president, overseeing all facets of the teams business operations. He has been president of the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation since it began in 1994. He helped bring Rivers to Los Angeles from the Boston Celtics last June, and was part of the acquisition of All-Star guard Chris Paul in 2011. Roeser also oversaw the development and construction of the teams training facility that opened in 2008. Rivers is the Clippers senior vice-president of basketball operations, working alongside executive vice-president of player personnel Gary Sacks on the basketball side of the teams operations. The Clippers overcame the distraction of Sterlings banishment to outlast Golden State in a seven-game first-round series on Saturday night. After just one day off, they returned to the court and trounced Oklahoma City 122-105 on the road Monday night in the opener of their Western Conference semifinal series. Dominic Solanke Jersey . Not Peyton Manning. Hes holding on to the heartache to stoke his competitive fire. Dejan Lovren Liverpool Jersey . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game. http://www.soccerliverpoolproshop.com/c-...jersey.aspx.500 were once common achievements for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, both are season highs as Dallas slowly works its way back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. Dejan Lovren Jersey . Strasburg (1-1) got 14 consecutive outs in one stretch and allowed only three hits, including Marcell Ozunas homer in the seventh. The right-handers lone walk was to the last batter he faced. Washingtons starter Wednesday, Jordan Zimmermann, left after a career-low 1 2-3 innings, leaving the bullpen "taxed," as manager Matt Williams put it. Jordan Henderson Liverpool Jersey . The Flames are in the midst of a six-game slide (0-5-1), their longest losing streak since an 0-6-3 skid from Jan. 11-28, 2010. They havent won since Nov. 3 in Chicago and most recently went winless on a three-game homestand.NEW ORLEANS - In what has become a highlight of the NBA calendar, All-Star Saturday festivities will commence from Smoothie King Center. The night starts off with the Shooting Stars competition, followed by the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Shootout and the main event, a showcase of athleticism known as the Slam-Dunk Contest. You can catch all of the action live starting at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. Or, one could call All-Star Saturday, "Damian Lillard Day." The Portland All-Star, who competed in the Rising Stars game on Friday, is scheduled to participate in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Shootout and Slam- Dunk Contest on Saturday. "Im happy that Im really a part of the weekend. I get to compete in all these events, and just to be in these guys company with all these stars," said Lillard. "It lets you know that the hard work is paying off." This year, much like last, Saturdays competitions are broken down into East vs. West. Paul George of the Indiana Pacers is the East captain, while Steph Curry guides the West. Both are starters in Sundays All-Star game. Saturdays happenings start at 8 p.m. ET. Up first will be the Shooting Stars, a simple enough competition where current NBAers join a legend and a WNBA star in a shooting contest from all over the floor. The first round will feature teams from the same conference against each other. The winning teams advance to the final round for the title. Each competitor will be stationed at one of the first three places, and the shot must be made before the next can be attempted. All three will chuck it up from near half-court and the team with the best time wins. Its a family affair for two of the teams as Curry will join his father Dell Curry and Becky Harmon of the San Antonio Silver Stars. On the East team, Tim Hardaway, Jr. of the New York Knicks will partner with his dad Tim and Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder will pair with Karl Malone and Skylar Diggins of the Tulsa Shock. The other East team is the defending champion trio of Miamis Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins and Swin Cash of the Sky. The Skills Challenge underwent some changes this year. Now, there will be two two-man teams from each conference competing against each other to reach the East vs. West final. It will now be a relay format. The Eastern teams will be rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors as well as rookies Michael Carter-Williams of the 76ers and Orlandos Victor Oladipo.dddddddddddd The West will be represented by Lillard and Utah Jazz first-year player Trey Burke and the tandem of Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns and Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 3-Point Shootout remained largely untouched, although the East v. West format remains intact. The player from the Eastern Conference with the most points will meet the player from the Western Conference with the most points. However, there is one new wrinkle this year. Each player can make one of the five locations to a full rack of five money balls, each worth two points. Defending champion Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers anchors the East team of Orlandos Arron Afflalo, Washingtons Bradley Beal and Joe Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets. Curry and Lillard are on the West team alongside All-Star starter Kevin Love, who won the title in 2012, and San Antonio Spur Marco Belinelli. And now, its time for the main event. This years edition of the Slam-Dunk contest will see many changes, first of which is a Freestyle Round. Lets let the NBA explain: "In a significant first in the events history, the competition will tip off with a Freestyle Round where the dunkers for each conference will have 90 seconds to showcase as many dunks as they want. At the conclusion of the Freestyle Round, the panel of judges will then choose a winner by voting East or West. The winning conference will earn the advantage of deciding whether its dunkers will dunk first or second in the head-to-head battles that take place in the Battle Round." The Battle Round? "The Battle Round will feature head-to-head matchups pitting East dunkers vs. West dunkers, with the judges choosing a winner for each battle. Upon losing a head-to-head battle, that dunker is then eliminated from the competition. The first team to win three battles will win the competition and be crowned 2014 Sprite Slam Dunk champions." No individual champion? "At the conclusion of the team competition, fans will then have the opportunity to vote for the player of their choice as the Sprite Slam Dunker of the Night through SMS, Twitter, NBA.com and the NBA GameTime app." For the first time since 1988, there will be three All-Stars in the Slam-Dunk Contest. George and John Wall of the Washington Wizards team with defending champion Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors, and out West, Lillard, Golden States Harrison Barnes and Sacramentos Ben McLemore round out the team. ' ' '