Shelly Sterling on possibility of being ousted: 'I will fight that decision'

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters on Sunday, the estranged wife of disgraced owner Donald Sterling made it clear that she has no intention of going away quietly. 

After it was reported on Saturday that the NBA believes it has grounds to remove Mrs. Sterling from ownership along with her husband, she told Walters that she "will fight that decision," and do whatever she can to protect her 50 percent stake in what she calls a "legacy to my family." 

In the interview, Sterling posed her own question about the double standard she feels she's being subjected to: "To be honest with you," she said, "I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?"

It's a valid question, and one that, in a broad systemic sense, absolutely merits consideration. But it likely won't matter in this particular case, not with multiple people involved publicly declaring that Mrs. Sterling's continued ownership would not be tolerated.  

Working against her is the fact that, as the league stated, she has never been approved as an owner by the NBA's Board of Governors. With public perception skewed so violently against her husband and co-owner, it's hard to imagine that approval being granted at this juncture. 

For what it's worth (probably not much), Sterling did say she is planning to file for divorce. 

"For the last 20 years, I've been seeing attorneys for a divorce," she said. "In fact, I have here-- I just filed-- I was going to file the petition. I signed the petition for a divorce. And it came to almost being filed. And then, my financial advisor and my attorney said to me, 'Not now.' ... Eventually, I'm going to."