Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling has no intentions on giving up the team after her husband Donald was banned from the NBA for life.

Shelly and Donald Sterling have owned the team since 1981 and owns the team through a family trust.

"Commissioner Silver made it clear, that when he announced sanctions against Donald, that the NBA was taking no action against me or my family," Shelly Sterling said in a statement given to ESPN.

Sterling has hired attorney Pierce O'Donnell to help her in the legal matter as the league moves to remove Donald Sterling from his ownership

"She will not agree to a forced or involuntary seizure of her interest," O'Donnell said Thursday. "As her lawyers we will fight vigorously to defend her property rights."

The husband and wife haven't been together in quite some time. O'Donnell told the Associated Press that Shelly Sterling has been separated from Donald for a year and is considering a divorce.

Commissioner Adam Silver hasn't decided on other members of the Sterling family besides Donald.

"This ruling applies specifically to Donald Sterling and Donald Sterling's conduct only," the commissioner said.

O'Donnell said that his client can't be blamed for Donald's behavior and comments and that she shouldn't be made "guilty by association."

The NBA believes it has the right to force Sterling to sell the team because of the multiple contracts he has signed promising not to "take any position or action that will materially and adversely affect a team or the league." Sterling also has signed morals clauses which say owners must act ethically.

The NBA will try to prove that he violated those contracts and 75 percent of the league's owners must vote on the matter of forcing him to sell the team.

If Shelly Sterling files for divorce or if Donald files for divorce with her, the legal matter could become even more complicated.

Friday afternoon, the NBA named Dick Parsons as interim CEO of the Clippers.