Shelly Sterling says she plans to divorce Donald "eventually"

Shelly Sterling says she will fight any attempt to take away her stake in the Los Angeles Clippers and that she 'eventually' divorce estranged husband Donald Sterling.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced a lifetime ban and a $2.5 million fine against Donald Sterling after the release to the media of a recorded conversation in which he made racist comments to a woman named V. Stiviano. On Friday, the NBA appointed a new interim CEO, former Time Warner and Citigroup CEO Richard Parsons, to oversee the team, and NBA owners have been meeting to discuss the possibility of forcing Sterling to sell the team.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, Shelly Sterling said she doesn't see why she should have to pay for her husband's remarks.

'I was shocked by what he said. And -- well, I guess whatever their decision is -- we have to live with it,' she said in the interview airing Sunday. 'But I don't know why I should be punished for what his actions were.'

She said she would oppose any attempt to take away her 50 percent share of the team.

'I will fight that decision,' she told Walters, calling the Clippers her 'passion' and 'legacy to my family.'

'I've been with the team for 33 years, through the good times and the bad times,' she said.

Shelly Sterling told Walters she believes her 80-year-old husband is suffering from 'the onset of dementia' and that she plans to divorce him - although not just yet.

'For the last 20 years, I've been seeing attorneys for a divorce,' Shelly Sterling said. 'I was going to file the petition. I signed the petition for a divorce. And it came (close) to almost being filed. And then, my financial adviser and my attorney said to me, 'Not now.''

Shelly Sterling said she thinks her advisers told her to hold off for now because of 'financial arrangements.'

But, she said, 'Eventually, I'm going to.'

Shelly Sterling said that if her husband is forced to give up ownership of the team, she 'would love him to' consider signing over full ownership to her.

That's unlikely to sit well with the team, according to Magic Johnson. The NBA legend, who was singled out in Donald Sterling's taped remarks, has said the players don't want to work for anyone named Sterling.

Otherss expressed similar opinions after Shelly Sterling told the Los Angeles Times last week that she wants to hold onto the franchise. Broadcaster Ralph Lawler, the Clippers' longest-serving employee, told the paper that while her wish was understandable, others in the organization were ready to move on.

'I think in the eyes of the players and the coaching staff and the basketball staff, the page has been turned, and I think it would be difficult to turn it back,' Lawler said.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers has said it would be a 'very difficult situation' if Shelly Sterling ends up retaining ownership of the team.

Johnson, Oprah Winfrey and several other celebrities have expressed an interest in buying the Clippers, but in a recording posted last week by Radar Online, a man purported to be Donald Sterling says he didn't think he could be forced to sell.

In that recording, the man also tells an unidentified listener, 'You know I'm not a racist!' He also claims his now-infamous remarks telling Stiviano not to bring black men to Clippers games were made because he was jealous and was trying to get the woman into bed himself.