Donald Sterling, the longtime owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, may be in extremely hot water after a tape surfaced of him appearing to tell his girlfriend not to bring black players to his games. Following a firestorm of criticism, the NBA is investigating.
Late yesterday, TMZ released a tape of a heated argument between Sterling’s girlfriend, V. Stiviano, and a man TMZ identified as Sterling that took place on April 9. According to TMZ, Sterling had gotten word that Stiviano had posted a picture of herself on Instagram posing with Magic Johnson. But it became apparent this was not a typical boyfriend-girlfriend dispute when Stiviano said, “I wish I could change my skin.”? If the tape is to be believed, Sterling was none too pleased that Stiviano was taking pictures with blacks. “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?” he snapped. Later on, Sterling allegedly told Stiviano–who is half-Latina and half-black–“You can sleep with them (black people). You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.” Listen to the exchange here.
The condemnation came hard and fast. Johnson himself, who has supposedly been friends with Sterling for several years, tweeted that he will never attend another Clippers game as long as Sterling owns them. Later, he called for the Clippers’ black fans to join him in staying home. “He wants our money,” Johnson said, “but doesn’t want us to show up.” Numerous reporters and personalities have called for the NBA to come down hard on Sterling, with at least a suspension or at most forcing him to give up control of the team he has owned since 1981, when the team was still in San Diego (they moved to Los Angeles in 1984). The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP was slated to give Sterling a lifetime achievement award at next month’s 100th anniversary celebration, but earlier today the national NAACP intervened and announced Sterling would not receive the award.
ESPN’s Keith Olbermann called for the Clippers to go on strike until the NBA punishes Sterling. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith talked to several Clippers players, and said that several of them were giving serious thought to sitting out today’s playoff game against the Golden State Warriors. However, while they decided against it, they are absolutely furious with him. It’s hard to blame them. After spending most of the last three decades as an NBA laughingstock, the Clippers have tallied two consecutive Pacific Division titles and the first 50-win seasons in franchise history.
In a statement, the Clippers maintained that the statements on the tape were “the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life.” The statement also noted that Stiviano is currently being sued for embezzling $1.8 million from the Sterling family. In truth, the plaintiff is Sterling’s estranged wife, Rochelle. For his part, NBA commissioner Adam Silver promised a swift investigation of remarks which he described as “offensive and disturbing.” He also said that Sterling agreed not to come to Oakland for today’s game, though it’s hard to believe this decision was entirely voluntary.
This isn’t the first time that Sterling has gotten in trouble for alleged racism.? The Justice Department sued him in 2006 amid allegations that he refused to rent apartments to minorities and families with children; he made his fortune in real estate. In 2009, he agreed to pay a then-record $2.73 million to settle the charges. In 2003, he was sued by 19 tenants and the Housing Rights Center for discrimination; that case was settled for an undisclosed sum. A 2009 article in ESPN The Magazine goes into disturbing detail about the allegations made in both cases. According to a property supervisor at one of Sterling’s apartment complexes who testified in the 2003 case, Sterling blamed the odor at that venue on black and Latino tenants. When the supervisor mentioned that a black tenant wanted to be reimbursed for water damage caused by construction, Sterling reportedly replied, “I am not going to do that. Just evict the b**h.”
To put it mildly, this is the very first test of leadership for Silver, who has only been on the job for two months. But if the man on the tape is indeed Sterling, anything less than a year-long suspension will be a joke.
Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus lover with several passions–the Lord, the Tar Heels, the Phillies and fighting for lasting change. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
