Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has been accused of being racist in the past and now an audio recording from TMZ that was made public and the comments regarded his girlfriend V. Stiviano, who is half-black and half-Mexican, about a picture with Magic Johnson as well as racist comments regarding being with minorities in public and the NBA is now investigating.
According to the TMZ report and ESPN.com, Sterling was caught on audio speaking to his girlfriend about minorities and African Americans, commenting that he didn't want her "broadcasting" her association with "black people" and not to bring "black people to my games" and it brought out an NBA investigation and many public comments from people in the basketball world and Doc Rivers on behalf of the players on the team. Anyone that follows the Clippers knows that this behavior and sentiment is nothing new, but this is now a social media world and these recordings are very public and there is no choice for the NBA in regards to punishment, the only question is how severe.
The Clippers and the Warriors are in the playoffs right now and they have Game 4 at Golden State and now the team has a big distraction on their hands heading into the game. Sterling's comments may throw some extra attention on the players and they are up 2-1 in the series and they are on the schedule on Monday for that matchup. The NBA is currently investigating the tape and what Sterling said and there is a chance that he could get suspended or forced out of ownership.
Elgin Baylor previously was in court against the team and described racial behavior, as did former player Baron Davis, who wrote on Twitter about past things that Sterling has said. Magic Johnson responded to the comments, which also described a picture of the girlfriend with Johnson on social media that was later removed and he said he would never attend a Clippers game again while Sterling is the owner. Jesse Jackson also came out to denounce the comments and with the NBA and the Clippers with a majority of African-American and players that identify as black, there will be some outrage and that will force the NBA to take action.
"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" the man believed to be Sterling says. He continues, "You can sleep with [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."
Check here for the link to the TMZ audio recording from Donald Sterling.
