Wow, and they say racism is dead. TMZ gets audio of Sterling, who's always taking heat as the LA Clippers owner, berating his half Mexican/black girlfriend for hanging out with brown people.
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his GF he does NOT want her bringing black people to his games ... including Magic Johnson ... and it's ALL on tape.
TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano ... after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.
- "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?" (3:30)
- "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." (5:15)
-- "I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people." (7:45)
-- "...Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games." (9:13)
Sterling has a documented history of allegedly racist behavior -- he's been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos.
When Michael Jordan still played as his career was winding down, a friend and I bought a ten game Clipper package so we could see Jordan live as well as the good NY Knicks teams. Plus it was about a third of the price of Lakers games.
Sterling ran the Clippers like the NBA was his personal ATM machine and cared nothing for what his small fan base hoped for. Anytime they developed a really good player, he never resigned because he didn't want to spend the money and just let them walk away for nothing. Elgin Baylor never had a chance to be an actual GM for the team or the fans and the Clippers were a laughing stock.
I was actually shocked when he went out and got Chris Paul. His behavior exhibited by his racism explains a lot.
Magic Johnson responds to Sterling's rant:
After TMZ published the audio, Magic Johnson responded by saying that it’s a shame that Donald Sterling feels his girlfriend shouldn’t bring black people to Clippers games. He went on to say that “It’s a shame that Donald Sterling feels that way about African-Americans.”
The NBA is opening an investigation into the "new" Donald.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass issued the following statement: "We are in the process of conducting a full investigation into the audio recording obtained by TMZ. The remarks heard on the recording are disturbing and offensive, but at this time we have no further information."
Reverend Jesse Jackson had an opinion in on Sterling's comments.
"The first burden is upon the commissioner, Adam Silver, to act decisively because we don't want this to drag on throughout the playoffs," the noted civil rights activist said. "Donald Sterling should be banned immediately. The question is for how long. To do otherwise would subject his players to the indignity of working for a racist.
Warrior coach Mark Jackson responds too:
Warriors coach Mark Jackson, whose team is playing the Clippers in a first-round playoff series, said he was "disappointed in the comments made."It's "unfortunate," he continued. "I believe there's no place in society for those feelings, and it's just sad."
So, does he go into racism rehab or what?
Update: The Clippers issued a statement on Sterling's behalf. TPM:
"We have heard the tape on TMZ," the statement said. "We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. ... We do know that the woman on the tape -- who we believe released it to TMZ -- is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family, alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would 'get even.'"
[..]
"Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings," the statement said. "It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life. ... He feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them."
