Steve Ballmer to Buy Clippers for $2 Billion

Former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer, left, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attend an NBA playoff game on May 11. GC Images

Former Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.82%  chief Steve Ballmer will buy the Los Angeles #Clippers for $2 billion, according to Shelly #Sterling, wife of embattled team owner Donald Sterling. Ms. Sterling had been running a process to sell the team.

Mr. Sterling's attorney had said late Thursday, though—before Ms. Sterling announced the deal—that Mr. Sterling hadn't yet decided whether he would sell the team or fight to keep it.

Ms. Sterling said she had signed a binding contract for the sale. She and Mr. Sterling each owns half of the team through a trust they share, though he is the owner as recognized by the NBA. Ms. Sterling acted under her authority as the sole trustee.

Mr. Ballmer, whose bid is three times the record price for an NBA franchise, said he would be "honored" to have his name submitted to the NBA Board of Governors for approval. For the NBA to sign off on a sale, the league wants Mr. Sterling to agree to several provisions: to not sue the league, to pay a $2.5 million fine levied by the league and to accept a lifetime ban imposed by the league, according to people familiar with the terms.

Ms. Sterling received four offers for the franchise. They included a $1.6 billion bid from entertainment mogul David Geffen, who is working with Guggenheim Partners, Oprah Winfrey and Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. There was also a $1.2 billion offer from billionaires Antony Ressler and Bruce Karsh, who were joined by former NBA star Grant Hill.

Ms. Sterling, who enlisted Bank of America BAC +0.07%  to run the sale of the team, has been in contact with Mr. Sterling around the process. News of Mr. Ballmer's $2 billion bid, was earlier reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Investors Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry paid $550 million for the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year, the most recent sale of an NBA team. The deal included the assumption of $125 million in debt. The highest price paid for a U.S. sports team was the $2.15 billion paid for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team in 2012.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling AFP/Getty Images

Initially, Mr. Sterling—who bought the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million—agreed to allow his wife to sell the team, but later he changed his mind. On Wednesday, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, his lawyer said Mr. Sterling was intent on fighting the sale. Late Thursday Mr. Sterling's attorney Max Blecher said Mr. Sterling hadn't agreed to sell the team to Mr. Ballmer or anyone else.

"Will that change? I don't know," he added.

The NBA has said it will move forward with plans to strip the Sterlings of the team if there isn't a deal in place by June 3, part of the league's response to racist comments by Mr. Sterling made public in a recording last month. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined Mr. Sterling $2.5 million, banned him from the league and vowed to do all he could to force Mr. Sterling to sell the team.

Mr. Sterling earlier this week responded to charges from the NBA that he damaged the league and the team with the comments, calling the league's efforts to force a sale illegal and saying the process is stacked against him.

Mr. Ballmer, who owns Microsoft stock valued at more than $13 billion, has twice been among a group that tried to buy an NBA team and move it to Seattle, where he has long lived.

However Mr. Ballmer, who stepped down as Microsoft CEO in February, said in the interview earlier this month that he was willing to own an NBA team outside of Seattle now that he has stopped working at Microsoft, headquartered in the nearby suburb of Redmond, Wash.

Mr. Ballmer said earlier that if he made a bid for the Clippers he wouldn't move the team. "Moving them anywhere else would be value destructive," he said. Mr. Ballmer declined to comment on Thursday.

People who know Mr. Ballmer or have worked with him say he is a basketball zealot whose energy for the sport is equally evident when he is playing pickup games with Microsoft employees, sitting in the stands at NBA playoff series or shouting at referees for high-school games. Mr. Ballmer was photographed recently taking in an NBA game with Mr. Silver, the league commissioner.

"I love basketball, and I'd love to participate at some point in the NBA," Mr. Ballmer said in the May 14 interview.

In that interview, Mr. Ballmer was asked to predict who would win the NBA championship title this season. "The team I'm rooting for the most is the L.A. Clippers," said Mr. Ballmer, who added that he knew one of the team's players, Jamal Crawford. The Clippers were eliminated from the playoffs the next day. Source: WSJ

Is there really a difference between Donald Sterling and the Redskins?

Which person is more racist? The man who says #racist things (and has a documented history of discrimination) or the man who makes hundreds of millions of dollars off the exploitation of racist imagery?

I guess it really doesn’t matter, does it? I mean, whether you’re doing racist things or perpetuating racism, you’re still a jerk. But it turns out that in pro sports, some leagues take racism more seriously than others.

When #Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded telling his girlfriend not to be photographed with black people or bring black people (including Magic Johnson) to his games, he was banned from all NBA games permanently by the NBA’s new commissioner, Adam Silver. Within seconds of the announcement, Twitter lit up with praise for the commissioner’s decision. This was what people wanted, what we so desperately needed, and what we never thought we’d get: A real punishment doled out to a rich, powerful racist.

Sure, it’s hard to hurt a billionaire with a fine of a few million bucks, but a lifetime ban is a satisfying emotional victory and a glimmer of hope that systematic racism in the league can continue to be addressed.

Quickly the conversation turned to another pressing story of racism in professional sports: That of Dan Snyder’s insistence that he will never change the name of the team he owns, the Washington Redskins. It doesn’t matter to him that Native leaders have been working to have the name changed since the 1970s. It doesn’t matter to him that the President of the United States said that if he were the owner of the team, he would change the name. It doesn’t matter that the National Congress of American Indians has published information about the ways in which Native iconography, caricatures and mascotry harm Native communities.

With the lifetime ban of a racist team owner in the NBA, many activists started to feel like there was hope for the Redskins. If Dan Snyder would never agree to change his team’s name, perhaps the NFL would take the NBA’s lead and start putting pressure on Snyder to make a change.

Activist Jennie Stockle, who is of Cherokee-Creek background, told me, “When the NBA banned Sterling, I had such longing in my heart. I knew that if the NBA could take sudden and drastic actions against long-time racism that the NFL could too. No more excuses for the NFL's lack of action.”

One group, Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, has been working toward the eradication of offensive native mascotry and has made significant progress toward raising awareness of the harm caused by these names and mascots.

Jacqueline Keeler of EONM explains the necessity of newsworthy events like the Donald Sterling lifetime ban in drawing awareness to the issues surrounding offensive native mascots.

Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry has multiple campaigns and have had active ones addressing the KC Chiefs (during the racist Sonic Drive-In sign), the FSU Seminoles (during Rose Bowl, see hashtag#RedfaceDisgrace) and in baseball we have had the#Dechief Nike campaign. It is a big field to cover, but every time we have a galvanizing newsworthy opportunity, we are on it.

But based upon the actions of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, change is a long way off. Goodell wrote a letter to Congress in 2013 in which he explained that the name “Redskin” is a positive one, intended to honor Native populations. He has stood firm on this position, though his letter did note that over time, opinions of the name may change.

After Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA, Snyder took a moment to praise Adam Silver for his swift and decisive penalty, without even a hint of irony, "I think they made the right decision. I salute Adam Silver for being decisive. He made the right statement and he’s doing the right things."

But will Roger Goodell do the right thing, too? Will he stand up to Dan Snyder the way Adam Silver stood up to Roger Sterling?

This month, fifty members of Congress signed a letter to Commissioner Goodell urging him to press for a name change in Washington. Jonathan Topaz at Politico analyzed the letter, which argued that the Redskins and the NFL are on the "wrong side of history."

The N.F.L. can no longer ignore this and perpetuate the use of this name as anything but what it is: a racial slur...The despicable comments made by Mr. Sterling have opened up a national conversation about race relations. We believe this conversation is an opportunity for the NFL to take action to remove the racial slur from the name of one of its marquee franchises.

The NFL replied that they would continue to stand by Snyder and the name of his team.

It is important to note that Roger Goodell doesn’t exactly have any motivation to stand up to a racist team owner, considering the fact that he was elected by the owners of the NFL’s teams. It’s also important to note that this salary yielded Goodell $35.1 million dollars, plus $9.1 million of deferred pay in 2013 alone—we know this because the NFL is a non-profit organization, and salaries must, therefore, be public information.

So what would motivate Goodell to stand up for what is ethically and morally correct? It would have to be pressure from other team owners.  

But the EONM holds out hope that change is in the near future for those who are against the use and abuse of Native names and imagery:

We at EONM feel that the NBA's just treatment of LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, has spurred half of the Senators in the United States and many in America to finally recognize the offensive racial slur that we have fought to eradicate for so long. It is the best time to recognize and move the nation forward in pushing the NFL's failure to address issues and right the wrongness of the 'Redskins' mascot.

As more and more players, fans, politicians, and Native Leaders speak up against the name, there will come a time when Goodell is forced to recognize that people’s views are changing. The time is now for other NFL team owners to stand up against Dan Snyder and to urge Roger Goodell to force a change upon the team with the racist name.

Roger Goodell has an opportunity to join Adam Silver in history books. He has the opportunity to be remembered for more than his incomprehensibly huge salary. He’s already led the way with his efforts toward reducing brain trauma to players and cracking down on “injury bounties” (though both causes have a long, long way to go), and many have faith that he can do the same here by forcing Dan Snyder to change the name of his team.

If Goodell chooses to put his neck on the line in order to help eradicate racism in the NFL, he may have the opportunity to be remembered as a hero. But being a hero is never easy, and it certainly won’t be this time.

Joanna Schroeder serves as executive editor of the Good Men Project and is a freelance writer whose work has appeared on sites like xoJane, hlntv.com, and the Huffington Post. Source: Daily Dot

Shelly Sterling 'to negotiate Clippers sale'

Shelly Sterling (left) is an alternate governor for the team and is a partial owner through a trust

Los Angeles #Clippers owner Donald #Sterling is authorising his wife to negotiate the sale of the basketball team, US media report.

She may seek to retain partial ownership of the club, reports say.
Mr Sterling was banned from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for life and fined $2.5m (£1.5m) after racist comments he made went public.

The sale could pre-empt a move by the NBA to force Mr Sterling to sell his interest in the basketball team.
The league has charged him with damaging the reputation of the NBA and its teams. Three-quarters of the team owners must vote to force the sale. The owners are meeting on 3 June to consider the matter.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press news agency Shelly Sterling wanted "meaningful control" over the sale.

She and her husband own the team through a trust.
In a press conference on Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he would consider a sale before the 3 June hearing.

However, USA Today and ESPN reported Mrs Sterling wanted to retain some ownership of the team. It is unclear whether the NBA would allow this.

Last week, Mr Sterling said through his lawyer he would refuse to pay the fine and was considering suing the NBA.
Maxwell Blecher said his client had done nothing to deserve the NBA's punishment.

The league announced the ban and fine soon after an audio recording of Mr Sterling emerged in the US media in which he was heard asking a woman not to associate in public with black people nor to bring them to games.

Mr Silver said Mr Sterling's "hateful opinions... simply have no place in the NBA".
Source: BBC News

V. Stiviano on 'Dr. Phil': Donald Sterling's 'Assistant' Speaks Out

The woman behind Hollywood's most famous visor has spoken. Again

This time V. Stiviano spoke to Dr. Phil, who confronted her about her relationship with embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and a number of other issues during an hour-long interview on his syndicated talk show Wednesday. But the 31-year-old "visor-wearing personal assistant" was no shrinking violet. 

Here are the top 11 things Stiviano told Dr. Phil McGraw. 

She recorded her conversations with Sterling often - in a life coach kind of way.

 

"Mr. Sterling is very demanding. He’s a very strong man. Ocasionally, he wants me to write everything down. Sometimes I would do a voice memo and forget that it was still recording. Sometimes I’d go back and listen to some of the conversations and I’d be surprised. He was surprised. He has what I call 'bipolar moments.' He would just lash out...say things that were absurd or mean...The purpose of the recordings was for him to learn things about himself...a validation to make him bigger and better and greater as a person."

She did not release the tapes that brought Sterling down.

 

"I think we have the name of the person who did. I cannot disclose that for legal purposes. I shared the information...a copy of the recording to a couple of my friends. I didn’t for once think this was going to happen. I never would have released it. I didn’t think they were going to sell it. I didn’t put that audio out there for the world to know my private conversation."

She does enjoy the limelight, no matter how she met her infamy.

“Are you kidding me? I get to experience first-hand what it is to be a celebrity in LA ... I have to think about what I’m going to wear, how I’m going to do my hair.”

She understands Shelly Sterling's lawsuit against her might be rooted in jealousy.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if his own children were jealous of me too."

Rollerskating in front of the paparazzi wearing a "welder's helmet" is not about wanting attention.

“Nobody can really see what I felt and that’s why I wore the visor. We all have different ways of coping. You live in Hollywood. You deal with Hollywood. So you tell me, how should I have acted ? I was making light of the situation. You tell me what would have been better for me to deal with … should I have been crying? Should I have stayed at home? Should I have been drinking? Should I have used drugs? You tell me. What would have been better? I used the mask. I used the mask. I used the visor, as you call it, the welding mask.”

She is not Sterling's mistress. But she understands why he said in a recently released audio recording that she has a "fabulous body."

"I've never had any sexual relationship with Mr. Sterling."

"I mean, look at my body, I personally think I have a fabulous body."

Being Sterling's personal assistant meant many things.

"I didn’t have a set title. My days were so different. One day it was a real estate business meeting, the next day it was a board meeting with the NBA, the next day it was a dinner meeting with a potential sponsor, the next day Mr. Sterling wanted to go shopping." 

Donald Sterling in trouble

Sterling's gifts of luxury cars and a $1.8 million were not part of her salary. But it had nothing to do with how fast she types.

  

"I can’t discuss the details of my financial payments. Just to clear the rumor, I don't type very fast...He's a billionaire. He can afford to give someone a gift of that magnitude...Why can't someone who has such wealth give someone like myself, or other people, whatever they want to?"

The fact that Sterling was married is a non-issue when it came to his generosity.

"Why would it be improper to accept gifts from a married man? I was accepting gifts from someone who was my boss, who was very generous...I was his caretaker. I was his mother. I was his secretary. I was his driver. I did everything for this man for the last three years."

In the now infamous recording, Stiviano told Sterling that he's in love with her. But she didn't mean what you think she meant. And calling him "honey" on the tape is nothing special.

"He is in love with me as a person, as a human being..I call everyone honey and love and sweetie."

She thinks her situation could still have a happy ending.

"I don't know. You think I'm gonna get a movie deal?"
NBC News

Clippers can't shoulder the weight, falling in Game 6 to Thunder

Clippers power forward Blake Griffin commits his sixth foul attempting to block a shot by Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook late in the fourth quarter. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Clippers may have eventually gotten by the Donald Sterling controversy, but they couldn't get by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Clippers lost Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series to the Thunder, 104-98, Thursday night at Staples Center, ending their season and sending them home to contemplate the future.
The Clippers lost the best-of-seven series, 4-2, and now they have to wonder who will be back, starting with Clippers Coach Doc Rivers.

He has two more years left on his contract that pays him $14 million, but he was asked whether he will remain as the coach of the Clippers considering that Sterling still owns the team.

"Like I've said before, I'm under contract," Rivers said after the game. "I have no plans on going anywhere, as far as I know."

Chris Paul had 25 points and 11 assists for the Clippers and Blake Griffin had 22 points, eight assists and eight rebounds before fouling out.

But Oklahoma City advances to the Western Conference finals to meet the San Antonio Spurs on Monday behind Kevin Durant's 39 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.

Russell Westbrook had 19 points and 12 assists.
Down 11 points with 2 minutes 27 seconds left after Griffin fouled out, the Clippers got to within four points with 49.8 seconds left on a Matt Barnes basket.

But the Clippers never got close enough to become a threat again.

"The locker room was not very good after the game," Rivers said. "That was tough. That was tough to see for me as one of their leaders. Wish I could have done more for them."
Rivers said Paul "took it hard" after the loss.

"I just feel awful for him," Rivers said. "He's the spirit of our team. Right now, his spirit is broken. He's going to have all summer to work and get ready for next year. But he'll be ready. He'll be better next year."

The Clippers had to deal with Sterling making disparaging comments about African Americans that led to the NBA fining the owner $2.5 million, banning him for life and trying to force him to sell the team.

That was something the Clippers had to deal with for almost a month, starting in Game 4 of the first-round playoff series against Golden State.

"To tell you the truth, we don't think about that," Paul said. "That's the least of our worries right now is him. We just lost a damn series. I'm sorry, but we don't care about that."

Paul stopped and looked at Griffin next to him at the podium.

"When I came out and laced up for a game and was playing, I didn't put much thought into him," Griffin said about Sterling. "I played for my teammates. I played for the fans, the people that are working for us. He's like somebody I never really knew."

Paul interjected: "That was the last thing on our mind. We give him too much attention as it is."
Source: LA Times

Donald Sterling is refusing to pay $2.5-million fine, reports say

Clippers owner Donald Sterling is refusing to pay the $2.5-million fine levied by the NBA in addition to a lifetime ban after comments he made disparaging blacks were made public. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

#Clippers owner Donald #Sterling is refusing to pay the $2.5-million fine imposed by the NBA for making controversial comments about blacks, according to published reports.
Maxwell M. Blecher, one of Sterling’s attorneys, wrote in a letter to the league that Sterling was not paying the fine because it violated Sterling’s due process rights and the longtime owner does not deserve “any punishment at all” for his comments disparaging blacks that were made public in an audio recording last month.

An #NBA spokesman declined to comment. But a league official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, acknowledged the NBA had received the letter.

Blecher did not immediately respond to a phone message left by The Times and the Clippers declined to comment.

The deadline for paying the fine had passed this week, according to reports.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban for Sterling in addition to the fine last month in response to Sterling’s comments and encouraged other team owners to terminate Sterling’s ownership in a vote expected to take place this month.
Source: LA Times

Magic Johnson says banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling living in the stone ages

May 11, 2014: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, left, talks with Magic Johnson as they watch the Los Angeles Clippers play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half of Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES –  NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson says Los Angeles #Clippers owner #Donald Sterling has badly outdated views about minorities and is shockingly ignorant about HIV and AIDS for such a prominent public figure.

"He's living in the stone ages," Johnson said in an interview that aired Tuesday with CNN's Anderson Cooper, a day after Sterling made his first public comments since racist recordings emerged last month and earned him a lifetime NBA ban. "You can't make those comments about African-Americans and Latinos. You just can't do it."

In Sterling's interview with Cooper, Sterling repeatedly brought up the ex-NBA star's HIV and called him an unfit role model for children.

Johnson mostly avoided lashing back at criticism from Sterling, who at one point cut off Cooper's listing of Johnson's achievements to loudly say "He's got AIDS!" Johnson, who is HIV positive but does not have AIDS, said he was surprised Sterling didn't make the distinction.
"Here's a man who you would think would be educated, and a man who is smart enough to build this type of wealth and own a team and have an incredible platform to change the world," Johnson said. "But he's doing it in a negative way."

Johnson is now a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and was once a part-owner of the Lakers after the playing career that was cut short by his contracting HIV in 1991.

"I came out like a man, I told the world," Johnson said of his famous public press conference announcing his retirement. "I didn't blame nobody else. I understood what I did was wrong. And I hope that I was able to help people."

Johnson, who said he has known Sterling since he first came to LA to play for the Lakers more than 30 years ago, said he didn't know how he got stuck in the middle of a situation that should have been a personal dispute between Sterling and V. Stiviano. Stiviano recorded Sterling making racist comments about a photo of herself and Johnson on Instagram.

"He's trying to find something to grab on to help him save his team," Johnson said, "and it's not going to happen."

Sterling's comments won him a quick and stinging rebuke from #NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who said owners were working quickly to force Sterling out of the league.

On Tuesday his fellow owners in the league's advisory/finance committee met via conference call, discussed the CNN interview and reviewed the status of the charge for termination of the Clippers' ownership.
Silver or an owner has to formally charge Sterling in writing with violating Article 13 of the NBA's constitution. A hearing would then be held and require a three-fourths vote of the board of governors to force Sterling to sell the team he has owned since 1981.

Clippers coaches and players, in Oklahoma City on Tuesday for their playoff series against the Thunder, were asked about Sterling's latest comments, and most said they were doing their best to ignore them.
"I wasn't looking for him to say anything, to be honest," coach Doc Rivers said. "I was focused on our guys, and being above all that. He's going to keep doing what he does, and we have to keep doing our jobs."
Center Ryan Hollins said the team's playoff success amid the constant controversy is "a tribute to Doc and the character of our guys."
"I think we've always just had the mind-set of basketball first," Hollins said
Source: Fox News

Sterling asked: What has Magic Johnson done? Answer: Quite a lot

Donald Sterling on Magic Johnson

(CNN) -- Perhaps the oddest part of Donald Sterling's interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper was the way he unloaded on Magic Johnson.

It was the second time in about a month that the owner of the Los Angeles #Clippers launched into tirade against the #NBA Hall of Fame point guard, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

In the recorded conversation that earned Sterling a lifetime ban from the NBA, he was caught telling friend V. Stiviano that he doesn't want her posting pictures with African-Americans, including Johnson. In Monday night's CNN interview with Anderson Cooper, he went further -- much further.

"What has he done? Can you tell me? Big Magic Johnson, what has he done?" he said, turning the question on the CNN host. "He's got #AIDS. Did he do any business, did he help anybody in South LA?

"What kind of a guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV? Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. But what does he do for the black people? He doesn't do anything."

So, let's ask the question: What has Magic Johnson ever done?

As it turns out, quite a bit -- and he's been doing them for a long time.

Sterling insists he's no racist, still slams Magic Johnson

He won championships

For more than three decades, Earvin Johnson has had the "Magic" touch.

He led Michigan State to a national title in 1979 before going first in the NBA draft and winning the championship with the Los Angeles Lakers during his very first year in the league.

The paycheck was nice too. Johnson signed a 25-year deal for $25 million. It was the longest and highest-paying gig in sports at the time.

In 13 seasons with the Lakers, he racked up five NBA championships and three MVP awards. And don't forget the Olympic gold medal in 1992 as a part of the "Dream Team" -- the first year pro players could take part. Nine months earlier, Olympic gold seemed like anything but a dream.

He helped change attitudes about HIV/AIDS

When Johnson announced he was HIV positive and retiring from the Lakers in November 1991, it sounded more like a death sentence -- so little was known about the disease at the time.

But he helped change America's attitude toward the disease.

In an interview with Cooper in November, he described himself as "the blessing and the curse of HIV."

"I'm the blessing because people were talking about it, they ran out and got tested at that time," he said.

"Then I'm the curse because...people now say, oh well, HIV is nothing because if I get it I can be like Magic. He's doing good, and I can do the same thing he's doing or take the same medicine he's taking and I'll be okay."

"But what they don't understand," he added, "in 22 years, millions of people have died."

And so, he says, his work isn't done.

He's raised millions for charity

The same month he tested positive for HIV, he formed the Magic Johnson Foundation which "works to develop programs and support community-based organizations that address the educational, health and social needs of ethnically diverse, urban communities."

Fact-checking the Sterling interview

In the two-plus decades since the world gasped at his HIV announcement, the foundation has raised more than $20 million for charity and given out almost $4 million in scholarships.

He's brought business to minority communities

As it turns out, Johnson was a pretty good businessman too. He founded MJ Enterprises in 1987.

The focus again was on serving diverse communities, bringing high-quality businesses to minority areas typically under served by larger corporations.

And Johnson seemed to invest in nearly everything -- theaters, restaurants, fitness centers, sports teams and a TV network.

A partnership with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made him millions. So did a share of the Lakers he bought and sold.

All together, Johnson's business empire is estimated at $500 million.

He's taken the high road

With numbers like that, it's no surprise that Johson's longtime agent and friend Lon Rosen came to his defense Monday night, saying Magic was "the exact opposite" of the way Sterling portrayed him in the CNN interview.

"I've known Earvin since 1979 and his whole mission in life has been to create business opportunities in urban America and to be charitable," Rosen said in a Los Angeles Times interview on Monday. "He has literally donated tens of millions of dollars of his own money to organizations and individuals forever and ever and ever."

For his part, Johnson didn't dignify Sterling's contentions with a remark.

Johnson posted a series of tweets after the interview aired, but he didn't respond to the specific allegations.

"I'd rather be talking about these great NBA Playoffs than Donald Sterling's interview," he said in one.

"After this week, no more Sterling talk. Just the NBA Playoffs," he said in another.

Sterling's claims vs. reality

Source: CNN News

Donald Sterling flatly denies harboring racist views

Clippers owner Donald Sterling, right, said in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that aired Monday that he didn't think Lakers great Magic Johnson is "a good example for the children of Los Angeles." (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times; Robyn Beck / Getty Images)

Los Angeles #Clippers owner Donald Sterling spoke on a range of topics, including his views about blacks and minorities and his relationship with V. Stiviano, during a CNN interview broadcast Monday night.
The embattled billionaire apologized repeatedly for the racial remarks he made that prompted the NBA to ban him for life. At the same time, he made other statements that are likely to spark new outrage, including how some successful blacks "don't want to help anybody."

In the highly publicized recording released by TMZ two weeks ago, #Sterling told Stiviano not to associate with black people, including Lakers legend and Los Angeles businessman Magic Johnson. During his interview with Anderson Cooper, Sterling lashed out at the #NBA legend's HIV-positive diagnosis.

"What kind of guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then catches," Sterling said.  “I think he should be ashamed of himself.”

Sterling also spoke on a number of other issues. Among them:

He apologized repeatedly for his remarks and said they had resulted in people being hurt, including his granddaughter.

"My little grandchild goes to a Catholic nursery.  And they were passing around candy to everybody.  When they got to her, they said, 'We don't give candy to racists,' " he said. "So it hurts me."

Sterling also tried to set the record straight regarding his feelings toward African Americans.

"But I want to explain a couple things that I said," he told Cooper. "One of the things that I said was, don't bring blacks to my game. Well, there's 25% of my whole game are black people.  And I love them."

He also talked about Jewish people and African Americans helping their respective communities.

"Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people," Sterling said.  "And some of the African Americans -- maybe I will get in trouble again -- they don't want to help anybody."

Sterling flatly denied harboring any racist views.

"I'm not a racist, and I have never been a racist," he said. "It's not me."

In fact, Sterling said, he has used his considerable wealth to help minorities.

"Do you know what I do?" he told Cooper.  "I spend millions on giving away and helping minorities."
Sterling also shared his thoughts on Stiviano.

'You know, forgive me for saying this, but she -- she is a good person.  She is a beautiful person," he said.
"There's 15 of her, 15 children, 15 Hispanic kids, sisters and brothers, and she supports them all.  Perhaps she's made some mistakes," Sterling said. 

"I thought she cared for me," he said. "I was stupid."

Source: LA Times

Magic Johnson, What Has He Done? He's Got AIDS: Donald Sterling

Donald Sterling

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling couldn't even apologize without making more inflammatory comments. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that aired Monday night, Sterling admitted that he "made a terrible mistake" by uttering the racist remarks that earned him exile from the NBA, but he also took a shot at Magic Johnson.

"Big, Magic Johnson, what has he done?" Sterling asked Cooper. "He's got AIDS." 

Cooper clarified that Johnson was diagnosed with #HIV, not AIDS. Sterling went on, "What kind of a guy has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV? Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. What does he do for the black people?"
Sterling received a lifetime ban from the NBA and a $2.5 million fine from #NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after audio recordings of his racist comments were released by TMZ and Deadspin. In the recordings, Sterling told a woman, V. Stiviano, to not bring black people to games or share photos of herself with black people on social media. A photo of Stiviano with Magic Johnson was mentioned during the recorded conversation.

Sterling told Copper that he has spoken to Johnson twice since the recordings were released. Asked if he had offered an apology to the NBA legend, Sterling questioned Johnson's status as a role model.
"Well, if I said anything wrong, I'm sorry," Sterling responded. "He's a good person. What am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don't think so. But I'll say it, he's great. But I just don't think he's a good example for the children of Los Angeles. That he would go and do what he did, and then get AIDS."

Sterling went on to claim that "some of the African-Americans -- maybe I'll get in trouble again -- they don't want to help anybody."

In the interview with Cooper, which came nearly two weeks after the first recording was released, Sterling also claimed he "was baited" by Stiviano into making racist remarks.
"I mean, that's not the way I talk. I don't talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don't talk about people," he said.

Along with the lifetime ban, Silver said he would urge the NBA's Board of Governors to force a sale of the #Clippers. Sterling expressed hope that the owners might not vote for a sale but did not express interest in a prolonged legal battle.

"But if you fight with my partners, what at the end of the road, what do I benefit, especially at my age? If they fight with me and they spend millions and I spend millions, let's say I win or they win, I just don't know if that's important," said Sterling.

Silver released a statement apologizing to Magic Johnson since "he continues to be dragged into this situation and be degraded by such a malicious and personal attack... The NBA Board of Governors is continuing with its process to remove Mr. Sterling as expeditiously as possible."
Source: Huffington Post

Shelly Sterling tells Barbara Walters her husband may have dementia

Shelly Sterling on the left and Donald Sterling on the Right

The clock is ticking down for Barbara Walters' retirement later this month, but she still managed to get in one more major exclusive in a sit-down with Shelly Sterling, wife of L.A. #Clippers owner Donald #Sterling.

In the aftermath of the NBA's decision to ban Donald Sterling from all NBA events and participation in the operations of his team, Shelly Sterling has said she will fight to keep her 50% of the team. She also told Walters that she believes her husband has dementia.

When Walters asked if she had discussed the racial remarks he had been caught on tape saying, Shelly Sterling responded, "He saw the tape and he said 'I don't remember saying that. I don't remember ever saying those things.' ... That's when I thought he has dementia." Donald Sterling is 80 years old.
Shelly Sterling, who has been estranged from her husband of 60 years for a year now, told Walters she had never heard him make racist comments. She also told Walters she's been contemplating divorce for 20 years, but hasn't yet filed the petition.

Why not? "My attorney and my financial advisor said now is not the time," she said.

Though the Sterlings remain married, she told Walters, "I don't love him. I pity him and I feel sorry for him."
On Friday, the NBA named former Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons as interim chief executive of the Clippers while the issue of ownership is worked out.
 Source: LA Times

Donald Sterling’s Wife Will Divorce Him But Fight to Keep Her Clippers Stake

Shelly Sterling said in an interview that she will end her marriage to the embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner but will continue to fight to keep her stake in the team if the National Basketball League forces a sale.

Shelly Sterling, the wife of Donald Sterling owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, watches the Clippers against the Golden State Warriors in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on April 27, 2014 in Oakland, California.

Shelly Sterling said during an interview published Sunday that she plans to divorce her embattled husband, #LosAngeles #Clippers owner #DonaldSterling. However, she added that she’ll fight to keep her stake in the team if the National Basketball League owners vote to force him to sell the squad.
“To be honest with you, I’m wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there’s 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband?” Shelly Sterling told ABC News’ Barbara Walters. “Or would they leave the husband in?”
The #NBA banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million last month after a recording of him making racist remarks surfaced online.

Sterling suggested to Walters that her estranged husband may have made the offensive comments because he was suffering from “the on-set of dementia.” She has not spoken to him about the future of their ownership in the team, but says she “would love him to” transfer his ownership to her.

“I don’t know why I should be punished for what his actions were,” she said.

Source: Time News

LeBron James says NBA players feel no members of Donald Sterling's family should own Clippers

Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) checks the scoreboard late in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference semifinal NBA playoff basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Saturday, May 10, 2014, in New York. The Nets won 104-90. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)The Associated Press

#NEWYORK –  LeBron James understands it will take time, but he wants #DonaldSterling out of the NBA.
And he said Sunday that players believe nobody in Sterling's family should be able to own the Los Angeles #Clippers if he's gone.

Sterling has been banned for life for making racist comments and Commissioner Adam Silver has urged owners to force Sterling to sell the franchise. While Silver has said no decisions had been made about the rest of Sterling's family, NBA spokesman Mike Bass released a statement Sunday night clarifying the league's authority in the matter.

"Under the NBA constitution, if a controlling owner's interest is terminated by a three-quarter vote, all other team owners' interests are automatically terminated as well," Bass said. "It doesn't matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team."

Shelly Sterling, Sterling's estranged wife, said she intends to keep her 50 percent of the franchise.
"As players, we want what's right and we don't feel like no one in his family should be able to own the team," James said after the Miami Heat practiced for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Brooklyn.

But Shelly Sterling told ABC News' Barbara Walters that she doesn't believe she should be punished for what her husband said.

"I will fight that decision," she said in the interview. "To be honest with you, I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?"

James was one of the first and strongest voices to speak out after a recording of Donald Sterling's remarks to V. Stiviano were posted on TMZ's website last month, saying the comments were unacceptable and that there was no place in the league for Sterling.

The league is trying to act quickly to remove him. Dick Parsons has been installed as the Clippers' interim CEO, and the owners' advisory/finance committee has held conference calls each of the last two weeks to discuss that process and timeline for a forced sale. That would require a three-fourths vote of owners.
But Donald Sterling, who bought the team in 1981 and is the NBA's longest-tenured owner, could choose to fight those attempts by the league.

"At the end of the day, this is going to be a long litigation when it comes to that," James said. "This guy who's owned the team since the `80s is not going to just give the team up in a day. So we understand it's going to be long, but we want what's right."

In his first public comments since being banned, Donald Sterling apologized Sunday for the racist comments captured on tape, saying they were a "terrible mistake."

"I'm not a racist," Sterling told CNN's Anderson Cooper in excerpts posted from an interview taped Sunday and set to air Monday. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize."

Sterling said years of good behavior as an owner should count toward his future.
"I'm a good member who made a mistake," Sterling said. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again. ... If the owners feel I have another chance, then they'll give it to me."
Source: Fox News

Wife would lose share of team if Donald Sterling is voted out, NBA says

he NBA issued a statement Sunday saying that any interests Shelly Sterling may have in the L.A.  Clippers would be terminated if the NBA's owners vote to force her husband, Donald Sterling, to sell the team.

"Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner's interest is terminated by a three-fourths vote, all other team owners' interests are automatically terminated as well,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement. “It doesn't matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team."

Interim CEO of Clippers Mr. Dick Parson

The NBA recently banned Sterling for life from the league and levied a $2.5-million fine against him for racial remarks he made that were caught on tape.
But Shelly Sterling has maintained that she is legally entitled to maintain ownership of the Clippers. Her attorney, Pierce O'Donnell, issued the following statement Sunday in response to the NBA.

"We do not agree with the league's self-serving interpretation of its constitution, its application to Shelly Sterling or its validity under these unique circumstances,” he said. “We live in a nation of laws. California law and the United States Constitution trump any such interpretation."

Shelly Sterling recently described her long tenure as a "die-hard" fan of the team and said she believes that the sanctions against her husband do not apply to "me or my family."
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Donald Sterling's punishment, he said there had been "no decisions about other members of the Sterling family," adding: "This ruling applies specifically to Donald Sterling and Donald Sterling's conduct only."

But Silver also said that when it comes to a vote on future ownership, fellow NBA board members would consider Sterling's "overall fitness to be an owner in the NBA," which would "take into account a lifetime of behavior."

The team is held in a family trust, and sources familiar with the Clippers say they believe that Shelly Sterling has equal ownership with her husband and each takes control if the other dies. Sterling paid $12.5 million for the team in 1981, but experts have said recently the team could be sold for $1 billion or more
In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters that aired Sunday, Shelly Sterling said she may eventually divorce Donald Sterling and will fight efforts to force her to sell her share of the #LA. Clippers.
She also suggested Donald Sterling is suffering from dementia, which she said could explain a recording in which he reportedly tells a female friend not to associate with black people.

"I was shocked by what he said," Shelly Sterling told Walters. "But I don't know why I should be punished for what his actions were."

The #NBA responded to the recordings by banning Donald Sterling for life and saying it would seek to force him to sell the team. But Shelly Sterling said she sees the #Clippers as part of her family legacy.
"I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?" she said.
Shelly Sterling also suggested that her husband might want to transfer full ownership of the team to her. As for their future as a couple, she said she had considered divorcing him for years but has not made any final decisions.

Also Sunday, Donald #Sterling sat down for an interview with Anderson Cooper, which is set to air on CNN Monday. In transcripts released by CNN, Sterling apologized for his remarks about African Americans, asked for forgiveness and said he would like to hold onto the team.
The interviews with the Sterlings come more than a week after Walters talked with the woman at the center of the scandal, V. Stiviano.

Stiviano said Sterling feels alone and isolated after being banned from the NBA over recorded comments in which he tells her not to associate with black people.
When Walters asked Stiviano if Sterling was a racist, she replied: "No, I don't believe it in my heart."
Stiviano noted that Sterling, 50 years her senior, is of a different generation. She said she didn't take his comments about blacks as bigoted.
Still, Stiviano said Sterling should apologize for what he said.
 Source: LA Times

Banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling says racist comments were 'a mistake'

In this Nov. 12, 2010, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers owner #Donald T. Sterling, right, sits with his wife Rochelle during the Clippers NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons in Los Angeles.AP/File

In his first public comments since being banned for life and fined $2.5 million by the NBA for making racist comments recorded by a female associate, disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling apologized for what he called a "terrible mistake."
"I'm not a racist," Sterling told CNN's Anderson Cooper in excerpts posted from an interview taped Sunday and set to air Monday. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize."

The lifetime ban, the first handed down by the NBA for an infraction not related to drug use or gambling, was announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver April 29. Silver, who succeeded longtime NBA Commissioner David Stern February 1, also said he would urge the owners to force Sterling to sell the team. Sterling has owned the #Clippers since 1981, making him the longest-tenured owner in the NBA.
In the interview with Cooper, #Sterling said years of good behavior as an owner should count toward his future.

"I'm a good member who made a mistake," Sterling said. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again."

Sterling said he waited to make a public apology because he was "emotionally distraught."
"The reason it's hard for me, very hard for me, is that I'm wrong," Sterling said. "I caused the problem. I don't know how to correct it."

He later added, "If the owners feel I have another chance, then they'll give it to me."
Sterling's comments came on the same day ABC News posted excerpts of an interview his estranged wife gave to Barbara Walters.

Shelly Sterling said she would fight to keep her 50 percent ownership stake of the team.
"I will fight that decision," Shelly Sterling said. "To be honest with you, I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband? Or would they leave the husband in?

"I don't know why I should be punished for what his actions were."

ABC posted initial excerpts of the interview and planned to air the rest of it Monday.
Shelly Sterling also said she "eventually" will divorce her husband, and that she hadn't yet done so due to financial considerations.

"For the last 20 years, I've been seeing attorneys for a divorce," she said. "In fact, I have here -- I just filed -- I was going to file the petition. I signed the petition for a divorce. And it came to almost being filed. And then, my financial adviser and my attorney said to me, `Not now."'
Late Sunday, the #NBA issued a statement in response to Shelly Sterling's vow to fight to maintain her interest in the team.

"Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner's interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners' interests are automatically terminated as well," NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated. "It doesn't matter whether the owners are related as is the case here.  These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team."

 "We do not agree with the league's self-serving interpretation of its constitution, its application to Shelly Sterling or its validity under these unique circumstances," Shelly Sterling's attorney, Pierce O'Donnell said in response to the statement by Bass. "We live in a nation of laws. California law and the United States Constitution trump any such interpretation."

Source: Fox News