Public enemy number one.
Donald Sterling has gone from a virtual nobody to the chatter of everyone’s conversation the past day. Most of that is attributed to the taped conversation that was released yesterday, where he made some very offensive comments towards African-Americans and minorities. The person assumed to be Sterling, was irate that his girlfriend would take a picture with Magic Johnson and post it on her Instagram, because he felt like she shouldn’t be associating with “them.” Not only that, but he suggested to her that she never bring “them” to a game to watch.
The NBA has already come out and said that they will investigate the situation to the fullest extent and there is a lot of pressure on Adam Silver from people around the NBA to take immediate action, rather than let this boil over and let the storm settle. In a press conference, Silver said they will be investigating the matter as quickly as possible and Sterling will not attend tonight’s game at ORACLE Arena in Oakland.
Many players in the NBA have responded, including former Clippers players who have witnessed the mistreatment from Sterling first hand. Current Clippers almost boycotted tonight’s game against the Warriors, but cooler heads prevailed. The team is very angry according to Doc Rivers. It’ll be interesting how it plays out on the court later.
You can listen to the full conversation for yourself above if you haven’t already and continue to the next page to hear reaction from everyone from LeBron James to the TNT crew, President Obama, Lil Wayne, Stephen A. Smith and more.
UPDATE: Listen to the extended audio of Donald Sterling’s alleged private conversation with ex-girlfriend V. Stiviano above.