NBA

NBA investigating owner’s racist comments

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the league is investigating whether racially insensitive comments in an audio recording obtained by TMZ were made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

“The audio recording posted by TMZ is truly offensive and disturbing, and we intend to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible,” Silver said at a press conference in Memphis Saturday night, where he was attending the playoff game between the Grizzlies and Thunder.

In the audio recording released by TMZ late Friday night, Sterling allegedly can be heard scolding his girlfriend, V. Stiviano — who identifies herself as “black and Mexican” — for bringing African-Americans to Clipper games and for posting pictures of herself with African-Americans on her Instagram account.

Silver was not prepared to discuss any potential sanctions against Sterling, however, citing the need for him to be afforded due process to give his side of the story.

“We will move, however, extraordinarily quickly in our investigation,” Silver said. “In the meantime, Mr. Sterling has agreed that he will not attend his playoff game [Sunday] in Golden State.”

TMZ printed excerpts of Sterling’s alleged discussion with Stiviano on its website, including, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?”

He also allegedly criticized her taking a picture with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, saying, “Don’t put him [Johnson] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”

Johnson responded on Twitter, writing he never will attend another Clippers game while Sterling is the team’s owner.

Silver said the goal is to “have this [investigation] wrapped up in the next few days,” presumably before the Clippers return to Los Angeles to host Game 5 against the Warriors Wednesday. The focus of the investigation is to determine if the recording is authentic.

Sterling has been accused of racial discrimination before, including a housing discrimination lawsuit in 2009 in which he was alleged to have attempted to evict African-Americans and Hispanics from his properties. Sterling settled the lawsuit for $2.725 million.

“We have heard the tape on TMZ,” Clippers president Andy Roeser said in a statement. “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. 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.

“He is also upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. He has long considered Magic a friend and has only the utmost respect and admiration for him — both for who he is and what he has achieved. We are investigating this matter.”

The Clippers coaches and players met for about 45 minutes Saturday morning before practice to discuss the alleged comments.

“A lot of guys voiced opinions,” Rivers told reporters in San Francisco. “None of them are happy about it. This is a situation where we’re trying to go after something very important to us — something we’ve all dreamed about all of our childhoods. Donald or anyone else had nothing to do with that dream, and we’re not going to let anything get in the way of those dreams.”

When asked if the players had considered boycotting, Rivers said, “We’re playing. We’re playing Golden State, and Golden State is our enemy right now.

“We choose to play. … The biggest statement we can make as men — not as black men, but as men — is to stick together and show how strong we are as a group. Not splinter. Not walk. It’s easy to protest. The protest will show in our play.”

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan lodged his own personal protest of sorts, posting an all-black shot of darkness with no caption on his Instagram account. Guard Chris Paul said the only statement coming from Clippers players would be in a statement he released on behalf of the NBA Players Association, of which he is the president.

“On behalf of the National Basketball Players Association, this is a very serious issue which we will address aggressively,” Paul said in the statement. “We have asked Mayor Kevin Johnson to expand his responsibilities with the NBPA, to determine our response and our next steps. As players, we owe it to our teams and our fans to keep our focus on our game, the playoffs, and the drive to the Finals.”

Silver said he and Johnson have agreed to remain in contact as things progress and the investigation unfolds. When asked about what exact sanctions could be levied against Sterling, Silver didn’t get into specifics.

“There are broad powers in place under the NBA’s constitution and by-laws that include a range of sanctions,” he said, “and all of those will be considered depending on the findings of our investigation.”

President Obama weighed in on the controversy during a press conference in Malaysia Saturday.

“They speak for themselves,” Obama said of the alleged comments. “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t have to do anything, you just have to let them talk.”

“I have confidence that the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, a good man, will address this.”

On TNT’s halftime studio show Saturday, host Charles Barkley said “this is the first test of Adam Silver.” He said Silver had to “suspend him and fine him immediately. You can’t have this guy making statements like that. [Silver] has to suspend him and fine him immediately. He has to be suspended. … When you’re in a position of power, and you can take jobs and economic opportunities from people, that’s what crosses the line. We can not have an NBA owner discriminating against a league. … We’re a black league.”

NBA TV analyst and former player Chris Webber said that “the NBA owners need to handle their own.

Nets guard Shaun Livingston, who was drafted by the Clippers and played three seasons in Los Angeles, said players around the league were curious to see how Silver handles it.

“It will be interesting with the league to see what does happen,” Livingston said. “I’ll definitely kind of pay attention to what happens because it’s going to put Adam Silver in kind of a tough spot.

“Right now, they’re in a playoff series and they’ve got a chance to do some damage. It’s not the most positive news. We’ll see [what happens].”

In Dallas, where the Spurs were getting ready to play the Mavericks, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said: “The comments are obviously disgusting.”

Some of Sterling’s fellow owners spoke out about his alleged comments.

Heat owner Micky Arison said, in a statement given by a media relations official, “The comments reported by TMZ were offensive, appalling & very sad. The NBA is investigating & we will refrain from commenting further on the situation during the investigation.”

Meanwhile, Kings owner Vivek Ranadive tweeted, “If @TMZ recording is true, we must have zero tolerance. Fully support commish Silver @NBA.”

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, however, largely stayed away from speaking about the situation while speaking to reporters in Dallas.

“There’s no reason to restate or rehash the obvious. Some things are better where the comments just stand on their own and people come to their own conclusions on that.”

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, however, were more direct.

“There is no room for Donald Sterling in our league, man,” James told reporters in Charlotte before the Heat played the Bobcats.

“I couldn’t play for him,” Bryant wrote on Twitter.

Donald Sterling and V. Stiviano watch the Clippers play the Sacramento Kings in Oct. 2013.AP

Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who played for the Clippers from 1992-94, said of Sterling’s comments: “My feeling would be the same, no matter if I was coaching, playing or a fan. There’s no place for it.”

Jacky Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, said the organization planned a protest outside Game 5 of the Clippers-Warriors series Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

Sterling, a real estate owner, bought the Clippers in 1981. He is the longest-tenured owner in the NBA since Lakers owner Jerry Buss died last year.

He has been frequently criticized for his frugal operation of the Clippers, although in recent years he has spent heavily to add stars such as Paul and Rivers, who is in his first year as coach. Sterling also has been involved in several lawsuits over the years, including ones with accusations of discrimination.

In November 2009, Sterling agreed to pay $2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics and blacks and to families with children. The Justice Department sued Sterling in August 2006 for allegations of housing discrimination in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.

In March 2011, Sterling won a lawsuit against former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor when a jury rejected the Hall of Famer’s claim of age discrimination and harassment. Baylor, who was 76 at the time, had sought about $2 million after claiming he was forced out of the job he had held for 22 years. The team said Baylor left on his own and a jury awarded him nothing.

Sterling is a courtside fixture at Clippers home games. But he rarely visits the team’s locker room at Staples Center, although he made an appearance in December 2012 after they had won their 11th straight game, when he led an awkward locker room cheer.

Snoop Dogg posted a message of his own for Sterling on Instagram. Warning: Extremely graphic language.