Before the Nets faced the Raptors in Game 4 of their first round series Sunday night, Paul Pierce became the latest star player to call for Donald Sterling’s ousting after the racially insensitive comments the Clippers owner is alleged to have made.
“Man, I was real shocked just to hear, you know, I had a chance to listen to all the comments he had and I was very shocked to hear that come from an owner,” Pierce said. “Especially from an owner who has hired a black coach, gave him a lot of power to what’s going on in the organization, just to kind of hear how he really feels.
“But the NBA is definitely going to take action. I know commissioner Adam Silver is going to have a hand in it. I don’t think there’s any place in the game for things like this, for owners like this.”
Deadspin, on Sunday morning, released a longer version of the audio recording which TMZ published on its website late Friday, in which Sterling allegedly can be heard scolding his girlfriend, V. Stiviano — who identifies herself as “black and Mexican” — for bringing African-Americans to Clippers games and for posting pictures of herself with African-Americans — most famously, Magic Johnson — on her Instagram account.
TMZ printed excerpts of Sterling’s alleged discussion with her 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 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.”
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.
Johnson went on ABC’s pregame show before the Wizards-Bulls game on Sunday and said Sterling should no longer be an NBA owner if the comments are proved to have been made by him.
“I believe once commissioner Silver does his due diligence and he gets all of the information, he’s got to come down hard,” Johnson said. “[Sterling] shouldn’t own a team anymore. And, he should stand up and say ‘I don’t want to own a team anymore,’ especially when you have African-Americans renting his apartments, coming to his games, playing for him and coaching for him.
“This is bad for everybody. This is bad for America. I’m really upset about it.”
Sterling did not attend the Clippers’ game against the Warriors in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, but his wife, Rochelle did. She gave a statement to ABC, which televised the game.
“I do not condone those statements that you heard,” her statement read. “I do not believe in them. I am not a racist. I never have been, I never will be. The team is the most important thing to my family.”
When Rochelle Sterling was asked if the voice on the tape was her husband’s, she questioned the legitimacy of the recording while sidestepping the question.
“I don’t know [if it was Donald Sterling’s voice],” she said, according to ABC. “I haven’t listened to the entire thing, but I do believe there were some parts that were cut out. I will let the experts handle that.
“The one thing I want everyone to know: I am not a racist and I do not condone what I heard on that tape.”
As Silver and the league office decides what the next step will be, the Nets’ Shaun Livingston, a former Clipper, said he would be waiting to see what actions they take after gathering all the facts.
“Well, I’m kind of waiting to see how everything unfolds,” Livingston said. “But, you know, as far as the media coverage and as far as everybody’s opinions, you see how strongly everybody feels, and I’m kind of the same way. It’s an unfortunate situation.”
Deron Williams, who is the Nets’ union representative, said there was a conference call to discuss the situation late Saturday, but he was already asleep. And while there was reportedly some brief consideration by the Clippers of boycotting their game against the Warriors, Williams said he could completely understand why they played.
“The comments were unfortunate,” Williams said. “They’re in bad taste. But as a player, your job is to get on the floor and play, and I don’t see that affecting any of the guys on that team.
It’s definitely unfortunate that they have to deal with during the playoffs, at such a crucial time, but it is what it is and you can’t really control it.”