Anyone who listened to the audio recording of Donald Sterling’s racist rant knows that this man is anything but in touch with the reality of an ethnically diverse world. He rejects the idea that people outside of his “master race” deserve to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect.
Having admonished his mistress for associating with black people openly (including NBA great Magic Johnson) or bringing such persons to his Los Angeles Clippers team’s basketball games, it’s not surprising a major backlash would follow.
Now Sterling is out-and-out banned from the NBA in every possible way. He has also been fined $2.5 million.
Does he regret what his racist behaviors have cost him in terms of money and reputation?
Steve Lopez on Donald Sterling: racism is like smog in LA. It's getting better, but still there in many forms http://t.co/rU2uqXyt4o
— Vernon Loeb (@LoebVernon) May 3, 2014
Well….apparently not.
According to an exclusive quote given to DuJour.com by the billionaire, the biggest regret that the 80-year-old has is that he failed to pay off his former girlfriend V. Stiviano.
Stiviano had been recording Sterling and as part of the lawsuit against her, she was ordered to turn over the tapes she had. This included the audio recording of Sterling’s rant.
What does the NBA's decision that Donald Sterling is #bannedforlife mean? http://t.co/N6asvcjrxU pic.twitter.com/H1AhNQOMGU
— PoliticsNation (@PoliticsNation) April 30, 2014
What Stiviano didn’t count on is that other snippets of audio, which had been turned over to a friend “for safe keeping” would be sent to TMZ.
Sterling must feel that if he’d given her more cash, his sugar baby would have hit the bricks and never bothered to record his less than flattering commentary about other ethnic groups.
Donald Sterling is out; so just how good should we feel about the NBA now? http://t.co/Zti6snzHkX
— Post Sports (@PostSports) May 3, 2014
It was recently reported that Sterling has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The timing of the announcement is suspect, but it certainly suggests that Sterling has something far more serious to worry about than an NBA ban.
He may also be forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers in the near future. Big names ranging from Oprah Winfrey to Matt Damon have been linked with a possible purchase.
As for the Clippers, they will play the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of their playoff series tonight.
Image via YouTube