Nancy Armour of USA TODAY Sports reports Donald Sterling's CNN interview only makes matters worse. While it didn't seem possible for Donald Sterling to sink any lower, make his situation worse, and piss people off more than he already has, he manages to dramatically do so during his "apology" interview with Anderson Cooper that aired tonight, Monday, on CNN.
Despite his repeated insistence that he's not a racist, everything else Sterling said showed him to be an ignorant and hate-filled person. He trashed Magic Johnson, claiming – wrongly – that the Lakers Hall of Famer has done nothing for the black community.
STERLING: Magic 'not a good example' to kids ...( and other quotes too vile to quote and not mentioned in this article, but are in many others.)
"Some of the African-Americans, they don't want to help anybody," Sterling said.
And he appeared to be coming dangerously close to another racist rant, his voice rising as he said, "There's no African-American – never mind."
I guess repeated prologues of "I am not a racist, I am not a racist, I am not a racist" are going to be added to the "Top 10 Warning Signs You Might Be a Racist" along with Cliven Bundy's starting out one's sentences with "let me tell you this about the Negro..." Just don't do it folks.
If you hear yourself saying "but I am not a racist, more than two times in the same sentence it is time to stop and think. Or just stop and shut up. And, as far as Cliven Bundy's opening line ... never. Don't even think about it. This is one time Nancy Reagan has it right. "Just say no!"
Sterling degrades Magic Johnson in other ways that are too vile to even reprint here, but guarantee he will have no place any where near the Clippers and if he even tries to challenge the NBA ban in court and tries to keep the team it is virtually certain now that Doc Rivers and the team will not play for the Clippers if he does.
Sterling has clearly "lost his bearings." He needs to sell this team, ASAP and disappear saying absolutely nothing more. In fact, if he has even just a few functioning neurons left, or even one marginally competent legal counsel anywhere within his empire, or one friend anywhere on the planet, they should advise him and Shelly to sign the Clippers over to Magic Johnson this afternoon with an apology note. Then they should leave the rest of their estate to a Magic Johnson Scholarship Foundation and then shut the &^#* up until he dies. And even then he should live instructions for the mortician to put some duct tape over his ugly mouth in his coffin in case gas should blow it open and word like sound might come out by accident. It seems likely that they would be racist as well.
Nancy Armour notes that so far this controversy has been like a "lifetime achievement" award for Sterling, driving the price of the Clippers upwards to $1 billion dollars as potential buyers like Oprah, Diddy, and Floyd Mayweather all express interest, and the "L.A. Clippers is now Hollywood's hottest ticket."
USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick also analyzes why he does not believe Shelly Sterling will be allowed to keep her ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers predicting that if she tries to keep the team, the team's stock price will plummet because the as Lebron James points out the players do not want any Sterlings to own the team - which seems like somewhat of a superfluous argument after USA's analysts just argued that Doc Rivers and the players would leave the Clippers rather than play, and LeBron James reports that no substitute players will replace them. Yes, having a team with no coach and no players would tend to have a depressive affect on its stock value. Thank you for that insightful financial analysis USA Today Sports. In other Stock Market News today ..... (Humor alert.)
In a more impressive moment, USA congratulates coach Doc Rivers for keeping the team together over this last several weeks, suggesting he deserves a "Coach of the Decade" award but also reporting that he "has all but said he's gone if the Sterling's stay." USA notes that considering that the Clippers were already planning to boycott if the NBA had not given the maximum punishment to Sterling the can be expected to follow Doc Rivers out the door if the Sterlings try to hold on to the team now.
One disadvantage of having as much money and power as Donald Sterling has is one grows accustomed to not having to listen to anyone else. So when one gets past "one's freshness date" as Sterling evidently has, he apparently has no one to help him get off the stage.
I have to assume mental infirmity is the explanation for Donald Sterling bizarre behavior, because the only other explanation could be he is intentionally trying to fan the flames of controversy to drive up the price of the Clippers, but this would make no sense because he does not need the money. And his reputation is now so trashed beyond trashed and he will be so hated and reviled that it will not even be safe for the man to appear in public.
Donald Sterling, shut up and listen to someone for 20 seconds just once in your life. I will give you the best advice you've ever received. Give the LA Clippers to Magic Johnson, and shut the ^$&* up and disappear. You've got billions and billions of dollars and your lawyers are letting you down. You do not need the money and you are disgracing yourself and hurting people and the few things you care about.
And, listen, if there are any people who care about this guy or ever cared about him, or consider yourselves to be his friend, now is the time to put together an intervention. He is wealthy enough he shouldn't have to go into a nursing home but keep him the hell away from microphones and reporters. Find a nice spot somewhere he can go fishing and play with grandchildren or goats and not cause any more harm to himself and others. If he objects he should be evaluated for being possibly "non compos mentis." Get him a nurse, a body guard, and, keep him away from sharp objects ... and microphones. And, no media organizations with any self-respect should no anymore interviews with him now that it is clear he is no longer healthy.
3:58 AM PT:
4:08 AM PT: Here's a more complete transcript of Sterling's comments and an editorial from CNN. I see no reason to repeat them here when you can follow this link if you wish to read them. Also, there's a 6 minute video here CNN offers that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. CNN plans to air more of this interview tonight. As you can imagine condemnation of Sterling is universal even apparently before some of the worst parts of the interview have been released.
Catherine E. Shoichet and Steve Almasy, CNN by CNN exclusive: Donald Sterling insists he's no racist, still slams Magic Johnson
4:16 AM PT: Sterling looks like he is going to make an astounding profit on the sale of the Clippers, which is a travesty. If Sterling had the slightest bit of good sense or even a fragment of sound legal advice he would set up a Magic Johnson Scholarship Foundation and donate all proceeds to it.
Or even better, if I were advising Don Sterling, I'd tell him and Shelly to give the entire team outright to Magic Johnson, with an apology note, an then leave their entire estate to a Magic Johnson Scholarship Foundation with Johnson as the Executor.
It wouldn't make up for it, but it would be a symbolic gesture that Sterling finally gets what a complete asshole he has been, and that he is, in fact, a racist. Then he should take a vow of silence and disappear forever until he dies.