Sterling prefers the lighter half of his half-Black, half-Mexican girlfriend.
Donald Sterling, owner of the Lob City-notwithstanding perennial laughingstock Los Angeles Clippers, has declared owner sovereignty principles, and has said he will not pay his black basketball players because, “I don’t recognizing them as even existing.”
The Clippers are in the middle of playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, currently maintaining a 2-1 lead as the news broke. The next game is Sunday afternoon in Oakland’s Oracle Arena, which is–you cannot make this up–only one BART station south of Fruitvale Station.
“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro basketball players… because they were basically on owner subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “I’ve often wondered, are they better off as interns, setting pick-and-rolls for alley-oops and other things to post on the Instagram, or are they better off under owner subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom. They should be happy they are getting exposure.”
Sterling–who has owned this Cubs-of-the-NBA team since 1979–has a history trying to save his Clippers franchise money by any means necessary, such as drafting players like center Michael Olowokandi in 1998 in order to begin the next season with a 0-17 start so as to prevent any future big contracts for his players. Now he is deciding to deny payment to his black players, which he said would cut costs dramatically. He did say he’d be happy to give these players a nice reference when they seek employment from professional teams that do things such as compensate players.
Sterling recalls fondly the Golden Era of the NBA, such as the ‘86-’87 season when his principled Clippers finished 12-70 (.146), the worst winning percentage in team history, while black-players-led teams in the same city–the LA Lakers–only did things like win the NBA Championship against the Celtics with strong performances from regular season- and Finals-MVP Magic Johnson.
As of press time, the rumor of the Clippers moving to Clark County, Nevada is mere speculation.
