Image via Complex Original
In 1981, Los Angeles area real estate mogul Donald T. Sterling purchased the San Diego Clippers franchise for $12.5 million, a small sum even back then for an NBA team. Conservatively, that same franchise is now worth $575 million.
In his 33-plus years owning the Clippers, Sterling has been called pretty much every name in the book. He has endured lawsuits for discrimination and sexual harassment, heckled his own players, and most recently was caught on tape making openly racist comments to a former girlfriend. His depositions are among the most comical in the history of the legal system.
Despite the cruelty, hatred, and general wretchedness, Sterling has nevertheless managed to endure, and following the death of Jerry Buss became the longest-tenured NBA owner. His “progressiveness” in race relations has actually earned him a lifetime achievement award from the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, where Sterling is scheduled to be honored on May 15.
We now have a new definition of irony.
With incidents spanning from the time he took the reins of the team until just yesterday, Sterling has managed to be a controversial figure for 33 consecutive years, which is no small feat. Here is a chronological look at Donald Sterling's History as a Terrible Person.
Written by Doug Sibor (@dcsibor)
Refuses to pay a $1,000 prize to the winner of a promotional free throw contest.
Year: 1981
It may seem like but a small thing compared with some of his other misdeeds, but this first incident was really a harbinger of all the absurd penny-pinching that was to come from the new Clippers owner. Sterling simply tried to renege on a prize he promised for the winner of the contest, assuming (we suppose) that the winner wouldn’t really care.
Unfortunately for the miserly Sterling, contest champion Michael Spilger did care, and demanded the prize he was promised. The Clippers tried to offer him a hotel stay in Puerto Rico, only they decided not to include any other amenities such as airfare or transportation; Spilger finally got his money after a year of wrangling with the front office and threatening them with a lawsuit.
Asks Rollie Massimino "I wanna know why you think you can coach these n******."
Year: 1983
While the title of Jeff Pearlman’s blog entry on Donald Sterling describes the Clippers owner as “eccentric,” we’re not sure that is the most appropriate word choice. Maybe “ignorant,” “racist,” or “asshole?” All would probably work.
In any event, the article recounts one fine evening in 1983, when Sterling was trying to recruit Villanova’s Rollie Massimino to replace fired coach Paul Silas. After a few too many adult beverages and with a busty blonde on his arm, Sterling asked his prospective candidate, “I wanna know why you think you can coach these n******.” The comment sent Massimino off the rails, making his decision to decline the job quite easy and allowing him to win a national title with Villanova two years later.
Says of Danny Manning, "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid," possibly in front of commissioner David Stern.
Year: 1988
While there are conflicting reports as to whether David Stern was indeed the room, there’s little doubt that Sterling decided that a good negotiating tactic as he bargained with Danny Manning was to say that “I’m offering a lot of money for a poor black kid.”
The implications of a comment like this are insidious at best, as they reflect the idea that Sterling sees Manning as a commodity rather than a human being, and indeed one whose value is diminished due to his ethnicity and economic background. Not a good look.
Sued by a former employee for sexual harassment.
Year: 1996
Despite having been married since 1957, Sterling has been a widely-acknowledged (and very public) philanderer during his time owning the Clippers. In 1996, one of his former ladies brought a suit against him, and while under oath cited numerous examples of horrifying behavior from Sterling.
Among them: Sterling groped her on numerous occasions in a way that made her feel “uncomfortable,” he requested that she visit his friends and have sex with them, and he enlisted her to find massage therapists who might offer the happiest of endings, or as Sterling said, "I want someone who will, you know, let me put it in or who [will] suck on it."
Yikes.
According to testimony of a former employee, says "all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean," and "all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day."
Year: 2002
In 2002, Sterling had further increased the size of his real estate empire by acquiring the Ardmore Apartments, a building in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. The new owner, however, objected to the background of his new building’s tenants; he wanted people who “fit his image” according to the testimony of a former employee who was one of Sterling’s top property supervisors.
Fitting his image meant not being black or Mexican-American, apparently. Sterling told this same employee that “all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean,” and that “all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day,” doing his best to offend nearly every tenant living in his building. Nineteen of them eventually brought a lawsuit against him in 2003, ultimately being settling out of court in 2005.
Pledges $50 million to provide services for Los Angeles homeless; never delivers.
Year: 2006
What a magnanimous gesture! From seemingly out of nowhere, in June of 2006 Sterling promised $50 million to build the “Donald T. Sterling Homeless Center” in downtown Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art complex that, in Sterling’s words from his LA Times announcement/ad, was intended to “educate, rehabilitate, provide medical care and a courtroom for existing homeless” (the italics are Sterling’s addition, for some reason).
The only problem? It still hasn’t been built. The lot currently sits vacant, and it sure doesn’t seem like the PR-conscious Sterling ever really intended for the project to come to fruition.
Sued by U.S. Department of Justice for housing discrimination.
Year: 2006
Sterling’s poor practices in all of his housing ventures finally caught up with him in August 2006, when the United States Department of Justice sued him for housing discrimination. The DOJ said that Sterling, his wife, and their company discriminated against non-Koreans who were looking to rent apartments in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, due (we would assume) to the fact that he had previously gone on record with the opinion that Koreans “will live in whatever conditions he gives them and still pay the rent without complaint.”
The suit was finally settled in November of 2009, with Sterling paying a fine of $2.725 million that was the largest settlement payment ever in a case involving discrimination in apartment rentals. So at least he’s got one world record to his name, right?
Sued by Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination.
Year: 2009
Perhaps the most public of Sterling’s problems—until now—was the February 2009 suit brought by former General Manager and Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, who worked for the Clippers under Sterling for 22 years. Baylor alleged all kinds of different discriminatory practices, chief among them that Sterling wanted the team run in the model of a Southern Plantation and comprised of “Poor black boys from the South and a white head coach.”
Baylor also claimed he was underpaid in comparison with all other GMs, although it’s hard to know whether that had to do with race or because Sterling is easily the cheapest of all the NBA owners. In any event, a jury unanimously voted in March of 2011 to reject the lawsuit, a rare win for Sterling and his questionable (at best) management ways.
Heckles Baron Davis from courtside seats.
Year: 2010
If you’re a fan with courtside seats who likes to yell at players and officials, you have to know they’re going to hear you, and so will the media members sitting close by. If you’re the owner of the team, it would probably behoove you to be particularly careful about what you say.
It's safe to assume that firmly on the “don’t” list would be heckling your own players, but in December 2010 that is precisely what Sterling did as he hurled insults at Clippers point guard Baron Davis. His taunts ranged from condescending questions like “Why are you in the game?” to plainly mean personal attacks like “You’re out of shape!” Does it come as any surprise, then, that Sterling apparently had plenty more to say to Baron? No, no it does not.
Celebrates Black History Month in March. It's actually in February.
Year: 2011
For an award-winning humanitarian like Sterling, it’s no surprise that he wanted to celebrate Black History Month at a Clippers game. After all, his lifetime of achievement when it comes to honoring the heritage of African-Americans would seemingly make this an annual event, with every February offering 28 (or 29) days to celebrate.
There was one major problem with Sterling’s 2011 version, though; it was held in March, and not February.
There were definitely other problems with his promotional ad too, such as the fact that while 1,000 kids got to go for free, the mandatory parent/guardian accompanying them did not. There’s also the slightly troubling issue of defining “underprivileged” when a kid asks for a free ticket, although the ad certainly makes a pretty strong implication about how to make that distinction.
Recorded making racist comments.
Year: 2014
The most recent Sterling scandal might finally be the one that sinks him, although the troubling part of all this is that he’s under no obligation to sell the team. As Bill Simmons wrote in a lengthy column last week, NBA franchises have never been worth more, and Simmons suggested that “it would take something in the $1.7 billion range” to even have a conversation about the Clippers.
A miser like Sterling would surely hold out for every last dollar, and knowing how badly everyone wants him gone would probably make him get an even better deal. Are we prepared to live in a world where Sterling sells the team for $2 billion, or close to it? That could be the reality we face, depending on how much pressure the NBA, its players, and Sterling’s fellow owners try to exude.