Donald Sterling, the 81-year-old embattled owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, said that he had taken advice from Earvin "Magic" Johnson about the racial controversy that has engulfed him, the
Los Angeles Times reported.
Sterling was recorded telling his young female companion, V. Stiviano, not to associate with black people or bring them to games. Stiviano is herself of black and Latino heritage, according to social media.
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Speaking to Anderson Cooper in
a CNN interview, Sterling complained that Johnson had deceived him. Asked why he waited so long to publicly apologize, Sterling said that Johnson told him not to say anything when the recording first surfaced on the TMZ gossip site. Johnson also purportedly promised to help him.
Now, Sterling suspects that Johnson may have wanted to be position himself to buy the Clippers.
Sterling said that Johnson, who tested positive for HIV in 1991, is not a good example for Los Angeles youngsters. "What kind of guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then catches" HIV. "I think he should be ashamed of himself."
Asked by Cooper if he had apologized to Johnson for what he told Stiviano, Sterling responded, "If I said anything wrong, I'm sorry. He's a good person. I mean, what am I going to say? Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don't think so. But I'll say it, he's great. But I don't think he's a good example for the children of Los Angeles."
The octogenarian went on to profusely apologize for his taped remarks.
"When I listen to that tape, I don't even know how I can say words like that. ... I don't know why the girl had me say those things," he said. "I was baited ... I mean, that's not the way I talk. I don't talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don't talk about people."
"Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again," he told Cooper.
"I'm not a racist. I made a terrible mistake," Sterling concluded.
The National Basketball Association has banned Sterling for life and is seeking to force a sale of the Clippers.
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