All I wanted was a little sex
by Jesse J. Lewis, Sr.
This is what Donald Sterling said to the media when he was asked about his racist remarks. The problem is V. Stiviano. All she wants is big money and they had what the other one wanted, so race was not the issue in that conversation.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling says he’s sorry but tells he was “baited” to make racist comments, nearly two weeks after the NBA fined him and banned him for life for his remarks in a recorded conversation.
“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 told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview.
Sterling, an 80-year-old married lawyer and billionaire real estate investor, hadn’t spoken publicly about the accusations since the recording was posted on TMZ. Asked by Cooper why he took so long to say he’s sorry, Sterling said he was “emotionally distraught.”
“I’m not a racist. I made a terrible, terrible mistake. And I’m here with you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness for all the people that I’ve hurt. I’m a good member (of the NBA) who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness. 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.”
In a second recording, where Sterling tried to explain that his comments were driven by jealousy:
“The girl is Black, I like her. I’m jealous that she’s with other Black guys. I want her. So what the hell, can I in private tell her, you know, “I don’t want you to be with anybody.” The man purported to be Sterling in that recording.
Sterling told CNN he’s not sure who released the recording:
“I don’t know. An 80-year-old man is kind of foolish, and I’m kind of foolish. I thought she liked me and really cared for me. I guess being 51 years older than she, I was deluding myself… I just wish I could ask her why, and if she was just setting me up.”
NBA’s strategy to force a sale hinges on a 1981 document. If the case proceeds to full vote, 75 percent of the owners would have to approve the forced sale. However, an attorney for Shelly Sterling, told CNN that she wants to keep her 50 percent stake in the team. Shelly said she was prepared to fight any attempt by the NBA to take away her stake in the team.
Most people reading this article would be gone to Heaven before the Clippers will be sold to an outside party. There is no way in the world there is anybody who can mandate that you sell something that belongs to you because you made a racist statement. There are two things we must remember, Sterling is an attorney with a couple of billion dollars and this can go all the way to the Supreme Court, taking about 15 years to settle. My guess would be the court would rule in his favor.
e-mail: jjlewis@birminghamtimes.com
