Donald Sterling was one of the longest-tenured owners in the NBA in 2014, having owned the Clippers franchise since 1981. During all that time, Sterling had constantly come under criticism for the way he had run the franchise, and he was almost removed from ownership by the league in 1982. Sterling had delayed payments to creditors and players while he was also trying to relocate the team, but he held on to his position, eventually.
Sterling wouldn’t get lucky the second time in 2014, as TMZ released a recording of him making racist remarks regarding black people to his then-rumored mistress V. Stiviano. She had recorded the conversation, and once TMZ got its hands on it, Sterling was doomed.
Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league for life and fined him $2.5 million, adding that he would force him to sell the team. Sterling tried his best to resist, but eventually, his wife, Shelly Sterling, sold the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Sterling also filed a lawsuit against the NBA but eventually settled it in 2016. While many praised Stiviano for her role in exposing Sterling, it would appear she did not have any intention of releasing the recording and also denied that she was his mistress.
According to her attorney, Mac Nehoray, “Neither Ms. Stiviano, nor this office has ever alleged that Ms. Stiviano is, or ever was, Mr. Sterling’s girlfriend.” Instead, he wrote in a statement, Stiviano was “a veritable fixture” at Sterling’s business offices.
TMZ reports that she considers herself his “archivist” and that’s why she was taping their conversations
Still, Stiviano is keeping her distance from the tapes, for now
“This office understands that the currently released audio tape of approximately 15 minutes is a portion of approximately one (1) hour of overall audio recording of Mr. Donald T. Sterling and Ms. Stiviano, and is in fact legitimate,” Nehoray, her attorney, said in a statement. “Ms. Stiviano did not release the tape(s) to any news media.”
Whatever the case, she inadvertently played a big role in ousting Sterling, which was good for the NBA. There is no way an individual like him should be owning a team after making those racist comments. Stiviano had also spoken out on the situation in 2014 in an interview with the recently-deceased Barbara Walters. On Walters’ passing, some of her work returned to the limelight, and so did the interview she had with Stiviano. It is an interesting watch, to say the least, and one particular clip has gone viral where Stiviano describes her relationship with Sterling.
“I’m mister Sterling’s right hand arm man. I’m Mr. Sterling’s everything, I’m his confidante, his best friend, his silly rabbit.”
That last part about the silly rabbit was definitely weird, and it even took Walters by surprise. It definitely does seem like she was more than just a confidante, and Sterling’s wife believed there was more to it as well. She claimed that Sterling had gifted Stiviano cars, a duplex, and over $250,000 in cash. Whatever their relationship was, it ended up being Sterling’s downfall.
The Robert Sarver Scandal Drew Comparisons With Donald Sterling
While the NBA would have hoped that the Sterling situation was the only major controversy they had to deal with, the Robert Sarver scandal came up less than 10 years later, in 2021. The league launched an investigation into Sarver’s Phoenix Suns and, in 2022, fined him $10 million and suspended him for a year for workplace misconduct, which included using the N-word at least 5 times.
There was criticism for the severity of the punishment, with the likes of LeBron James and Draymond Green calling for him to be removed from the league like Sterling was in 2014. With criticism coming at him from all corners, Sarver announced he would be selling, with Mat Ishbia buying the Suns for $4 billion. Here is hoping that the league does not ever have to deal with another situation like this.
Here’s the full interview with V. Stiviano for those who are interested in what she said about the controversial Donald Sterling.
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