NBA Investigating Clippers Owner’s Racist Comments

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2010, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling looks on during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game between the Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles.... FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2010, file photo, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling looks on during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game between the Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles. The NBA is investigating a report of an audio recording in which a man purported to be Sterling makes racist remarks while speaking to his girlfriend. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement Saturday, APril 26, 2014, that the league is in the process of authenticating the validity of the recording posted on TMZ's website. Bass called the comments "disturbing and offensive." (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok, File) MORE LESS
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The National Basketball Association is investigating an audio recording of racist comments made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, ESPN reported on Saturday.

The audio recording, obtained and put online Friday by TMZ, captured Sterling telling his girlfriend that he did not want her bringing black people to his basketball games.

“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” Sterling says on the tape. “Do you have to?”

The argument took place on April 9, according to TMZ, after Sterling’s girlfriend, V. Stiviano, posted a photograph on Instagram of herself posing with NBA legend Magic Johnson. On the tape, Sterling also told Stiviano not to bring Johnson to games. A spokesperson for the NBA called Sterling’s comments “disturbing and offensive” in a statement to ESPN.

“We are in the process of conducting a full investigation into the audio recording obtained by TMZ,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass told ESPN. “The remarks heard on the recording are disturbing and offensive, but at this time we have no further information.”

Sterling’s comments had received widespread condemnation by Saturday afternoon. Johnson himself reacted to the recording, vowing not to attend another Clippers game while Sterling remains owner, and calling the comments a “black eye” for the NBA.

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