How Donald Sterling’s Exit Changed the NBA Forever

Two weeks after the audio from Sterling’s conversation went public, the former Clippers owner stated in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he was “baited” into making his remarks. Still, he doubled down on his comments regarding Magic Johnson’s character and mocked his longtime battle with HIV. On NBA Countdown, Johnson responded, “When you have African-Americans renting his apartments, coming to his games, playing for him and coaching for him. This is bad for everybody. This is bad for America.” Silver later apologized to Johnson on behalf of the league for having his name dragged through Sterling’s controversy.

When the TMZ audio leaked, the Clippers were also gearing up for a playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. The team, which included Chris Paul, JJ Redick, and Blake Griffin, considered boycotting the entire series. Instead, they covered up their Clippers logo and decided to play on. Coach Rivers also told the media that he would not return the following year if Sterling was still with the team. After the controversy ended and Sterling departed, Rivers was promoted to the team’s president of basketball operations.

It’s important to remember that the TMZ leak wasn’t the first time when Sterling was accused of problematic remarks. In 1996, a consultant for the Clippers sued Sterling for sexual harassment, claiming that the Clippers owner repeatedly offered to pay her for sex. Another suit in 200—from his rental properties at the Housing Rights Center of Los Angeles—claimed that Sterling stated his Black tenants “smell and attract vermin.”

Then, in 2009, former Clippers executive and NBA player Elgin Baylor sued Sterling for wrongful termination and discrimination on the basis of race and age. According to Baylor, Sterling told him that he wanted to build the Clippers with “poor Black boys from the South and a white head coach.” At the trial in 2011, the jury ruled in Sterling’s favor. “It was just time to make a change in that position,” jury foreman John Casani told The Los Angeles Times. “That team hadn’t been performing, and we felt had they been succeeding like the Boston Celtics, he’d still be on the job.” It wasn’t until the 2014 TMZ report that Sterling’s disturbing remarks finally caught up with him.

Laurence Fishburne plays Clippers head coach Doc Rivers in Clipped.

Eventually, Shelly Sterling, Donald’s wife, orchestrated the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. Today, the 90-year-old Sterling retains his real estate business and owns the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Doc Rivers is now head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Los Angeles Clippers organization boasts a collection of NBA greats such as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.

Still, Sterling’s story continues to haunt the league. Though players have more control over their destinies than ever before, player empowerment came at the detriment of trust in their organizations to treat them well. As the late Kobe Bryant told ESPN at the time, “[Sterling] stunted equality and black-eyed every owner of every business where the majority of his employees are minorities. He hurt our trust in owners as a whole.”

Clipped will reignite the scandal when it debuts on Hulu on June 4. Though Sterling’s shockingly racists rants will be at the center the series, issues of power and ownership in the league may force audiences to change the way they think about the business of basketball today.