Recordings of NBA owner Donald Sterling that rocked America to its core

Five years ago one of the most powerful men in LA, known as the ‘West Coast Donald Trump’, was brought to his knees. Here’s how.

Back in 2014 the entire landscape of professional sport in America changed following the release of a private audio file between one of the most powerful men in Los Angeles and his mistress.

The damning recording rocked the country and brought the owner of an NBA franchise to his knees.

Five years on from one of the NBA’s most confronting chapters, the moment has been thrust back into the limelight thanks to a five-part podcast series which goes into greater depth with key interviews detailing the shocking story lines behind an NBA owners downfall.

WHO IS THE ‘WEST COAST DONALD TRUMP’?

Donald Sterling sitting in his courtside seat.

Born Donald Tokowitz in Chicago, Illinois in 1934 to Jewish immigrant parents, Donald became a personal injury lawyer before turning his attention to real estate. He changed his last name from Tokowitz to Sterling at the age of 25, a change to rid himself of the stigma that came with such a surname back in the day.

After moving into the real estate business he quickly built a name for himself by acquiring building after building. As of April, 2014, he owned 162 properties across Los Angeles.

As his wealth grew, Sterling became infatuated with joining the celebrity ranks and made by far his biggest purchase in 1981 when he brought the then San Diego Clippers for $12.5 million and joined the exclusive club of NBA owners.

Sterling hired Hollywood press agent Michael Selsman to help boost his image and it was Selsman who began pitching Sterling as the “West Coast Donald Trump”.

STERLING’S REPUTATION AND HOW THE NBA BECAME ‘COMPLICIT’

For the better part of thirty years the NBA had hoped to remove Sterling from the ranks of ownership, but instead of taking action they “were just waiting for him to die”.

An ongoing list of issues arose away from the hardwood, but the league’s head office refused to step in.

In 2006 the Department of Justice brought housing discrimination charges against Sterling for allegedly refusing to rent to African-Americans and in 2009 NBA legend and former Clippers General Manager Elgin Baylor sued Sterling for wrongful termination and claimed the team owner had a “plantation mentality”.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says the relaxed nature the league took towards disciplining Sterling left them wide open to the humiliation that landed on their doorstep in 2014.

“The league deserved this to happen to them,” Wojnarowski said on the Woj pod.

“They were just waiting for him to die. They got what they deserved in being humiliated because they never dealt with him in a manner in which they should have.”

Donald Sterling and his mistress V Stiviano

It’s this history of behaviour that left many not surprised by the leaked audio file that saw him removed from the NBA.

“Donald Sterling had been a deplorable person and owner for a long time,” said ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne in an interview with CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith.

HOW IT ALL CAME TUMBLING DOWN

Despite being married to Shelly Sterling since 1955, Donald had no problems flaunting a relationship with his mistress, V. Stiviano.

Donald showered V with everything and anything she wanted. The gifts he brought included a Ferrari, Range Rover, two Bentleys and a $US1.8 million duplex in the Hollywood Hills.

The house was the final straw for Shelly who filed a lawsuit against her husband’s mistress in order to recoup the money her husband had spent out of the family trust.

The lawsuit forced V into action and her requests to Donald to have Shelly drop the case fell on deaf ears and on April 9, 2014, she took extreme action.

V had been recording conversations between herself and Donald in order to remind him of things he had said, but it was one particularly damning piece of audio she sent to the Clippers front office that led to his undoing.

The Clippers, like the NBA, failed to take action with the recording and it eventually found its way into the hands of TMZ’s Mike Walters.

“It was the most repulsive, disgusting and unbelievable audio I’d ever heard in my lifetime,” Walters said on ESPN’s 30 for 30, The Sterling Affairs podcast.

Walters did his due diligence before notifying the league and the Clippers the site would be releasing the audio, which they eventually did on April 25, 2014.

In the nine minute audio clip, Donald can be heard blowing up at his mistress over an image she posted on her Instagram account of her alongside NBA legend Magic Johnson.

“It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” Sterling can be heard saying.

“You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.

“I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.”

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT AND WHERE IS STERLING NOW

The horrific audio painted the NBA in an ugly light and left past and present players calling for immediate action.

LeBron James was quick to call out Sterling’s behaviour while the Clippers players rallied together in protest by turning their jerseys inside out ahead of a playoff game against the Golden State Warriors.

An inside look at the Clippers' protest in Oakland of Donald Sterling. (via @ArashMarkazi) pic.twitter.com/WooMM3cIMg

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 27, 2014

Four days after the audio file had been released, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterling had been banned from the NBA for life and was handed a $US2.5 million fine.

Many predicted a severe punishment, but Silver’s banishment of Sterling caught everyone off guard. Along with banishment from the league Silver stated he would move to force Donald into selling the Clippers.

Forcing a ruthless businessman into selling one of his most profitable acquisitions was never going to be an easy feat.

Enter Shelly.

The Sterling matriarch negotiated with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to sell the franchise for a whopping $2 billion.

Steve Ballmer was introduced as the new owner of the Clippers on August 18.

Donald however wouldn’t go quietly into the night, refusing to sell the team and launching a lawsuit against the NBA and his wife.

Shelly though outwitted her husband by submitting evidence from three doctors that her husband was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and lacked the mental capacity to be a trustee.

After a drawn out process the court ruled in Shelly’s favour and the sale of the team went through on August 12, handing the keys of the franchise over to Ballmer.

Despite humiliating the NBA and shaking America to its core, Sterling walked away with a profit of $1.98 billion. The 85-year-old continues to run his real estate empire and remains married to long-time partner Shelly.

For in depth interviews and intensive background surrounding Sterling’s downfall, you can listen to the enthralling story by downloading the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast series, The Sterling Affairs.