On Saturday evening, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has agreed not to attend the team’s playoff game on Sunday against Golden State, would be given due process as the league investigates remarks that Silver said were “truly offensive and disturbing.”
Silver said the league needed to verify that the audio recording of Sterling that TMZ released in which he purportedly tells his girlfriend not bring black people to his games is truly authentic and interview Sterling and possibly even his girlfriend.
“We intend to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible,” Silver said before noting that the situation was the most unfair to the Clippers players and coaches.
He said that Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson relayed to him that NBA players have “grave concerns” over this matter and has agreed to help the league regarding the situation.
He said the league would proceed “extraordinarily quickly in our investigation.” NBA players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have blasted Sterling, with James saying there was no place in the league for him while Bryant said that he would not play for him.
Silver said there were “broad powers in place under the NBA’s constitution and bylaws” and “all those will be considered” as the league wraps up the investigation “in the next few days.”
Silver replaced longtime NBA Commissioner David Stern this year, and this incident represents his first major test as the league’s new head.
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