"Racist" basketball team owner banned for life

The NBA acted quickly against a billionaire team owner, banning him for life and demanding he sell his team, after a recording emerged in which he made "offensive" remarks against black people to his girlfriend.

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Sterling and girl friend V. Stiviano take in a Clippers game last year. Stivinao is suspected as the source who secretly taped the racist remarks by Sterling.

Clippers owner banned for life over race remarks

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. AFP

NEW YORK, AFP – The NBA banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life and fined him the maximum $2.5 million Tuesday for "deeply offensive and harmful" racist comments that sparked a national firestorm.

Three days after a recording surfaced of Sterling urging his girlfriend not to publicly associate with blacks, NBA commissioner Adam Silver removed the 80-year-old billionaire from the league and urged owners to start the process of forcing him to sell the team he bought in 1981.

The surprisingly tough sanctions earned swift praise from across basketball, with current and former stars lauding Silver's decisive action on his 88th day in the job since replacing 30-year NBA boss David Stern.

"The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful," Silver told a news conference in New York. "That they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver holds a press conference to discuss Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist comments, at the Hilton Hotel in New York. AFP

The stiff punishment following a lightning-fast investigation means real estate tycoon Sterling cannot attend any National Basketball Association (NBA) games or workouts, appear at any Clippers office or facility, or make any business or personnel decisions for the club.

Silver said he will urge NBA owners to strip the team from Sterling. The market value of the team Sterling bought for $12 million is expected to approach $600 million.

"I fully expect to get the support I need from fellow NBA owners to remove him," Silver said.

In the recording made public over the weekend, the man now confirmed to be Sterling told his much-younger girlfriend that he didn't want her associating with black people or attending Clippers games with black friends.

Los Angeles Clippers players sit on the bench wearing their warm-up tops inside out against the Golden State Warriors in Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs in protest over owner Donald Sterling's racially insensitive remarks. AFP

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?" Sterling says, later adding, "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... and not to bring them to my games."

The announcement came only hours before the Clippers, who saw sponsors leave in droves Monday, were set to play their first home game since the controversy erupted – game five of their first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors, which is level at 2-2.

NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, whose photo with Sterling's girlfriend prompted the tirade that led to the owner's banishment, tweeted, "Former and current NBA players are very happy and satisfied with Commissioner Silver's ruling... we have a great leader leading our league."

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