Today the internet waited patiently for Clippers coach, Doc Rivers, and Magic Johnson, the man in the forefront of Sterling’s comments, to make a statement. We didn’t have to wait long. Magic was the first one to take to Twitter regarding the comments made. “I feel sorry for my friends Coach Doc Rivers and Chris Paul that they have to work for a man that feels that way about African Americans,” Magic tweeted, “LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s comments about African Americans are a black eye for the NBA.” He also said that as long as Sterling is still the owner, he will not be attending another Clippers game.
Coach Doc Rivers said that The Clippers held a 45 minute meeting this morning. “A lot of guys voice opinions. … None of them are happy about it. This is a situation where we’re trying to go after something very important to us – something we’ve all dreamed about all of our childhoods. Donald or anyone else had nothing to do with that dream, and we’re not going to let anything get in the way of those dreams.” Rivers was also asked whether he was surprised about Sterling’s comments to which he said, “I don’t know if I’m surprised or not. I didn’t like the comments. I’m going to tell you that I’m speaking on behalf of the team, so the players are not going to deal with this issue.”
Doc Rivers says there will not be a boycott and that the Clippers will play tomorrow’s game against Golden State. Our focus is on Golden State, and it’s going to stay on Golden State. … It upsets all of us. There’s not one guy who is happy with this situation. Do you think I want to be talking about this, instead of trying to stop Steph Curry? I don’t. … We try to keep clutter away from our team. It’s been brought to our team, and it upsets me, and it upsets our team.” He goes on to say, “We choose to play. … The biggest statement we can make as men – not as black men, but as men – is to stick together and show how strong we are as a group. Not splinter. Not walk. It’s easy to protest. The protest will show in our play.”
I disagree on the “it’s easy to protest” because it’s absolute not “easy.” If it were, more people would stand for something. But I digress.
Snoop Dogg also commented.
Analyst Stephen A. Smith also shared his reaction with Sportscenter saying, “I was appalled but to be quite honest with you I wasn’t surprised. I know several players who have played for Donald Sterling in the past, in particular Baron Davis, who’s been on the record publicly about some of the stuff that was spewed in his direction when he was the star player for the Clippers. Telling stories about how he would be on the court and Donald Sterling would be sitting court side with one of his female acquaintances spewing all kinds of rhetoric in his direction. So to say that it’s a surprise, I’m not going to go that far.”
You can view his interview below.
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