The Daily Mail has more on the very dark side of LA Clippers' owner Donald Sterling. The British tabloid shares details from an interview childhood friends of Sterling's late son, Scott, in which they describe an even darker side of the man banned by the NBA after his racist rant against African-Americans during a secretly-recorded conversation he had with his young mistress, V. Stiviano, was published by TMZ. Phillip Scheid and his sister, Cheryl, describe Sterling as being physically abusive towards his children, particularly his late son, Scott, who died of a drug overdose last year. Scott, whose life later spun out of control, once got into a fight with Phillip and shot him 12 times but was never charged with a crime. Cheryl is permanently disabled from a fall she suffered from a three-story window at a party where she was drugged and Scott was dealing drugs. The Scheids describe scenes of Sterling frequently parading around his home buck naked in front of the children, the maid and family friends and how he frequently beat his son with a belt for trivial transgressions. Sterling once asked asked Cheryl, who was 15 at the time, to strip off her bikini and swim naked in his pool. The Scheids say Sterling frequently hosted parties at his Malibu mansion where cheerleaders for the Clippers were invited to party poolside with him, though not any of his NBA players, while his wife was inside their home. They say Sterling frequently spewed racist comments around his children when they were visiting their home about blacks. They quote Sterling, who is Jewish, calling Christians "stupid" because "they don't know how to make money." I'm sure the Indiana Pacers' billionaire Herb Simon must think the same of folks in Indianapolis after our city officials were stupid enough to give him more than $200 million of our public tax dollars for his NBA franchise while he and his trophy wife, Bui, live the life of luxury jetting between their various multi-million dollar mansions in their private jet.
Interesting note concerning Donald Sterling from the Guardian:
ReplyDeleteThe head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Los Angeles has resigned over his ties to Donald Sterling.
Leon Jenkins, who took over the NAACP's LA chapter in 2008, struggled to explain his previous embrace of the real estate tycoon turned pariah. Critics accused Jenkins of trading the group's credibility for donations intended to camouflage a billionaire's racism.
Jenkins's position weakened further when the Los Angeles Times, citing records from the state bar of California, reported that as a judge in Detroit in 1988 he was indicted on federal bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and racketeering charges.
Authorities at the time alleged Jenkins received gifts from those who appeared in his court and committed perjury. He was acquitted of criminal charges but the Michigan supreme court disbarred him, finding "overwhelming evidence" that Jenkins "sold his office and his public trust", according to the bar records.
Who knows for sure how widespread this practice of funding Non-Profits by the Wealthy is, so they can call up the Non-Profits to defend them as a Good Corporate Citizen.
This practice was widespread in a Religious Context called Buying Indulgences in times past by the Wealthy and connected.
Sterling just may decide to fight back to keep the team, or the NBA may make Sterling an offer he cannot refuse.