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Donald Sterling seeks forgiveness

LA Clippers owner apologises in CNN interview on a day when his estranged wife announced she is divorcing him

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (left) speaks with CNN’s Anderson Cooper during an interview scheduled to be broadcast today on CCn. Sterling, who was banned for life from the NBA over racist comments, has apologised and asked for forgiveness in his first public statement since the controversy. Photograph: Reuters
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (left) speaks with CNN’s Anderson Cooper during an interview scheduled to be broadcast today on CCn. Sterling, who was banned for life from the NBA over racist comments, has apologised and asked for forgiveness in his first public statement since the controversy. Photograph: Reuters
Mon May 12 2014 - 12:13

Donald Sterling, the embattled owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, broke his silence in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper during which he apologised for making racist remarks. "I'm a good member who made a mistake, and I'm apologising and I'm asking for forgiveness," Sterling said during the interview, which is scheduled to air tonight.

“Am I entitled to one mistake - am I, after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”

Last month, Commissioner Adam Silver barred Sterling from the NBA for life and encouraged his fellow owners to vote to force him to sell the franchise.

Also yesterday, Rochelle Sterling, his estranged wife, reiterated that she would fight any attempt by the NBA to take away her stake in the team. She also disclosed that she planned to divorce her husband, with whom she partly owns the Clippers through a family trust.

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“I was shocked by what he said,” she said in an interview with ABC News. “And, well, I guess whatever their decision is, we have to live with it. But I don’t know why I should be punished for what his actions were.”

In response, Mike Bass, an NBA spokesman, said that if three-quarters of team owners terminate the interest of a controlling owner, the interests of all other partners are terminated as well.

“It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related,” Bass said, adding, “These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.”

Meanwhile, the Miami Heat’s LeBron James joined a growing chorus calling for a wholesale change of ownership. “As players, we want what’s right and we don’t feel like no one in his family should be able to own the team,” James told reporters at the team’s practice.