Donald Sterling Says Magic Johnson Is Not A Good Role Model For Children Of LA, Maintains He's Not A Racist

Despite being banned for life by NBA commissioner Adam Silver last month, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling wasn’t done expressing his thoughts on the situation. The 80-year-old businessman was removed from the National Basketball Association and fined a maximum $2.5 million after racist audio recordings released to the public became the hot-button topic of conversation across the world of sports in late April. Partaking in his first interview since he was slapped with the lifetime banishment, Donald Sterling told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he is not a racist but does not believe Magic Johnson – the NBA Hall of Famer who was part of Sterling’s racist rant – is a good example for the children of Los Angeles.

“Well if I said anything wrong I'm sorry,” Sterling said. “He's a good person and he ... what am I going to say … has he done everything he could do to help minorities? I don't think so. I'll say it. I'll say it. He's great, I just don't think he's a good example for the children of Los Angeles. I’m a good member [of the NBA] who made a mistake. 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.”

Upset with the way things unfolded, the banned owner also told Anderson Cooper that he felt he was baited into saying the horrible things played in the audio recordings. Indicating that female friend V. Stiviano purposely set him up, Sterling grew upset but did recognize that the things on the tape were highly inappropriate. Noting that each negative thing he said on tape came as a shock to himself upon listening to them, the Chicago native – who currently resides in Beverly Hills – would like to find out why Stiviano went out of her way to set him up in the first place.

“Yes, I was baited,” Sterling said during his interview with Cooper. “I mean, that's not the way I talk. I don't talk about people for one thing, ever. I talk about ideas and other things. I don't talk about people. I don’t know who released the tapes. An 80-year-old man is kind of foolish, and I’m kind of foolish. I thought she liked me and really cared for me. I guess being 51 years older than her, I was deluding myself. I just wish I could ask her why, and if she was setting me up.”