Darius Miles just shared an uncomfortable behind-the-scenes story about former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was forced to sell the team back in April 2014 after footage of him making racist statements in a private conversation went viral.
The backlash was immense. Clippers players wore black wristbands or armbands during their next game and, during pregame warmups, donned red shirts inside-out to hide the team’s logo in protest. Sponsors started threatening to leave the NBA. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took no time to act, banning Sterling for life from all league activities and fining him $2.5 million, the maximum possible amount under league rules.
Since then, Sterling hasn’t been associated with the league or had any ties to the Clippers. Miles spent the first two years of his NBA career with the Clippers and was on the roster when Sterling owned the team. During a recent episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast, Miles revealed more of Sterling’s inappropriate behavior when he owned the team.
Darius Miles Accuses Donald Sterling of Making the Clippers Feel ‘Uncomfortable’
“Me and Q (Quentin Richardson) kind of felt he was weird. So, you know, we kind of kept our distance,” Miles explained. “You know, at the white party, we’d walk in there for about 15 minutes, and as soon as we shook everybody’s hands and kissed the babies, we were out. You know what I’m saying? So we really didn’t…
“I think one of the weirdest things that he always used to do was just come in the locker room after the game with guys like half-naked and kind of, um, give you that uncomfortable type feel or look. You know what I’m saying? That’s probably the creepiest thing that he was doing.”
Notably, this is not the first time Sterling’s locker-room antics have been called out. In 2011, some details of them emerged from a legal filing from NBA legend Elgin Baylor, who made personnel decisions for the Clippers for 22 years.
“Players Sam Cassell, Elton Brand, and Corey Maggette complained to me that Donald Sterling would bring women into the locker room after games, while the players were showering, and make comments such as, ‘Look at those beautiful black bodies.’ I brought this to Sterling’s attention, but he continued to bring women into the locker room,” Baylor reportedly said in the declaration.
Sterling is now 91 years old and stays out of the spotlight, while Steve Ballmer is the current owner of the Clippers. The former CEO of Microsoft purchased the team in 2014 for a record $2 billion.
