Donald Sterling

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Donald T. Sterling is an American real estate mogul, attorney, and the current owner of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Sterling acquired the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million, and as of the 2008 rankings, the team is valued at $297 million by Forbes magazine[1], ranking them twenty-fifth out of thirty teams.

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[edit] Personal and professional life

Donald Tokowitz (legally changed his last name to Sterling as an adult) was born in 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, but he and his family moved to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, when he was two years old. His parents, Susan and Mickey, were Jewish immigrants. He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, where he was on the school's gymnastics team, and also served as class president; he graduated there in 1952. He next attended California State University, Los Angeles and Southwestern University School of Law, also located in Los Angeles.[2] Starting in 1961, he began to make his career as a divorce and personal injury attorney, but he made his biggest ventures in real estate, where he purchased a 26-unit apartment building in Beverly Hills.

He married his wife, the former Rochelle "Shelly" Stein, in 1957. They have three children and several grandchildren as well.

[edit] Los Angeles Clippers

Sterling has been widely criticized for his frugal operation of the Clippers, due in part to a consistent history of losing seasons. In recent years, however, he has shown an increased willingness to spend. In 2003, Sterling signed Elton Brand to the biggest contract in franchise history: a six-year, $82 million deal. He matched the contract the Utah Jazz offered restricted free agent Corey Maggette: a deal worth $45 million over six years. The Clippers have also since signed higher-priced veterans free agents, such as Cuttino Mobley in 2005 and Tim Thomas in 2006. Also, in another first during the Sterling tenure of Clippers ownership, the team gave a four-year contract extension to head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr., as well as a five-year extension to center Chris Kaman. Both extensions took effect starting in the 2007-08 NBA season. Under Sterling's ownership, only Dunleavy and Bill Fitch (1994-1998) have lasted beyond four seasons as Clipper head coach.

To further his commitment to the Clippers, Sterling spent $50 million to build a state-of-the-art practice facility and team headquarters at the Playa Vista complex near Los Angeles' Playa Del Rey neighborhood. This followed the lead of several other NBA franchises, including the cross-town rival Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons, in having their own facility dedicated exclusively for team use. The facility was completed and opened in September 2008, in time for the start of the team's training camp. The team previously practiced at a local health club in suburban El Segundo.

Sterling and Los Angeles Lakers majority owner Dr. Jerry Buss were indirectly responsible in each owning their respective NBA franchises. The first instance came in 1979, in which Buss used the money he made from selling a portion of his apartment buildings to Sterling (worth $2.7 million), which covered the remaining balance in purchasing the Lakers, the Kings hockey team, and the Los Angeles Forum from Jack Kent Cooke for $67 million. Two years later, Buss suggested to Sterling that he could purchase his own NBA franchise, and Sterling bought the struggling San Diego Clippers for $12.5 million. Unlike Buss' instant success with the Lakers (including winning an NBA championship in his first season as owner, 1979-80), Sterling and his Clippers struggled through many lackluster seasons, and did not have their first winning season until the 1991-92 season, eleven years into his ownership. However, with the Clippers' move into Staples Center in the 1999-2000 NBA season, the team began to build a contending team, and finally met that goal in 2005-06 when the Clippers won 47 games. This was a record for the most victories in a single season since the franchise moved to California. The overall franchise record is 49 wins, accomplished by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves.

He rebuffed numerous offers from other cities (including nearby Anaheim and their Honda Center arena) to relocate the Clippers, and has been steadfast in his refusal to move the team out of Los Angeles proper. Sterling has always been of belief that he wants to eventually win a championship in the city of Los Angeles, despite the status of sharing Staples Center with the always-popular Lakers and previously playing in an outdated Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

Despite his poor reputation as a sports team owner, Sterling has remained committed to the Los Angeles community, as he and his Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation (which would also include the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation) have donated to various causes, including supporting the homeless population. In fact, in a June 26, 2006 Los Angeles Times article[3], sources have said that Sterling pledged to spend $50 million on a site on the eastern end of downtown Los Angeles to provide homeless housing, rehabilitation and medical services. However, according to a LA Weekly article from February 19, 2008, critics were skeptical that the homeless center would ever be built, and surmised that Sterling bought the properly purely for its real estate value.

[edit] Controversies

On November 15, 2005, the Associated Press reported that Sterling had been ordered by U.S. District Judge Dale Fisher to pay $5 million in fees to plaintiff's attorneys in a case accusing him of trying to drive out non-Korean tenants, particularly blacks and Latinos, at apartments he owned in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood.[4]

Sterling also made headlines during a trial in which he admitted to paying a Beverly Hills woman named Alexandra Castro for sexual favors (including oral sex) in many buildings, offices and even limos that Sterling owned.[5] The two met at the birthday party of Sterling friend and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis over Independence Day weekend 1999.

Sterling was involved in two sexual harassement cases, each with former female employees of his companies. The first instance took place in 1996, when Christine Jasky, who had worked for him as a party hostess from 1993 to 1995, testified that Sterling made inappropriate sexual advances toward her and asked her and her associates for sexual favors. The two parties settled out of court by February 1997.

The other instance involved Sumner Davenport, who was a supervisor of his rental properties. Much like the Jasky incident, Sterling made inappropriate comments and contact toward her, and also testified in the first of two racial housing discrimination suits against the Sterlings. Davenport's sexual harassment suit against Sterling was settled in 2005.

On September 1, 2004, Donald Sterling lost a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over his claims of ownership in a real estate deal in Century City, California.

[edit] Accusations of Racism

A suit filed in 2003 by the nonprofit Housing Rights Center alleged that Sterling was practicing housing discrimination based on race.[6] It also alleges Sterling once said he did not like to rent to Hispanics because, "Hispanics smoke, drink and just hang around the building." He also allegedly said, "Black tenants smell and attract vermin."[7] The case was settled with the terms remaining confidential.[6]

On August 8, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Sterling for housing discrimination in using race as a factor in filling some of his apartment buildings. The government's ongoing case alleges Sterling refused to rent to non-Koreans in the Koreatown neighborhood and to African Americans in Beverly Hills.[7]

In February 2009, Sterling was sued by former longtime Clippers executive Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination on the basis of age and race.[8] The lawsuit alleges Sterling told Baylor that he wanted to fill his team with "poor black boys from the South and a white head coach."[7] It also alleges that during negotiations for Danny Manning, Sterling said "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid."[7][9] The suit noted those comments while alleging "the Caucasian head coach was given a four-year, $22-million contract," but Baylor's salary had "been frozen at a comparatively paltry $350,000 since 2003."[8]

[edit] Education

[edit] References

  1. ^ #25 Los Angeles Clippers - Forbes.com
  2. ^ State Bar of CA :: Donald T. Sterling
  3. ^ Real Estate Mogul's Skid Row Project Has Big Buzz but Little Detail
  4. ^ AP
  5. ^ Sexual Favors to Beverly Hills woman
  6. ^ a b Lisa Dillman, Elgin Baylor tells of racist atmosphere in Clippers organization, Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2009, Accessed February 13, 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d Bill Plaschke, There are no winners in Elgin Baylor's lawsuit against Clippers, Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2009, Accessed February 13, 2009.
  8. ^ a b Lisa Dillman, Elgin Baylor sues Clippers, claiming racism, Los Angeles Times, February 12, 2009, Accessed February 13, 2009.
  9. ^ Lisa Dillman, Mention of David Stern is an error in Elgin Baylor's lawsuit, Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2009, Accessed February 13, 2009.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling"
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