Doc Rivers on Infamous Donald Sterling Tape: "I didn't even know what to feel"
Six years have passed since former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was caught making racist comments on tape, but the events are still fresh in the minds of those who were involved in the controversy. Among them is Doc Rivers, who was trying to coach his team through a first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors in his inaugural season with the franchise when the audio was released.
"Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people," Sterling said to his then-girlfriend V. Stiviano on the leaked tape. "Do you have to?"
Rivers recalls his reaction in the newly-released 'Blackballed' documentary, which debuted Sunday night on Quibi.
"Andy Roser comes to me and says that TMZ has a tape that they may release, and it's not good," he said. "Honestly, I thought it was some sex tape. And I hate to say that, but I thought with Donald's history, I thought somehow it was some demented sex tape."
After a film session, Rivers informed the team of the tape, but he still wasn't aware of what was on it. It wasn't until he received a call from the team's PR director about it that he understood the magnitude of it.
"Seth, our PR director, calls and says, 'The tape is bad. It's really bad, and it's nothing to do with sex. It's race-related.'", he said. "My head is spinning, we have a meeting in like two hours, I'm pissed... I didn't even know what to feel. Like, am I going to go downstairs and talk about winning?"
Eventually, Rivers and the team decided to protest Sterling's remarks by wearing their warm-ups inside-out ahead of Game 4, sending a powerful message that symbolized that they were playing for themselves rather than the owner.
The first three episodes of 'Blackballed' are available now on Qui
