WATCH: Clippers owner Donald Sterling went on the attack in his interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper and his target was NBA legend Magic Johnson
TORONTO — Donald Sterling’s hatred for Magic Johnson boiled over during an interview Sunday with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, when the disgraced L.A. Clippers owner brought up the NBA legend’s battle with HIV.
Sterling blasted Johnson as a bad role model based on his alleged sexually promiscuous past.
“What kind of guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV?” Sterling said of Johnson, who was diagnosed in 1991. “Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself.”
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The interview with Cooper was Sterling’s first since recordings of him emerged in April making racist remarks, which later earned him a lifetime ban from the NBA.
At one point during the interview, Sterling asked: “What has he done, big Magic Johnson, what has he done?” When Cooper started listing Johnson’s accomplishments, Sterling shouted “he’s got AIDS!”
Cooper corrected Sterling, explaining Johnson was HIV-positive but did not have “full-blown AIDS.”
Sterling briefly referenced Johnson as a “good person,” before continuing to attack the former NBA star.
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Johnson, who is scheduled to appear on Cooper’s show Tuesday, wrote on his Twitter account that he would rather talk about the NBA Playoffs.
The interview garnered a quick reply from the NBA’s top brass. Commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement apologizing to Johnson.
“I just read a transcript of Donald Sterling’s interview with Anderson Cooper and while Magic Johnson doesn’t need me to, I feel compelled on behalf of the NBA family to apologize to him that he continues to be dragged into this situation and be degraded by such a malicious and personal attack,” Silver said. “The NBA Board of Governors is continuing with its process to remove Mr. Sterling as expeditiously as possible.”
*With files from The Associated Press
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