<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Donald Sterling was \"baited\" into making a \"terrible, terrible mistake,\" the disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner told CNN's Anderson Cooper in his first interview since an audio recording of him making racist comments ignited a firestorm of outrage in the sports world and beyond.\nSterling's initial comments, leaked online just over two weeks ago, resulted in him being banned for life from the NBA, which is also seeking to force him to sell the Clippers. NBA players were reportedly set to boycott playoff games had commissioner Adam Silver settled on a more lenient punishment.\nSee also: Sure, Michael Sam Got Drafted \u2014 But Now the Real Test Begins\nIn his interview with Cooper, Sterling says that \"I don't even know how I can say words like that. ... I don't know why the girl had me say those things.\"\nCooper asks Sterling to elaborate, which the Clippers owner does. \"Well yes, I was baited,\" he says. \"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.\"\nThe audio recording that got Sterling in trouble \u2014 in which he essentially says African Americans are unwelcome at his games \u2014 was released by V. Stiviano, a mysterious woman who goes by just that initial and surname and has been alternately described as Sterling's girlfriend and ex-girlfriend. Sterling's wife, Shelly, filed suit against Stiviano in March over gifts her husband allegedly lavished on the other woman.\nThe full interview with Cooper is set to air on Monday night, but Sterling's comments released already have been met with skepticism by many NBA fans due to his background.\n\nSterling has been reviled as an alleged racist, not to mention a deadbeat owner, for years. A 2009 lawsuit filed by a former general manager alleged racist attitudes from Sterling, for example, and the same year he agreed to settle a massive federal housing discrimination lawsuit having to do with buildings he owns in Los Angeles.\nThree-fourths of the league's 30 owners have to vote to expel Sterling from the NBA to force him to sell the Clippers, and it's not yet known how hard he'll fight to keep the team. Some suspect the Clippers could fetch a billion-dollar price tag if Sterling is forced to sell, and analysts say he could drag the league into a thorny legal battle if he decides to take that route.\nMeanwhile, Shelly Sterling told ABC's Barbara Walters on Sunday that she hopes to keep her 50% ownership stake in the Clippers. LeBron James said this weekend that he and other players would oppose that. Shelly Sterling also told Walters that she believes her husband has dementia.\nSo, with the ongoing NBA playoffs as a backdrop, the Sterling sideshow goes on. Eventually this entire episode will be behind the league, but it looks like that day is a long way off."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/05/12/donald-sterling-i-was-baited-into-a-terrible-mistake/>