Updated Saturday, April 26, 4:30 p.m. EDT: The NBA announced Saturday that it is conducting a "full investigation" into Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling after TMZ released a recording of a man alleged to be him going on a racist rant, Buzzfeed reports.
Updated Saturday, April 26, 12:20 p.m. EDT: Civil rights leaders Saturday called on the NBA to investigate Donald Sterling after TMZ released audio of a man said to be the Los Angeles Clippers owner engaged in a racist rant.
"No one should be allowed to own a team if they have in fact engaged in this kind of racial language," the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, said in a statement. "We are prepared at National Action Network to rally in front of the NBA headquarters if this matter is not immediately dealt with."
And the Rev. Jesse Jackson issued a call Saturday for Clippers players to protest the statements by implementing some kind of "symbolic expression," TMZ reports. Further, he said that the league "must respond and respond quickly."
Earlier:
The roster of Donald Sterling’s Los Angeles Clippers is filled with African-American stars, including DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford and Glen Davis. He even dates a woman who is half black, but apparently that is about all he can stand.
In an explosive audiotape unearthed by TMZ Sports, someone reported to be Sterling is heard berating his girlfriend V. Stiviano in a racist rant for posting images of minorities on her Instagram account. That includes NBA legend Magic Johnson. He also asked her not to bring African Americans to his games.
"Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo … broadcast that you're associating with black people," the man on the audiotape is heard saying.
Johnson told TMZ Sports, "It's a shame that Donald Sterling feels that way about African Americans."
During the rant, the man asks Stiviano, who is black and Mexican: "Why are you taking pictures with minorities? Why?"
Listen to the explosive audio here: