[Whitfield:] All right. And now to the controversy surrounding L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. It is heating up after the woman who recorded his racist comments came to his defense in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters.
[Barbara Walters, Abc News:] Is Donald Sterling a racist?
[V. Stiviano, Allegedly Girlfriend Of Donald Sterling:] No. I don't believe it in my heart.
[Walters:] Have you heard him say derogatory things about minorities in general? Blacks in particular?
[Stiviano:] Absolutely.
[Walters:] You've heard him say derogatory things?
[Stiviano:] Yes.
[Walters:] Don't they sound racist to you?
[Stiviano:] I think the things he says are not what he feels.
[Whitfield:] Deborah Feyerick is covering the story from New York. So, Deborah, did V. Stiviano give any explanations, you know, for Sterling's comments?
[Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, she did. And as a matter of fact, what's really interesting about this interview, Barbara Walters says that the two of them had been together yesterday afternoon, so the suggestion is that they are still talking, despite everything that's happened. She said that she's trying to help Sterling, rescue him from himself. But to explain the comments that he made, she says look, Sterling is from a different generation, his parents, to set the record straight, are Jewish immigrants. They came to the United States, he was born in Chicago back in 1934. And she says one of the problems that Sterling had was when she would bring people to the Staples arena, people that were described in her words as gangsters and thugs. And that apparently is what Sterling did not like and he was getting pressure from people around him saying, you know, this was not acceptable.
[Whitfield:] And she also talked about their, you know, relationship, what the status is, whether she's a girlfriend, whether she's associate, a co-worker or what.
[Feyerick:] She described herself as his personal assistant, his confidant, his wing man, his right arm in her words. She said that they met while she was working at his foundation then they developed a different relationship. He was paying her off the books, those are his words, and they did everything together. They traveled together. She kept his records, she kept his, you know, appointments, things like that. That's what she's apparently claiming. And when Barbara Walters asked well, are you in love with him, she said I love him like a father figure, which is very different. She seems to think this was platonic. But Donald Sterling is heard are on the tapes, says, you know, she says to him you are in love with me, but it appears that she was not in love with him. Take a listen.
[Walters:] Can you tell me what your relationship with Donald Sterling is?
[Stiviano:] I'm Mr. Sterling's right hand arm, man. I'm Mr. Sterling everything, his confidant, his best friend, his silly rabbit.
[Walters:] His what?
[Stiviano:] His silly rabbit.
[Walters:] His silly rabbit?
[Stiviano:] Yes.
[Walters:] Is that what he calls you?
[Stiviano:] No. I call myself that.
[Walters:] That's what you I see, OK.
[Stiviano:] I joke around and I make him laugh. I do things that some people find very silly or I do things that sometimes people can't understand our relationship. I'm his everything.
[Feyerick:] That's a pretty bold statement when you parse it, Fredricka, that she's his everything, you know, and that she's his right arm. Whatever you want to call this, it does not appear that it was platonic. Look, his estranged wife in a lawsuit basically says they were having a sexual relationship and that he was lavishing her with expensive gifts. Very interesting, the audiotapes apparently were released according to a friend because V. Stiviano was trying to pressure Sterling to have his wife back down on that very lawsuit. And now I did speak to a friend who said that Stiviano described it as a professional relationship, but that same friend said she also saw a video that clearly portrays them in a very bad light together. They clearly crossed the line. And she said even she was uncomfortable to look at some of the images between the two of them. So it will be interesting to see what else emerges.
[Whitfield:] Yes. It just seems it's a complicated issue and this interview further complicates it. I mean, from her definition of their relationship, the personal relationship, the confidant, to, you know, his language of saying, well, I just don't want you to take pictures with thugs. Well, I mean, code language for black people.
[Feyerick:] Right.
[Whitfield:] I mean, so it doesn't explain anything away. It just makes it messier. And Donald Sterling himself also spoke right, to "Dujour" magazine, and he had a few things to say which I don't think it clarified anything either. Did it?
[Feyerick:] Well, no. It definitely didn't clarify anything. As a matter of fact, what he ends up saying is he ended up saying, you know, I wish I had paid her off. And so that's a whole new level in terms of what was being you know, look, they have been talking, you really do have to wonder what they were talking about because V. Stiviano does not come out as his enemy during this interview with Barbara Walters. She comes out as somebody who is defending him, who's casting him in a more humane light, the fact that he feels isolated. So you've got to wonder. But one thing that was clearly bothering Stiviano was the lawsuit filed by Sterling's wife. So
[Whitfield:] All right.
[Feyerick:] A lot of players involved in this situation Fred.
[Whitfield:] OK. There is more. Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much. All right. So the L.A. Clippers and by the way, there's a game tonight. They want to win, they have to win their game seven tonight before the season comes to an end. But the controversy swirling around the franchise, the owner, Donald Sterling, and the NBA as a whole is far from over. Here to talk about it is former NBA star Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell. Good to see you. He played for the Clippers, helped win two championships as a Boston Celtics player, and is now a Boston Celtics radio analyst. All right. Good to see you. So Donald Sterling has a reputation of being a fighter in the courtroom inside and out. Do you think he will give up his team without a fight, even if the NBA owners, you know, vote unanimously that he needs to sell the team?
[Cedric "cornbread" Maxwell, Former Boston Celtics Player:] No, I don't. I really don't think he's going to really let this team go without a fight, and let me say this, too. If she's my best friend, if she was my confidant, then let me find some more friends because I don't tell a story to somebody and then let it go out another way. The stories kind of turned around going back and forth. Should the issue really shouldn't be on her, but it is about her, too. I think the thing that Donald Sterling has done really has been horrible. The commissioner did it the right way. Banned him for life. Made sure that now he's going to have to sell this basketball club. And how ironic would it be, if in fact a guy like Magic Johnson, bought this team or Oprah bought this team, a prominent black person?
[Whitfield:] Yes. It would indeed be ironic. But V. Stiviano really I mean, she's a component here, but she really has become kind of a distraction because, you know, the root of the problem here is Donald Sterling's recorded sentiment, his behavior, you know, present and perhaps even something that has spanned, you know, for many decades. So in your view, does this case, Donald Sterling's behavior you know, how he's been able to get away with this sentiment for a very long time as a team owner for 30 years, does it kind of soil the NBA in your view in any way?
[Maxwell:] Well, I think one of the things you really look at, talk about what Donald Sterling has done in the past. I think you can go look at the lawsuit that he had with the harassment and the allegations about him not wanting black people to live on his property. Well, he settled that out of court. So a lot of those records were closed and they weren't going to be open any more. I think one of the things you look at with this basketball club now is how do you go further? How does the NBA make this right? Because one thing you're doing, you're appeasing the fans. You have to appease all of the clients and the advertisers, running away in droves. They have to do something. And I think they've done the right thing.
[Whitfield:] You do think they've done the right thing. What do you think he is a litigious person, he's likely to fight this. And if he refuses, you know, to give up the team and if he does make this a legal battle, you know, at what point do you think the I guess the NBA has to change its game on Sterling?
[Maxwell:] Well, I think I think almost immediately because, you know, you would think everybody is applauding it, saying Donald Sterling is done. Well, he has a lot of options right now. He's already a lawyer. He's going to represent part of himself. He is right now fighting for his name. So I don't see him letting this go. I think I talked to the people, and, you know, you talk about a kangaroo court, I talked to my barber in the barbershop the other day. And he was talking about well, what are they going to do, how are they going to get rid of him. Everybody I talk to says the same thing. But this is not going to be an open and closed case. It won't happen like that. Donald Sterling, the guy I know, will drag this out, and drag it out maybe for years with injunctions.
[Whitfield:] And so you are in agreement that this is the proper type of punishment? Because there are a range of punishments for a range of offenses as it pertains to the NBA, as it pertains to players, there may be suspensions. I mean, you yourself even you know, had a misstep by making a sexist remark about a female referee as an analyst. You didn't lose your job. You had to apologize on the air, but there are I guess a range of consequences for different offenses. He is at the top. He is an employer. Do you believe that losing the team, giving up the team, is severe, or is this you know, is this tantamount to his offense?
[Maxwell:] Mark Cuban said it best, the owner of the Mavericks. This is a slippery slope for everybody, not only owners but for players, broadcasters, anybody involved. This is really moved the knob a long way, and all counter sports. Because I think look at it this way. If my conversation, if your conversation, a private conversation was let out, I think everybody right now would be in trouble. Nobody really would have a job, but I think the right thing was done by the NBA in going this far, trying to remove Sterling, making sure that everything was done the right way. But again, the litigations and how this is going to go on, I think it's going to go a long way. It isn't over.
[Whitfield:] All right. Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell, thanks so much. Good to see you from Boston. All right. The hunt for Flight 370 will soon look a lot different. We'll tell you what likely will be involved and the strategy behind this new phase straight ahead.