Sterling humingi ng paumanhin

LOS ANGELES – Humingi ng paumanhin si Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling dahil sa kanyang racist comments na nahuli sa tape sa pagsasabing ito ay mga “terrible mistake.”

“I’m not a racist,” sabi ni Sterling kay Anderson Cooper ng CNN. “I made a terrible mistake. I’m here to apologize.”

Sa kanyang unang public comments matapos mapatawan ng NBA ng lifetime ban, sinabi ni Sterling na ang magandang asal niya bilang team owner ang dapat pahalagahan.

“I’m a good member who made a mistake,” wika ni Sterling. “Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”

Ang panayam ay ginawa dalawang linggo matapos ihayag ni NBA Commissioner Adam Silver ang lifetime ban kay Sterling, pinagmulta din ng $2.5 milyon at hinikayat ang mga league owners na pilitin si Sterling na ibenta ang Clippers.

Sinabi ni Sterling na ginusto niyang humingi ng public apology dahil siya ay “emotionally distraught.”

“The reason it’s hard for me, very hard for me, is that I’m wrong,” ani Sterling. “I caused the problem. I don’t know how to correct it. If the owners feel I have another chance, then they’ll give it to me,” dagdag pa nito.

Sinabi naman ng da-ting asawa ni Sterling na si Shelly na ipaglalaban niyang mapanatili ang 50 percent ownership stake ng Clippers.

Naglabas naman ng pahayag si NBA spokesman Mike Bass ukol sa nasabing pahayag ni Shelly Sterling.

“Under the NBA cons-titution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a three-quarter vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well,” wika ni Bass. “It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here. These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team.”