Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said Monday he has not yet spoken with Donald Sterling in the wake of the owner's alleged racially charged comments that were released this past weekend.
Rivers, on a conference call Monday, said he was offered the chance to speak with Sterling but declined to do so.
TMZ.com posted nearly 10 minutes of audio it said is a conversation between Sterling and his girlfriend, in which a man tells a woman he is bothered by her association with African-Americans and asks her not to bring them to Clippers games.
Rivers said Monday he was unsure if the remarks alleged to Sterling were altered in some way, and added that he did not know if the owner actually believed in those released comments.
"I don't know one way or the other," Rivers said. "I believe he said those things. I heard what he said. Until someone tells me differently, I heard what he said.
"I haven't given him the opportunity to explain himself and don't want him to (right now)."
The NBA will make an announcement regarding its investigation involving Sterling on Tuesday, just hours before the Clippers are scheduled to host the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinal with the series even at two games apiece.
Sterling did not attend Game 4 of the series on Sunday in Oakland, a 118-97 Warriors victory.
The Clippers staged a silent protest before Sunday's game by wearing their pregame shirts inside-out with the team's logo out of sight.
[SportsNetwork.com]
