Clippers' Redick exposed to Sterling's racism early
Clippers guard J.J. Redick went to Los Angeles as a free agent for Chris Paul. He chose the Clippers for Blake Griffin and Doc Rivers.
The 29-year-old chose an organization where he thought he'd be successful with other great minds in the game, and was immediately exposed to owner Donald Sterling's dysfunctional way of doing business.
According to Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports, Redick's four-year, $27-million deal almost fell apart because Sterling was believed to have concerns "about paying a white player that kind of money."
Redick didn't know about the deal nearly falling through until he received a phone call from coach Rivers on July 4.
He's like, 'You better play for me (expletive).' And I was like, 'Yeah, that's the plan. We figured this out two days ago, right?'
And then he just rambled a bit. ... but he never really got into the nuts and bolts of what was happening. And then I got a call about 48 hours later from my agent, and he said, 'We wanted to keep you out of it, but here's what happened.
The severity of the recent statements by Sterling became more clear when Redick saw his teammates getting emotional, even though the issue mirrored what he'd gone through last summer.
"I said this to someone the other day, (that) in the days after (the Sterling audio was revealed), it was the first time in my life where I was conscientious of the fact that the people I was talking to were black or Asian or Mexican," Redick said.
"I don't look at people like that, so to hear those things come out of someone's mouth, it pisses you off."
The guard said the story won't go away completely during his team's playoff run, but those within the organization have supported one another throughout the ordeal.
I think every day that passes, it gets easier. When (Commissioner) Adam (Silver) made his decision, we were at shoot-around for Game 5, and that was the first time when anybody was kind of like, 'Phew.' And then all of a sudden we're in the locker room five minutes later and somebody tells a joke. I hadn't heard that for three days.
The Clippers travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.