CEO: Rivers says he’ll quit if Sterling stays

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

The interim CEO of the Los Angeles Clippers testified Tuesday that coach Doc Rivers told him he will quit if Donald Sterling remains the owner of the team.

CEO Richard Parsons made the statement at a trial to determine whether Sterling’s wife Shelly Sterling can sell the team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The NBA has tried to force out Donald Sterling since soon after racist statements emerged on recordings in April.

“Doc is troubled by this maybe moreso than anybody else,” Parsons said on the witness stand about Rivers, who is black. “If Mr. Sterling continues as owner, he does not want to continue as coach.”

Parsons said he fears there would also be an exodus of key players, including team captain Chris Paul, who also is black and heads the NBA players union.

Parsons was about to give an account of his conversations with Paul but was stopped by an objection by an NBA lawyer who said it would be an invasion of privacy. The judge upheld the objection.

Rivers has said he had heard from other Clippers business employees that they didn’t think they would be able to work for Sterling under the circumstances.

Parsons is a former chief executive at Time Warner and Citigroup who took over leadership of the Clippers in May during the media blitz surrounding the banishment of Sterling.

Under questioning by Ballmer’s lawyer, Parsons said the departure of Rivers would begin “a death spiral” for the Clippers.

“If Doc were to leave, that would be a disaster,” Parsons said. “Doc is the father figure, the one who leads. He’s the coach. He’s the grown-up. He is able to connect with people and earn their trust. The team believes in him and loves him.

“If he were to leave, that is only going to accelerate the death spiral,” Parson said.

The discussion of Clippers players and coaches is new territory for the trial that has mostly explored the dealings between the Sterlings.

It wasn’t immediately clear what effect the new information might have on the narrow question under consideration of whether Shelly Sterling can sell the team under the family trust.