Report: Donald Sterling Tapes Heard by Wife Shelly, Clippers Staff Before Leak

Members of the Los Angeles Clippers front office, including president Andy Roeser and Shelly Sterling, heard audio of Donald Sterling's racist rant before it was leaked to TMZ in April 2014.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported the news in the first part of the Sterling Affairs podcast, which was released Tuesday.

"The fact is ... Shelly and several people in the Clippers organization heard the recording and decided not to act on it or weren't appalled enough to act on it," Shelburne said. "Maybe they didn't understand how big a splash this tape could make."

V. Stiviano, Sterling's mistress, texted audio of Sterling's anti-black rant to a Clippers employee on April 9, 2014, before the Clippers' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The employee had texted Stiviano to inform her she was not allowed to attend the game due to escalating tensions between her, Shelly and Donald Sterling.

The female employee, who was acting as a conduit between Donald Sterling and Stiviano, emailed the file to Roeser that day. Shelly Sterling said she heard about the tape at the Thunder game that night and spoke to Roeser, who told her that Stiviano "wouldn't do anything with [the tape]."

TMZ Sports released the audio April 25, more than two weeks after members of the Clippers organization reportedly originally heard the file. No one in the organization made any attempt to get ahead of the story or inform the NBA.

According to Shelburne, Roeser "figured [Sterling] would make this go away" because all "ugly" incidents in the past had been handled behind the scenes. Shelly Sterling told her attorneys about the tapes, who then approached Stiviano's attorneys. Stiviano then contacted TMZ through another party to leak the taps, which feature Sterling berating her for associating with black people after she posted a photo with Magic Johnson on her Instagram.

Mike Walters, then TMZ's news director, contacted the NBA and the Clippers to let them know they would be releasing a damaging tape involving Sterling. Members of the Clippers team and coaching staff were informed that there would be something released, but TMZ did not divulge the contents before making the audio public. 

The NBA banned Sterling for life four days after the audio leaked, amid threats of a boycott by players during the playoffs. The Clippers sold to Steve Ballmer later that year for $2 billion.