OAKLAND -- Golden State Warriors fans are among the most boisterous in the NBA, and they weren’t holding back when it came to the brouhaha involving Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
Shortly after the Clippers walked onto the court for warmups before Game 4 of their first-round series at Oracle Arena on Sunday, a fan chanted, “KKK-Clippers!”, alluding to the racist remarks purportedly made by Sterling during a recent conversation with a female friend.
Full coverage: The Donald Sterling controversy
A voice that sounds like Sterling’s can be heard in an audio recording released by TMZ telling his friend that he was upset she posted a picture on her Instagram account of herself next to Lakers legend Magic Johnson because he didn’t want her to be associated with black people.
One Warriors fan held up a sign reading "I'm black." A white fan next to him had a sign reading "I brought a black guy 2 the game!!"
RT @JeremySF Good thing the Clippers owner isn't here to witness that. #DubNation #BeatLA pic.twitter.com/8uuG74gtfq
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) April 27, 2014
Another fan held one sign reading “Magic always welcomed @ Oracle!” in one hand and another sign reading “No room 4 racism” in the other hand.
The Clippers pulled off their blue warmup jackets in unison and discarded them in a pile near midcourt before the game in a symbolic protest, revealing red warmup shirts turned inside out to obscure the logos. They wore black armbands on their left wrists and black socks.
Sterling’s wife, Rochelle, attended the game, wearing an all-black outfit and sitting across from the Clippers’ bench. Donald Sterling agreed not to attend in the wake of the uproar over his remarks.
But fans hadn’t forgotten about him. During a timeout in the first quarter, a group of fans chanted “Sterling sucks!”
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