Donald T. Sterling is an American real estate mogul, attorney, and the current owner of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. Sterling acquired the Clippers in 1981 for $12.5 million, and as of the 2008 rankings, the team is valued at $297 million by Forbes magazine ranking them twenty-fifth out of thirty teams. Personal and professional life Donald Tokowitz (legally changed his last name to Sterling as an adult) was born in 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, but he and his family moved to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, when he was two years old. His parents, Susan and Mickey, were Jewish immigrants. He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, where he was on the school's gymnastics team, and also served as class president; he graduated there in 1952. He next attended California State University, Los Angeles and Southwestern University School of Law, also located in Los Angeles. Starting in 1961, he began to make his career as a divorce and personal injury attorney, but he made his biggest ventures in real estate, where he purchased a 26-unit apartment building in Beverly Hills.
He married his wife, the former Rochelle "Shelly" Stein, in 1957. They have three children and several grandchildren as well.
Los Angeles Clippers
Sterling has been widely criticized for his frugal operation of the Clippers, due in part to a consistent history of losing seasons. In recent years, however, he has shown an increased willingness to spend. In 2003, Sterling signed Elton Brand to the biggest contract in franchise history: a six-year, $82 million deal. He matched the contract the Utah Jazz offered restricted free agent Corey Maggette: a deal worth $45 million over six years. The Clippers have also since signed higher-priced veterans free agents, such as Cuttino Mobley in 2005 and Tim Thomas in 2006. Also, in another first during the Sterling tenure of Clippers ownership, the team gave a four-year contract extension to head coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr., as well as a five-year extension to center Chris Kaman. Both extensions took effect starting in the 2007-08 NBA season. Under Sterling's ownership, only Dunleavy and Bill Fitch (1994-1998) have lasted beyond four seasons as Clipper head coach.
To further his commitment to the Clippers, Sterling spent $50 million to build a state-of-the-art practice facility and team headquarters at the Playa Vista complex near Los Angeles' Playa Del Rey neighborhood. This followed the lead of several other NBA franchises, including the cross-town rival Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons, in having their own facility dedicated exclusively for team use. The facility was completed and opened in September 2008, in time for the start of the team's training camp. The team previously practiced at a local health club in suburban El Segundo.
Sterling and Los Angeles Lakers majority owner Dr. Jerry Buss were indirectly responsible in each owning their respective NBA franchises. The first instance came in 1979, in which Buss used the money he made from selling a portion of his apartment buildings to Sterling (worth $2.7 million), which covered the remaining balance in purchasing the Lakers, the Kings hockey team, and the Los Angeles Forum from Jack Kent Cooke for $67 million. Two years later, Buss suggested to Sterling that he could purchase his own NBA franchise, and Sterling bought the struggling San Diego Clippers for $12.5 million. Unlike Buss' instant success with the Lakers (including winning an NBA championship in his first season as owner, 1979-80), Sterling and his Clippers struggled through many lackluster seasons, and did not have their first winning season until the 1991-92 season, eleven years into his ownership. However, with the Clippers' move into Staples Center in the 1999-2000 NBA season, the team began to build a contending team, and finally met that goal in 2005-06 when the Clippers won 47 games. This was a record for the most victories in a single season since the franchise moved to California. The overall franchise record is 49 wins, accomplished by the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves.
He rebuffed numerous offers from other cities (including nearby Anaheim and their Honda Center arena) to relocate the Clippers, and has been steadfast in his refusal to move the team out of Los Angeles proper. Sterling has always been of belief that he wants to eventually win a championship in the city of Los Angeles, despite the status of sharing Staples Center with the always-popular Lakers and previously playing in an outdated Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
Despite his poor reputation as a sports team owner, Sterling has remained committed to the Los Angeles community, as he and his Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation (which would also include the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation) have donated to various causes, including supporting the homeless population. In fact, in a June 26, 2006 Los Angeles Times article, sources have said that Sterling pledged to spend $50 million on a site on the eastern end of downtown Los Angeles to provide homeless housing, rehabilitation and medical services. However, according to a LA Weekly article from February 19, 2008, critics were skeptical that the homeless center would ever be built, and surmised that Sterling bought the properly purely for its real estate value.
