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LA Owner's Alleged Racist Comments Irk Mount Vernon Basketball Fans

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. – Mount Vernon residents echoed the outrage of an entire nation on Thursday when asked about racist recordings that were allegedly made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Mount Vernon residents Mike and Cindy Campbell supported the Clippers' stance against owner Donald Sterling's comments.

Mount Vernon residents Mike and Cindy Campbell supported the Clippers' stance against owner Donald Sterling's comments.

Photo Credit: Zak Failla

Sterling made a series of bigoted and damning comments to his girlfriend – who is of Mexican and African American descent – which have since been leaked to the media. The NBA has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday to announce the 81-year-old owner’s discipline.

There was a general consensus in Mount Vernon when asked about Sterling: he has to go.

“What he said wouldn’t be acceptable if an ordinary person said it, but to be the owner of a professional team and to say it, come on, that’s even worse,” Tom Ryan, who has experience as a youth coach, said. “They need to toss the book at him to make an example.”

Sterling’s team staged a silent protest before a Game 4 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Players removed their warm-ups, which donned the Clippers colors and hid their logos under inside out shirts before the game.

“I think what the players did was perfect. I was really curious to see if they would do anything, and I think they nailed it,” Mike Campbell said while having lunch with his wife Cindy in Mount Vernon. “They’re playing for one another, not for the team.”

Everyone from President Barack Obama to NBA legend – and fellow owner - Michael Jordan have weighed in on Sterling’s comments, with his own wife, Shelly, calling them “despicable” and “prejudiced.”

New Rochelle resident Bill Johnston, an orange and blue clad Knick fan, noted that the timing of Sterling’s comments being leaked couldn’t have been much worse for the long suffering Clippers and their fans.

“I know he’s from a different time, but you have to have some smarts to become a billionaire, he has to know that if he says something, it’s going to get out there,” he said. “I feel bad for the fans, now they know what it’s like to be a Knicks fan. It’s not always fun.”

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