Mike Bass, NBA Executive Vice President of Communications, stated, "This will provide an opportunity for a new CEO to begin on a clean slate and for the team to stabilize under difficult circumstances.”
Roeser, a longtime Clippers executive, essentially gave the NBA no choice when he disseminated an absurd press release in the immediate hours after Donald Sterling's racist audio recordings emerged.
The release attempted to divert the media's focus onto the mistress while also defending Sterling. As such, Roeser created a perception, whether accurate or not, that he was a mere puppet doing Sterling's bidding.
Here is the text of that release:
“We have heard the tape on TMZ. We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape — who we believe released it to TMZ — is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would “get even.” Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings. It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life. He feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them. He is also upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. He has long considered Magic a friend and has only the utmost respect and admiration for him--both in terms of who he is and what he has achieved. We are investigating this matter.”
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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