Sterling talks about audio recordings filled with racist remarks and the woman who recorded them. In an interview with Jason Binn in DuJour magazine, Sterling expressed remorse about the way the situation unfolded.
Regarding V. Stiviano, Sterling told Binn: "I wish I had just paid her off."
An audio recording captures longtime Clippers owner urging Stiviano, his archivist, not to bring black people to Clippers games or to post photos of herself with black friends on her Instagram account.
The controversy has reached beyond the NBA. The president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, Leon Jenkins, resigned Thursday night. The organization was set to honor Sterling with an achievement award. Jenkins has legal problems in the past and was disbarred from because of allegations that include corruption.
"When you have individuals in leadership like Mr. Jenkins, then essentially there's a cloud, and it clouds the whole organization. It's a short step from that to a relationship with Donald Sterling," said author and political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson.
The NAACP gave Sterling a civil rights award several years ago and was about to give him a lifetime achievement award. Hutchinson says many in the community are asking questions.
"So that raised another question: If you're doing this and you're bound and determined to give Donald Sterling this award, knowing full well his history and background, what's in it for you? Is there something we don't know? Is there something you're getting?"
Hutchinson believes the board of directors of the L.A. chapter of the NAACP should consider changes to the organization.
