BASKETBALL: Clippers owner Donald Sterling Banned For Life & Fined $2.5m For Racism

The NBA has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from professional basketball for life and fined him $2.5 million in an unprecedented rebuke for racist comments that drew outrage from players, fans, commercial sponsors and even US President Barack Obama.

Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, looks on as his team plays against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center

Sterling, 80, the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 National Basketball Association teams, will be barred from any role in the operations of his franchise or from serving as one of the league's governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told a news conference in New York.