JJ Redick says Sterling didn't want him on Clippers because he was "too much money for a white guy"

Doc Rivers almost quit his first week as Clippers coach because of this.

Donald Sterling was the worst owner in the history of professional sports. There's no debating that. He was a racist, he was cheap, and he was dedicated to making the Clippers an awful team to play for. 

Some of the specifics of Donald Sterling's awful ownership were detailed firsthand by Doc Rivers and JJ Redick in Quibi's new documentary, "Blackballed".

During Doc Rivers' first weeks as the Clippers head coach, Sterling tried to veto Doc's trade for JJ Redick.

"When I first got to the Clippers, there were a couple of events with Sterling that didn’t go very well," Rivers said. "The first one was the JJ Redick trade. That’s when I knew that I was in trouble."

While there are a plethora of good reasons why an owner would veto a trade, Sterling didn't have a good one. It was probably the worst reason in the history of reasons, to call off a trade.

"Donald Sterling woke up on July 4th, and at some point that day, he said “you know, I think that’s too much money for a white guy," JJ Redick said. "I don’t want to make that trade.”

Redick ultimately ended up with a 4 year, $27 million deal on the Clippers. It's been widely known that Donald Sterling had a plantation owner's mentality. Elgin Baylor once stated that Sterling referred to Corey Maggette, Sam Cassell, and Elton Brand as "beautiful black bodies." 

It seems as though, Sterling's racism appeared in a variety of different avenues. He didn't want to pay for a white player, and only wanted ones he could perhaps show off. It speaks volumes to his character, and almost made Doc Rivers quit being the Clippers head coach during his first week.

"He didn’t like white players," Rivers said. "And that was my first exposure to the race thing."