Mr. Sterling’s logic: He said Mr. Johnson told him to keep quiet about the audio tapes, which included his order to then-girlfriend V. Stiviano to avoid bringing the former basketball great to games, Breitbart reported. Mr. Sterling said it was just a short time later he learned Mr. Johnson wanted to buy the Clippers — and that something secretive was apparently going on, Breitbart said.

“I think he wanted me to just do nothing so that he could buy the team,” Mr. Sterling told CNN. “What has [Johnson] done for the black people? He does nothing. It’s all talk.”

Mr. Sterling then accused Mr. Johnson of being promiscuous and of getting AIDS on account of his promiscuity.

“I just don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles,” Mr. Sterling told CNN. He later said of Mr. Johnson in the same interview: “I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background.”