Donald Sterling's Girlfriend -- Who Is V. Stiviano?! [Pics]

Before she posted the photo that started a race war with Donald Sterling, his then-girlfriend V. Stiviano flooded the web with scorchin' hot photos showing off the perks of dating an NBA owner.

We broke the story ... Sterling blasted Stiviano for posting a picture of herself on Instagram posing with Magic Johnson. Sterling told her not to be seen with black people and not to bring them to his games.

Now, we've learned ... Stiviano is a model in her young-20s ... who LOOOVES posting hot bikini pics of herself. She also loved posting pics at Clippers games.

Well, she used to anyway ...