Los Angeles Clippers

In a confounding move ... Donald Sterling emerged with his wife, hours after she trashed him publicly calling him despicable and prejudiced, and this time she LOUDLY defended him.

Donald and Shelly Sterling were leaving Fleming's steakhouse in Downtown L.A. Sunday night ... when a photog asked the Clippers owner if he was a racist ... in light of the audio posted by TMZ Sports.

Donald was mum, but Shelly screamed at the camera guy, "OF COURSE NOT."

And there's this ... it sounds like she says the tape was altered.

Just hours before, we broke the story in which Shelly declared, "We will not let one man's small-mindedness poison the spirit of the fans," adding, "Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband."

The L.A. Clippers have lost their first sponsor in the wake of the Donald Sterling audio -- CarMax has announced it will end its 9-year relationship with the team ... TMZ Sports has learned.

R & B singer Tank has joined the boycott against Donald Sterling ... REFUSING to go ahead with his plan to sing the National Anthem at Tuesday's Clippers game.

Tank tells TMZ, "As an African American man and artist, I must take a stand on a matter that is so deeply personal to me."

Tank goes on, "In light of the recent disturbing and offensive allegations, in good conscience, I cannot move forward with my scheduled appearance at Tuesday's Los Angeles Clippers game."

Tank tells us he won't associate his brand with an owner who makes minorities unwelcome.

The NAACP tells TMZ Sports ... the organization is revising its guidelines for selecting honorees in light of the Donald Sterling situation ... saying the fact he was set to receive an NAACP award next month is "unfortunate."

As we previously reported, Sterling -- who was sued TWICE for discrimination and has faced allegations of racism in the past -- was set to be honored on May 15th by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Now, a spokesperson for the national office tells TMZ Sports, "We are working on a new set of guidelines so there's greater scrutiny on who's selected for these awards."

"We need to have a better vetting process."

The rep tells us ... the national office is talking to the L.A. branch to find out exactly how Sterling even got on a list to be honored by the organization ... saying, "It was an unfortunate selection."

Donald Sterling contacted his ex-girlfriend Sunday and asked her flatly, "How can we make this go away?" ... sources connected with Sterling tell TMZ Sports.

Our sources say ... Sterling is keenly aware V. Stiviano is in possession of more than 100 hours of recordings ... some of which are extremely damaging to Sterling's reputation.

Our sources say Stiviano told Sterling to call her lawyer ... and thereby opened the door to settlement discussions. It's obvious the incentive for Sterling is to make sure the rest of the tapes never see the light of day.

TMZ Sports contacted Stiviano's lawyer Mac E. Nehoray ... who had no comment.

We know Stiviano is extremely upset that the Clippers and Donald Sterling publicly embraced a lawsuit filed by Sterling's wife Shelly against Stivianio, claiming she stole $1.8 million from Donald.

As for why Stiviano taped so many conversations ... as TMZ Sports reported, she told friends the Clippers owner WANTED her to record him and he knew he was being recorded ... partly because he frequently forgot what he said and the tapes refreshed his memory ... at least that's her story.

And this is interesting ... on Stiviano's Instagram page, she constantly tagged photos with "#RandomHouse" and "#Simon&Schuster" ... both large book publishing companies.

Sources connected with Stiviano tell us ... she IS in the process of writing a book "about life" -- but she insists it is not about Sterling.

This is the picture that triggered the conversation between L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his girlfriend ... the conversation in which he said he did not want her bringing Magic Johnson or any other African American to his games.

In the pic -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- V. Stiviano is on the right. The woman on the left is V's friend, Rachel Rodriguez.

Stiviano says on the audio -- and Sterling acknowledges -- he made her take the pic off Instagram because he didn't want her seen in public with an African American.

In another tape ... Sterling expressed similar disdain for posting this pic (above) -- also obtained by TMZ Sports -- of Stiviano with L.A. Dodger Matt Kemp.

Sources connected to V. Stiviano tell us ... she insists Donald Sterling is NOT her boyfriend ... saying their relationship is -- and always was -- strictly professional.

Things are about to get real serious for the NBA ... Al Sharpton tells TMZ Sports he's planning on contacting the NBA's major advertisers to get them to pull their sponsorship if the league does not suspend Donald Sterling ASAP.

Sharpton spoke to our photog Sunday afternoon at LaGuardia Airport, where he called on the NBA to take immediate action against Sterling ... since the Clippers owner has not denied making the racist remarks published by TMZ Sports.

Sharpton used very pointed language, saying, "What is there to investigate? He should be suspended immediately. Let's quit stalling, let's quit copping out, NBA. Let him go."

The Rev was clear ... if something significant isn't done TODAY, he's going to start putting pressure on advertisers to pull their money.


Donald Sterling's wife came out swinging ... saying she does NOT share the racist views of her husband.

Shelly Sterling says "Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband. My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudices."

Shelly goes on ... "We will not let one man's small-mindedness poison the spirit of the fans and accomplishments of the team in the city we love."

And Shelly says, "We are doing everything in our power to stand by and support our Clippers team."

Shelly was at Sunday's playoff game and is flying back with the team tonight. Donald, on the other hand, was persona non grata at the game.

It's worth noting ... Shelly has been estranged from Donald for years. She retained attorney Laura Wasser several months ago to file a civil lawsuit against Donald's GF V. Stiviano. Wasser is a top divorce lawyer, so it seems divorce is imminent.

Young man, there IS need to feel down ... because the cop from Village People says he's BANNING the L.A. Clippers from playing "Y.M.C.A." at home games ... thanks to Donald Sterling.

Victor Willis -- who reportedly owns the rights to the song -- is furious ... saying, "Sterling, you're banned from playing "Y.M.C.A." or any of my music @LAClippers games. And I mean it!"

Victor's rep tells us the singer is dead serious about the ban -- and will be sending an official notice to Donald Sterling first thing tomorrow morning.

So, in conclusion ... you can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, but you CAN'T do whatever you feel.

V. Stiviano has finally surfaced ... strutting her stuff in front of news cameras outside of her L.A. home ... with her face hidden behind a weird visor mask thingy.

Stiviano -- the woman on the receiving end of Donald Sterling's racist rant -- decided to take her dog for a walk while an ABC7 camera crew was rolling.

She did not seem put off by the cameras ... but ultimately didn't say a word -- simply talking on her cell phone while walking back and forth in a short skirt and a funky top.

2:29 PM PT -- Shelly just spoke with a sideline reporter at the game (off-camera) ... and was adamant she is NOT a racist.

Donald Sterling might not be welcome at the Clippers game, but his estranged wife is -- in fact, TMZ Sports has learned Shelly Sterling is even traveling with the team.

Sources connected with the Clippers tell us ... Shelly is still involved with the Clippers organization -- and is well-liked and respected by the players.

Chris Paul says he spoke with several Clippers teammates about boycotting today's game ... and would have been down if that's what the team wanted -- but they ultimately decided against it.

A field reporter for ABC says she spoke with Paul before the game and the Clippers star said the team decided playing tonight would be the best thing they could do.

The L.A. Clippers took a public stand TOGETHER against Donald Sterling when they stepped on the court for today's playoff game ... starting with throwing their Clippers warm-up jackets in a pile at center court.

The team has also decided to wear their warm up shirts INSIDE OUT ... hiding the Clippers logo.

As for the players on the court, they're all sporting the regular jerseys ... right-side-out ... along with black wristbands and black socks ... to symbolize their disdain for Sterling.

The audio recordings of Clippers owner Donald Sterling are "legitimate" and roughly 1 hour in length ... lawyers for Sterling's then-girlfriend V. Stiviano tell TMZ Sports.

Mac E. Nehoray -- of the Nehoray Legal Group -- has issued a statement saying, "My firm represents Ms. V Stiviano who is a named defendant in a civil action brought by Rochelle H. Sterling in the Central Civil Superior Court, County of Los Angeles."

"This office understands that the currently released audio tape of approximately 15 minutes is a portion of approximately one (1) hour of overall audio recording of Mr. Donald T. Sterling and Ms. Stiviano, and is in fact legitimate."

"Ms. Stiviano did not release the tape(s) to any news media."

L.A. Dodgers superstar Matt Kemp has just spoken out about being mentioned in the new Donald Sterling recording ... saying it would be "tough" for him to attend Clippers games as long as Sterling owns the team.

As we previously reported, Sterling can be heard instructing his girlfriend to remove a photo of Kemp from her Instagram account because Sterling doesn't believe she should be seen with a black guy in public.

Moments ago, Kemp addressed the situation to the media saying, "Racism is kind of old."