"You Should Have Taken a Job at McDonald's!"

The Los Angeles Times has an amazing story about the many lawsuits filed by Donald Sterling and his wife Shelly over the years. The gist of the article is that Sterling will sue anyone or any place that he can and they're almost all petty. Check out this paragraph from the story.

"In 2001, he sued Bill Fitch, another fired head coach mired in a dispute over money. Sterling argued that he should not have to pay $4 million because Fitch had failed to look for another job as the terms of his contract required. The suit and Fitch's countersuit dragged on for a year and a half, becoming increasingly personal and unpleasant. Sterling's side accused Fitch of lounging around on the golf course instead of looking for work with one Clippers executive testifying that the veteran coach should have taken a job at McDonald's, according to court filings. Ultimately, the case was settled on the eve of trial."

Unbelievable. Sadly that case didn't go to court because I would have loved to have seen the testimony from Fitch defending himself from those accusations. "I'm 60-years old! You really think I'm going to get a job at McDonald's?"

The worst suit from Sterling was against former player Marques Johnson who ended his career with the Clippers after a neck injury. Johnson was owed $1.3 million and the Clippers of course stopped cutting him checks. This of course lead to a lawsuit which lead to this creepy moment.

"When Johnson asked for NBA arbitration, Sterling responded with a fraud suit, accusing him of failing to disclose a past cocaine problem during contract negotiations. The suit contended that Johnson wasn't entitled to any more money and in fact, he and his agent should have to pay the Clippers for "losses to the overall quality of the team," including decreased ticket sales. 

 During the dispute, Johnson's toddler son, Marques Jr., drowned. An acquaintance of Sterling approached Johnson and said the team owner was sympathetic to his grief and wanted to speak to him, Johnson recalled.   

"I called Donald and he starts yelling at me and berating me and telling me how he is going to ruin me financially," Johnson said. He settled the case out of court for less than he wanted, he said. "I was worn down psychologically, spiritually and financially."

That's all sorts of fucked up right there. And there all sorts of fucked up details in this story about the many lawsuits filed by Sterling and his petty old lady in this story. From going to accuse Bill Walton of drug use in a suit to suing a hotel because Shelly slipped and fell on some ice.

The Sterlings love to fight and the NBA will certainly have a fight on their hands.