'Ego is for losers': Warriors get even

ByETHAN SHERWOOD STRAUSS
April 27, 2014, 11:02 PM

— -- OAKLAND, Calif. -- Yes, there was also a game.

What had already been a dramatic series on the floor morphed into a more fraught kind of theater after audio of Donald Sterling's purported racist comments leaked (then leaked a second time). Clippers players weren't available to media before the game, but prior to tipoff, they made their voices heard by wearing inside-out warm-ups and black socks. Sports often serve as distraction from life's harsher realities, but Sterling had distracted the distraction, forcing players and fans alike to consider a brand of ugliness that unfortunately isn't confined to just one man.

Nobody knew what to expect, Doc Rivers included.