NBA to appoint CEO in charge of Clippers

The NBA says it will appoint a chief executive officer to supervise the Los Angeles Clippers' operations.

On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life for racist comments made on an audio recording, fined him $2.5 million and urged league owners to force him to sell the team.

Mike Bass, the NBA executive vice president of communications, released a statement Saturday that said: "The best way to ensure the stability of the team during this difficult situation is to move quickly and install a CEO to oversee the Clippers organization. The process of identifying that individual is underway."

The NBA also said it will begin selling merchandise that reads "We Are One," the newly adopted slogan of the Clippers.

The league says all proceeds from the sale of the shirts, which will be available starting today, will benefit anti-discrimination and tolerance organizations.

The comments that triggered the action were made by Sterling to V. Stiviano. She told Barbara Walters that the racist comments on the audio were not the first by Sterling in conversations with her, but she does not believe he is a racist.

"There's been a number of occasions where Mr. Sterling and I had conversations just like this one. This was one of very many," Stiviano told Walters on ABC's "20/20" in an interview that aired Friday night. "Part of what the world heard was only 15 minutes. There's a number of other hours that the world doesn't know."

Though Stiviano told Walters that Sterling should "absolutely" apologize, she said she still loves him like a father figure and does not believe he is a racist.

"I think Mr. Sterling is from a different generation than I am," she said. "I think he was brought up to believe these things . . . . segregation, whites and blacks. But through his actions, he's shown that he's not a racist. He's shown to be a very generous and kind man."