Griffin: Clippers players 'could have been more outspoken' about Sterling

It's been almost four years since the Los Angeles Clippers became unwittingly intertwined with one of the biggest controversies in NBA history.

In April 2014, then Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded spewing racial slurs in an argument with his assistant. But no matter how shocking the comments were to outside ears, Sterling's views were already well known to Clippers players.

"We all knew. Everybody always knew," Clippers superstar Blake Griffin said, according to ESPN's Marc Spears. "It seems more that you had to wait for something to happen in order for something else to happen, if you know what I mean? In a way, you're thankful for those opportunities because it brought on change. It certainly wasn't the first of the dominoes to fall. But I think there has been a trend, and we have seen this, or the past however many years of people not being able to keep that stuff covered up. That sh-- comes out sooner or later."

Griffin, however, was contrite about how the team handled Sterling, saying he and his teammates probably "could have been more outspoken" at the time.

In the midst of the controversy, the Clippers were in a heated playoff series with the Golden State Warriors. The timing made the situation far more sensitive, and the team had to find a balance between protesting and focusing on trying to win just their third playoff series in 38 years.

"I am happy about how we handled it because we did it as a team and we did it together," Griffin said. "We made a stand. I think we were all kind of worried. We didn't know what to say. It was also in the playoffs, and we didn't want to say anything that would disrupt that or say anything that was too crazy."

The Clippers went on to beat the Warriors in seven games before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Sterling was banned from the NBA shortly after the release of the tapes, and was forced to sell the team to current owner Steve Ballmer.