By John McMullen
Keith Olbermann, the former MSNBC wing nut, used to have a segment of his "Countdown" show called "The Worst Person in the World."
A hardcore ideologue, Olbermann's device was simply an opportunity to use his bully pulpit in order to attack anyone with differing political views.
Still, the idea is strong and got me thinking -- what if we took that award seriously? There's some obvious candidates on the world's political stage that could easily make "The Worst Person in the World" Hall of Fame but how about the sports world?
Well, this week, there is a clear winner in Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Forget about his incompetent stewardship of the Clippers, that's small potatoes. Failing to build a consistent winner on the basketball floor may paint you as an awkward, ineffectual leader to your peers but it doesn't make you a bad person.
What Sterling did to his former interim coach Kim Hughes, however, might make Muammar Gaddafi blush.
While working as an assistant with the Clippers seven years ago, Hughes was diagnosed with what his doctor called, "slow growing prostate cancer."
"My doctor told me he would do the surgery in a couple of months and then I'd be off my feet for a couple of months," Hughes told Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. "He said, 'You know this is major surgery.'"
The Clips were about to head to training camp when Hughes' cancer was discovered and the Wisconsin product wasn't keen on missing work so he confided in his boss at the time, Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy recommended that he consult with a local doctor, who was receptive to performing the surgery immediately.
"I contacted the Clippers about medical coverage and they said the surgery wouldn't be covered," Hughes told Woelfel. "I said, 'Are you kidding me?' And they said if they did it for one person, they'd have to do for everybody else."
Sterling considered the operation "elective" since the first doctor claimed Hughes could play Russian Roulette and wait for a bit.
The story is only unbelievable to those who don't know Sterling's history.
This is a man that has been sued by the federal government and ordered to pay $5 million in a case accusing him of trying to drive out non-Korean tenants, particularly African Americans and Latinos, at apartments he owned in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood.
This is a man that was sued by former longtime Clippers executive Elgin Baylor for employment discrimination on the basis of age and race, a lawsuit that alleged Sterling told Baylor that he wanted to fill his team with "poor black boys from the South and a white head coach."
This is a guy with a history of hiring very young, very good looking interns, who often file sexual harassment suits.
This is a man worthy of being called "The Worst Person in the World."
In the case there was a silver lining. When Dunleavy learned the Clippers wouldn't cover the cost of Hughes' surgery, he mentioned it to some of his players.
Several of them, including the always classy Elton Brand, fellow Duke product Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman and Marko Jaric, offered to chip in and pay for a procedure that became absolutely necessary when a biopsy showed the cancer had spread and was threatening other areas.
"Those guys saved my life," Hughes said. "They paid the whole medical bill. It was like $70,000 or more. It wasn't cheap. It showed you what classy people they are. They didn't want me talking about it; they didn't want the recognition because they simply felt it was the right thing to do."
For once, Sterling did something right, albeit for all the wrong reasons -- his disgusting management style brought out the best in some pretty special people.
So next time you're reading about some NBA player getting arrested, piling up millions in debt or having nine kids with seven different woman, remember this story.
There is always an Elton Brand or a Corey Maggette. There is always a Chris Kaman or a Marko Jaric.
And we can all thank whatever deity we pray to for that.
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