 Story highlights Warriors coach: Players talked of boycott prior to Sterling decision 
 
 NBA bans Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life, fines him $2.5 million for racist remarks 
 
 Sterling admitted making reviled comments first heard on TMZ, the NBA commissioner says 
 
 Adam Silver urges owners to vote to "force" Sterling to sell his team 
 
 The NBA's commissioner came down hard Tuesday on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, ordering him out of his team's business and pushing to force him to sell over racist remarks that caused a firestorm since becoming public days ago. That's what Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday night, commending Silver as "fantastic" for making "a decision that really was the right one." While the players aren't rejoicing, they are breathing easier knowing what happened earlier in the day, he said. "They were just happy that it was a resolution," Rivers said, expressing hope that playing the game will be a "safe haven" for all involved. Clippers: 'Now the healing process begins' 
 
 The inflammatory sentiments Silver referred to came packaged in a 10-minute recording that TMZ said occurred during an April 9 conversation between Sterling and girlfriend V. Stiviano 
 
 On the recording, a man and woman argue about photos posted to Instagram in which she appears with African-Americans. Members of his own team, the Clippers, debated boycotting their playoff game Saturday with the Warriors, according to coach Rivers. They decided against it, instead opting to stage a silent protest by removing their warmup shirts bearing team logos to reveal red T-shirts worn inside out, with the logos hidden. "I can understand how upset they are, and I'll do my best to bring them back into the NBA family," Silver said.  V. Stiviano, the woman at the center of the Donald Sterling scandal, said she was “very saddened” by the NBA’s decision to ban him from the sport for life, her attorney said Tuesday. Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who a day earlier urged fans to boycott Tuesday's game and said there was "a real discussion among the players" to do the same so long as Sterling remained in charge, thinks Silver gave everyone enough reason now to come out to a game. "I thought he was absolutely incredible ... with the way that he took control of the moment," Jackson said of the commissioner before his team's playoff showdown in Los Angeles. He said the 31-year-old is still reeling from the release of the recordings in which Sterling chastises her for associating with African Americans, including Magic Johnson.
– "It was almost like everybody wanted to exhale tonight, and it was good," LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers said last night when the team soared to a 113-103 victory over the Golden State Warriors just hours after the NBA banned owner Donald Sterling for life over racist remarks. With the cloud of controversy lifted, the Clippers "played as if on wings, flying around with hustle and heart" before ecstatic fans who gave a standing ovation when two fans wearing T-shirts with Sterling's face crossed out appeared on the video screen, writes Bill Plaschke at the Los Angeles Times. More: If the NBA hadn't chucked Sterling, the game would never have happened, because both teams had planned to walk off the court in protest moments before it was supposed to begin, Sports Illustrated reveals. "It was a real option," says Warriors coach Mark Jackson. V. Stiviano, the woman Sterling was recorded making racist remarks to, is "saddened" by the owner's lifetime ban and is "devastated" that the recording was released, her lawyer tells the Los Angeles Times. He says that his client wasn't Sterling's girlfriend and never had a romantic relationship with him. The lawyer says she was hired as an "archivist"—an archivist who received $1.8 million in gifts from Sterling, according to a lawsuit filed by his wife of more than 50 years. What now for Sterling? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver plans to push him to sell the team, and fellow team owners appear willing to follow the recommendation to force him out. He could fight back in the courts, but his chances of success are "basically zero," a CNN legal analyst says. If he does sell, it will be for a huge profit: He bought the team for $12 million in 1981 and it is now valued at $575 million, though some experts believe it could sell for closer to $1 billion.