Clippers owner Donald Serling is often called the worst owner in all sports and with very good reason. He's been called cheap, a sexist, a racist (most of the time through lawsuits)... so this story should come as no surprise. Several years ago, Clips assistant coach Kim Hughes was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Like anyone, he assumed that his healthcare coverage from the team would cover it.
↵↵↵"I contacted the Clippers about medical coverage and they said the surgery wouldn't be covered," Hughes said. "I said, 'Are you kidding me?' And they said if they did it for one person, they'd have to do for everybody else."
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You can take that as an indictment of Sterling or private health insurance, but it left Hughes in a pretty awful position. The surgery would cost around $70,000 that he didn't have and his company insurance wouldn't pay for it. So basically the message to Hughes was basically "too bad, guess you're going to die now."
↵However, when Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy heard that the team wouldn't cover Hughes' surgery, he mentioned it to his players. Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman, and Marko Jaric were among the players that decided to step up and cover the cost of the surgery that ended up saving Hughes' life. As Hughes' said, the guys didn't even want it publicized.
↵↵↵"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."
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Good for Elton Brand and all those guys. Shame on Donald Serling.
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