Magic Johnson was placed right in the middle of NBA's racism issue. His presence was the cause of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling's recorded racist rant.

In the audio recording released by TMZ, Donald Sterling admonished his girlfriend, V. Stiviano for taking pictures with black people and posting them on Instagram. While Stiviano argued that she was of mixed race herself and asked Sterling whether he wanted to take the color of her skin off, the Clippers owner said it was not the point.

The apparent root of the argument was a photo posted by Stiviano with Magic Johnson, for whom she expressed great admiration. Sterling explained why he was upset. The actual explanation from the audio released by TMZ: "I think the fact that you admire [Magic] -- I've known him well, and he should be admired," Sterling replies. "And I'm just saying that it's too bad you can't admire him privately. And during your ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE, your whole life, admire him -- bring him here, feed him, fuck him, I don't care. You can do anything. But don't put him on an Instagram for the world to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games. OK?"

Magic Johnson has responded on Twitter, but he also made a statement to TMZ:

Magic Johnson says he and his wife will never attend a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is owner. pic.twitter.com/yAgGSGeyiv

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 26, 2014

"It's a shame that Donald Sterling feels that way about African-Americans. He has a team full of amazing African-American basketball players that are working to bring a championship to Clippers fans. The Clippers also have a strong minority fan base."

The trending hashtag on Twitter is #DonaldSterling and #BoycottLAClippers. In a video interview, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith cited that the players from the Clippers are "appalled, to say the least" and they would not know what they would do if the Clippers owner would be in front of them.

There have been calls for Clippers players to sit out their Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors. What is highly anticipated, though, is what action the new NBA commissioner Adam Silver will take.