According to a report in the New York Post, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is battling prostate cancer.
The Post cites an unnamed source which was confirmed by ESPN.
“They thought he would die two years ago,” the Post quotes the source as saying. “People have been predicting his imminent demise. I’m sure he has the best . . . drugs money can buy.”
Sterling, 80, has been the source of national outrage after a recording was released to the media in which he disparaged minorities.
On Tuesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling from the league for life, fined the real estate magnate $2.5 million, and said he wanted the league's board of governors to make Sterling sell the team.
Sterling is the NBA's longest-tenured owner. He is also among the league's least successful, though in recent years the Clippers have surged.
"If (the cancer report) is true, my thoughts and prayers are with him," Clippers star Blake Griffin told ESPN. "Nobody deserves to go through something like that."
—The Associated Press contributed to this report