STERLING BAD FOR BASKETBALL, GREAT FOR RATINGS

Donald Sterling may be digging his own grave deeper with each public comment but he has boosted the ratings of the shows on which those comments have been broadcast. And the biggest ratings beneficiary, it would now appear, has been Anderson Cooper. Nielsen reported on Wednesday that Cooper’s exclusive interview with Sterling, who made his first public appearance on CNN’s AC 360 talk show Monday night, attracted 720,000 viewers — up 42 percent from Cooper’s average viewer count over the last four weeks. Sterling’s apology was accompanied by a bitter attack on Magic Johnson. “What kind of a guy has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV? Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. What does he do for the black people?” On Tuesday, Johnson told TMZ, “[Sterling] wanted me to go on Barbara Walters with him and try to save him, and his reputation.” Johnson said that he refused and told Sterling that he ought to go on TV alone and apologize. Sterling later bailed on his interview with Walters, who nevertheless interviewed Sterling’s mistress and wife.