Every time another Donald Sterling enters the 24-hour news cycle I get bombarded with emails and phone calls from both friends and clients with the typical “you need to give that guy a call”.  My response is pretty much typical as well:  “You can’t fix stupid”.  I’ve read in countless publications that Mr. Sterling has “retained a crisis communications firm”.  Most people (rich people anyway) in his situation do during things like this.  Now I’ve never worked at one of those firms but I’m sure one of the services they claim to offer is Media Training.  Now no offense to these, many very successful firms, but how in the world could someone go on national TV, like Mr. Sterling did, AFTER BEING MEDIA TRAINED and say the things he did.  He obviously had a “message” entering this interview (the apology), but it quickly goes off the rails when he starts talking about Magic Johnson.  I always tell people, Media Training is like any sport, there’s offense and defense.  You not only have to know what “to say” (the message), but also what “not to say” (avoiding pitfalls).  Mr. Sterling did somewhat of a good job playing offense, but his defense cost him the game.

Lesson to be learned:  Knowing what not to say is just as important as having a good message.