Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling may not be able to fight his ban from the NBA for much longer.

V. Stiviano denies that she was Donald Sterling's girlfriend

The New York Post reported Thursday night another remarkable twist in the Donald Sterling lifetime ban from the NBA: The 80-year-old has cancer, according to sources.

"They thought he would die two years ago," one source said of Sterling, who on Tuesday received the unprecedented punishment for his now-infamous recorded racist rant that was recorded in September, 2013 but became public only last weekend. "People have been predicting his imminent demise. I'm sure he has the best . . . drugs money can buy," said the source, who works closely with pro sports teams. "He can do anything to keep himself alive."

The source also told the Post that Sterling's physical appearance in the form of a puffy face is the result of medication he currently is taking for the cancer.

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Another source told the Post that Sterling specifically is suffering from prostate cancer. The report added that Sterling had refused to pay for prostate cancer for then-Clippers assistant coach Kim Hughes a decade ago.

"I contacted the Clippers about medical coverage and they said the surgery wouldn't be covered," Hughes told The Journal Times of Racine, Wis., in 2011. "They said if they did it for one person, they'd have to do it for everybody else."

Earlier in the day, the woman talking to Sterling in the video, V. Stiviano, said through her lawyer that she was not romantically involved with Sterling, claiming that she was a friend who was in charge of his philanthropic efforts.

The Post also reported that Sterling has been calling all his friends, asking them to tell him he's not a racist. His friends are refusing for fear that he is recording their conversation.

If Donald Sterling has cancer, does that make him a more sympathetic figure in any way? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.