Conflicting portraits of NBA ex-owner Donald Sterling emerge as trial ends

By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The woman behind the downfall of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling painted conflicting portraits of him in court on Friday, calling him a kind, generous mentor and father figure to her but a mean-spirited "con artist" and bigot toward others. V. Stiviano, 32, also testified that the 80-year-old billionaire real estate mogul spent far more time with her and her relatives during her 2-1/2 years as his personal assistant, driver and confidante than he did with his own wife and children. Stiviano took the witness stand for a second day in Los Angeles Superior Court during the trial of a lawsuit brought by Sterling's wife seeking return of community marital assets she claims her husband gave Stiviano without her consent. Shelly Sterling's lawyers asked the judge to grant her title to a $1.8 million house her husband had bought for Stiviano, plus more than $1 million in cash they said he lavished on Stiviano for living expenses, credit-card purchases and three luxury cars.

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