OT: Donald Sterling

[HooverDam]

People need to remember, owning a professional sports team isn't like owning your home, or another business. Its MUCH more like owning a McDonalds franchise than an independent burger shop. The NBA has a lot of control over what the owners of its 30 franchises (remember, they're literally called franchises) can do.

 

[FArting]

There is a press conference going on now

Couple of tweets

@KBergCBS Adam Silver: NBA investigation concluded that the comments on the recording were Donald Sterling's.

Silver has banned Sterling for life.

SIlver also has fined Sterling $2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution.

Silver: "I will urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team."

Silver: "The owners have the authority subject to three-quarters vote ... to remove him as an owner."

 

[Cheesebeef]

There is a press conference going on now

Couple of tweets

@KBergCBS Adam Silver: NBA investigation concluded that the comments on the recording were Donald Sterling's.

Silver has banned Sterling for life.

SIlver also has fined Sterling $2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution.

Silver: "I will urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team."

Silver: "The owners have the authority subject to three-quarters vote ... to remove him as an owner."

whoa! banned him for life and put the onus on the owners to get rid of him. good on Silver.

 

[HooverDam]

Damn Adam Silver. Awesome. I just gained a huge amount of respect for Silver. I already like him more than Stern, but wow, awesome.

Is there any doubt that the crew up in Seattle tries to buy LAC? They're 2nd fiddle in LA anyhow, very few people will cry foul if they leave. CP3-Griffin will be Glove-Kemp 2.0.

 

[Cheesebeef]

interesting question now is...will the owners vote be public or private and if the owners DON'T vote him out, what the hell is the fallout from that because in today's world, you KNOW that even if it's a private vote, that's going to leak. I'd think any owner would vote him out simply for fear of ramifications to their team if people found they supported his ownership.

 

[HooverDam]

interesting question now is...will the owners vote be public or private and if the owners DON'T vote him out, what the hell is the fallout from that because in today's world, you KNOW that even if it's a private vote, that's going to leak. I'd think any owner would vote him out simply for fear of ramifications to their team if people found they supported his ownership.

Why would any owner support him? Like you said, its a PR nightmare, but it also effects their bottom line. A team in LA is going to sell for huge money, thus increasing the valuations of all franchises.

Also, when teams sell doesn't some part of that get split up among the other teams in the league or am I mistaken?

 

[PDXChris]

Why would any owner support him? Like you said, its a PR nightmare, but it also effects their bottom line. A team in LA is going to sell for huge money, thus increasing the valuations of all franchises.

Also, when teams sell doesn't some part of that get split up among the other teams in the league or am I mistaken?

The owner in Orlando may support him and actually may be freaking out right now.

 

[devilalum]

Based on everything I've read Sterling seems to be a bigoted idiot but also based on what I've read there are a lot bigoted individuals casting stones in his direction. Charles Barkley is the king of pigeon holing different races but when he does it its funny?

Every time something high profile like this happens the hypocrisy is as thick as pea soup.

 

[Russ Smith]

Building on what Klod said, while I fully support the decision on Sterling, when is the NBA going to go after the owner of the Orlando Magic? he's donated over a million dollars to organizations that denounce gay marriage. he's also publicly stated that gays "keep asking for favors" and "want special benefits."

that's the slippery slope thing Cuban brought up, how offensive does something have to be before this happens to another owner? The NBA isn't over 70% gays but it's fairly certain a large number of NBA fans either are gay or support some of the things DeVos is fighting with his monetary donations.

 

[KloD]

Building on what Klod said, while I fully support the decision on Sterling, when is the NBA going to go after the owner of the Orlando Magic? he's donated over a million dollars to organizations that denounce gay marriage. he's also publicly stated that gays "keep asking for favors" and "want special benefits."

that's the slippery slope thing Cuban brought up, how offensive does something have to be before this happens to another owner? The NBA isn't over 70% gays but it's fairly certain a large number of NBA fans either are gay or support some of the things DeVos is fighting with his monetary donations.

Exactly. I would have liked the idea of Sterling gone years before this, but the hypocrisy I've seen over the past 3 days just leaves me shaking my head. We have outspoken anti gay folks condemning Sterling because he feels the same about one group as they do about another. I wonder how many of those involved are patting themselves not he back for this very harsh punishment and yet don't see anything wrong with their own bigotry? Oh well, the world is an odd place.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not see opposing gay marriage (which is a legitimate political and personal position, even if you disagree with it) as the same as being racist. I hope people understand that there are thoughtful people who have a difference of opinion on this matter.

 

[PDXChris]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not see opposing gay marriage (which is a legitimate political and personal position, even if you disagree with it) as the same as being racist. I hope people understand that there are thoughtful people who have a difference of opinion on this matter.

Just remember, there were people 60 years ago who thought slavery was bad, but still did not want whites to marry blacks and thought seperate but equal was just fine. The question you wil have ask yourself is, what side of history do you want to stand on?

 

[Catlover]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not see opposing gay marriage (which is a legitimate political and personal position, even if you disagree with it) as the same as being racist. I hope people understand that there are thoughtful people who have a difference of opinion on this matter.

How? If someone wants to be against gay marriage for themselves that's fine but when you insist that other's live the way you choose to live, that's right up there with racism.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Not surprised by this - except that it all happened because of an illegally obtained recording of a private discussion. What kind of precedent does that set?

 

[NJCardFan]

Silver has banned him for life and fined him $2+ million. Personally I think this decision is knee jerk and no thought whatsoever went into it. Did he say something stupid? Of course, however per California law the recording was obtained illegally. If this were a court of law the case would have been thrown out. Should Sterling have been sanctioned? On the face of it, yes, however sanctioned like this smacks of a vendetta the league might have had against him. It's no secret that Sterling is probably the worst owner in professional sports history and he's run a joke of a franchise for decades so I think there is an ulterior motive for such a sanction. They needed an excuse to boot him and he provided them with one. Give someone enough rope I guess.

 

[Dback Jon]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not see opposing gay marriage (which is a legitimate political and personal position, even if you disagree with it) as the same as being racist. I hope people understand that there are thoughtful people who have a difference of opinion on this matter.

Civil Rights are Civil Rights. Bigotry, whether hiding behind religion or not, is still bigotry.

By your logic, Sterling has a legitimate political and personal position.


And as Forrest Gump says "And that is all I have to say on that"

 

[Catlover]

Not surprised by this - except that it all happened because of an illegally obtained recording of a private discussion. What kind of precedent does that set?

A horrible one. But what are you going to do?

 

[JCSunsfan]

Silver has banned him for life and fined him $2+ million. Personally I think this decision is knee jerk and no thought whatsoever went into it. Did he say something stupid?

Really, it is no precedent. It is following precedent. Sterling is not being prosecuted under the law. He has, for all purposes, violated a corporate morals clause and his comments are doing financial damage to the company (the NBA) and its employees. He agreed to subject himself to such accountability when he became an owner in the NBA (I assume, I have not read the league constitution).

Its a lot like Pete Rose and baseball.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Not surprised by this - except that it all happened because of an illegally obtained recording of a private discussion. What kind of precedent does that set?

Next step is to be punished for the thoughts in your head.

 

[Russ Smith]

I know I am in the minority, but I do not see opposing gay marriage (which is a legitimate political and personal position, even if you disagree with it) as the same as being racist. I hope people understand that there are thoughtful people who have a difference of opinion on this matter.

Sure but it's absolutely a slippery slope. Suppose you say I oppose gay marriage because of my church, that opens a whole new pandoras box.

I don't think what DeVos has said is anywhere near as bad as what Sterling has said and done, but that's why I phrased it the way I did. How offensive does it have to be before the owners vote him out too?

 

[Gaddabout]

Silver has banned him for life and fined him $2+ million. Personally I think this decision is knee jerk and no thought whatsoever went into it. Did he say something stupid? Of course, however per California law the recording was obtained illegally. If this were a court of law the case would have been thrown out. Should Sterling have been sanctioned? On the face of it, yes, however sanctioned like this smacks of a vendetta the league might have had against him. It's no secret that Sterling is probably the worst owner in professional sports history and he's run a joke of a franchise for decades so I think there is an ulterior motive for such a sanction. They needed an excuse to boot him and he provided them with one. Give someone enough rope I guess.

Doesn't matter how it comes out. If you are caught saying things that damage the product -- and he said the absolute worst things you could say to damage the NBA product -- you are culpable as a business partner and subject to the morality clause in your agreement.

Sterling isn't going to jail or anything. His 1st Amendment rights haven't been violated. He is going to suffer the way billionaires who screw over their partners suffer -- he's going to get his toy taken away from him. Oh, and he'll get about $400 million in the process; he won't notice the money, if it makes you feel any better.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Kareem on Sterling:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Welcome to the Finger-Wagging Olympics

http://time.com/79590/donald-sterling-kareem-abdul-jabbar-racism/

What bothers me about this whole Donald Sterling affair isn’t just his racism. I’m bothered that everyone acts as if it’s a huge surprise. Now there’s all this dramatic and very public rending of clothing about whether they should keep their expensive Clippers season tickets. Really? All this other stuff I listed above has been going on for years and this ridiculous conversation with his girlfriend is what puts you over the edge? That’s the smoking gun?

He was discriminating against black and Hispanic families for years, preventing them from getting housing. It was public record. We did nothing. Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?

Shouldn’t we be equally angered by the fact that his private, intimate conversation was taped and then leaked to the media? Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way? Although the impact is similar to Mitt Romney’s comments that were secretly taped, the difference is that Romney was giving a public speech. The making and release of this tape is so sleazy that just listening to it makes me feel like an accomplice to the crime. We didn’t steal the cake but we’re all gorging ourselves on it.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Sure but it's absolutely a slippery slope. Suppose you say I oppose gay marriage because of my church, that opens a whole new pandoras box.

I don't think what DeVos has said is anywhere near as bad as what Sterling has said and done, but that's why I phrased it the way I did. How offensive does it have to be before the owners vote him out too?

It is of course of great concern. I am just saying that it is nothing new. Corporations have taken actions like this for years.

 

[BigRedRage]

Not surprised by this - except that it all happened because of an illegally obtained recording of a private discussion. What kind of precedent does that set?

Civil Rights are Civil Rights. Bigotry, whether hiding behind religion or not, is still bigotry.

By your logic, Sterling has a legitimate political and personal position.


And as Forrest Gump says "And that is all I have to say on that"

A horrible one. But what are you going to do?

First amendment? What first Amendment?

The league could have let everyone else run him out of town vs trampling on first amendment rights and persecuting the guy for something he said in his own house.

Players wouldnt want to be there, coaches, media raking, etc. He would have been forced away either way. To give a lifetime ban on someone for making a racist comment?

So anyone who posts something racist on a basketball forum or facebook account should be permanently banned from all things nba too? crazy.

 

[Russ Smith]

It is of course of great concern. I am just saying that it is nothing new. Corporations have taken actions like this for years.

Agreed.

I just think it will be interesting, what if Jason Collins decides to raise a stink? What if he goes on CNN and says I'd like to thank Mr Silver for standing up for my rights as an African American, now when he is he going to stand up for my rights as a GAY African American?

Not saying he will or even he should, but if he does, sort of puts Silver in an interesting position.