Donald Sterling is not a progressive thinker

[gkIrish]

Another part of this that bothers me is that the owners are now FORCED to vote yes for fear of not being crucified. Their objection can be based purely on fear of setting a precedent or some other "non-racist" reason but now they can't actually do what they believe. That's wrong to me.

 

[irishfan]

Another part of this that bothers me is that the owners are now FORCED to vote yes for fear of not being crucified. Their objection can be based purely on fear of setting a precedent or some other "non-racist" reason but now they can't actually do what they believe. That's wrong to me.

are their votes made public?

 

[gkIrish]

are their votes made public?

Probably not, but I'm sure it will leak.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

are their votes made public?

Very unlikely, though such information could be leaked to the press. The other 31 owners have to decide whether the precedent being set here is more dangerous to their interests going forward than remaining associated with Sterling. Not an easy decision.

 

[ThePiombino]

I'm not condoning anything the moron said, but I think the punishment is overkill. Them again, I have no idea what kind of agreement NBA owners are subject to.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

I bet the owners will vote unanimously. They'll know that anything else would be a black-eye on the NBA.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I bet the owners will vote unanimously. They'll know that anything else would be a black-eye on the NBA.

The smart thing to do would be to force Sterling out, and then immediately amend the Constitution adding more procedural safeguards so this sort of thing can't happen to any of the remaining owners.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Holy shit, Silver is going to be Lincoln.

Break the rules to fix a wrong and sets a dangerous precedent.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Another part of this that bothers me is that the owners are now FORCED to vote yes for fear of not being crucified. Their objection can be based purely on fear of setting a precedent or some other "non-racist" reason but now they can't actually do what they believe. That's wrong to me.

I'm also bothered by this, but in a way it's just the cost of owning a national sports league. Everything you do, from media buys, to fan nights, to LeBron promotion is about generating interest in the League. They can take a moral stand here if they want, but it will hit them right in the wallet.

 

[Cackalacky]

Well, Sterling acknowledged it was him on the tape, and the NBA has a corroborating witness present during the recording. So that is that.

Silver says he is going to try and force Sterling to sell the frachise.

 

[irishog77]

Can I call dibs on Sterling's girlfriend...or wife?

 

[Wild Bill]

I'm also bothered by this, but in a way it's just the cost of owning a national sports league. Everything you do, from media buys, to fan nights, to LeBron promotion is about generating interest in the League. They can take a moral stand here if they want, but it will hit them right in the wallet.

It's the cost of owning a team, I agree. No doubt, I'd vote his ass out if I was clean. Let's be serious, how many of these owners are clean? Mikhail Prokhorov got pinched flying hookers across international borders. Jordan is/was a degenerate gambler. Cuban...who the hell knows with him. Can't imagine it's anything innocent, though. I'm sure most of them have a story. We may not be dealing with a group of racists, but we're not dealing with choir boys either. They're going to cover their own ass before worrying about anything else.

 

[irishog77]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the whole plant/tape leak/force out idea seems to make about the most sense in all this. Sterling being an old lunatic notwithstanding. Of course that brings up another issue-- even casual fans knew and have known Sterling is an extremely odd bird. Why has the NBA never addressed this??

 

[Cackalacky]

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the whole plant/tape leak/force out idea seems to make about the most sense in all this. Sterling being an old lunatic notwithstanding. Of course that brings up another issue-- even casual fans knew and have known Sterling is an extremely odd bird. Why has the NBA never addressed this??

You know I recently read that Sterling's wife is suing the girlfriend under the pretense that she embezzled $1.8 million when the gf claims it was a gift from Sterling. I believe the gf said that if she went ahead with the lawsuit she would release the tapes. I will try to find that (if it has already been posted I missed it and I apologize).

 

[irishfan]

Anyone out in LA know how senial that Sterling is or isn't? He doesn't exactly sound too on-the-ball during the phone conversation and as many have said, it really does seem like the girlfriend is just baiting him to say something stupid......her connection to Magic and his instant desire to buy the team is interesting

 

[Whiskeyjack]

It's the cost of owning a team, I agree. No doubt, I'd vote his ass out if I was clean. Let's be serious, how many of these owners are clean? Mikhail Prokhorov got pinched flying hookers across international borders. Jordan is/was a degenerate gambler. Cuban...who the hell knows with him. Can't imagine it's anything innocent, though. I'm sure most of them have a story. We may not be dealing with a group of racists, but we're not dealing with choir boys either. They're going to cover their own ass before worrying about anything else.

Exactly. As I said above, they'll have to decide if this precedent is less dangerous to their interests than continuing to associate with Sterling. I expect they'll force him out but immediately amend the Constitution to give themselves some procedural safeguards if one of their old girlfriends comes back to bite them in ass.

I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the whole plant/tape leak/force out idea seems to make about the most sense in all this. Sterling being an old lunatic notwithstanding. Of course that brings up another issue-- even casual fans knew and have known Sterling is an extremely odd bird. Why has the NBA never addressed this??

None of his previous blunders ignited a media firestorm.

 

[gkIrish]

Someone asked this earlier I think but what the hell can the NBA do if Sterling decides to take a seat courtside. Who is going to force him to get up and leave??

I'm sure the players would refuse to play but what if he just says fuck it and sits there until everyone in the arena leaves.

Obviously in reality fans would start to get violent but I'm curious what would happen.

 

[irishfan]

Someone asked this earlier I think but what the hell can the NBA do if Sterling decides to take a seat courtside. Who is going to force him to get up and leave??

I'm sure the players would refuse to play but what if he just says fuck it and sits there until everyone in the arena leaves.

Obviously in reality fans would start to get violent but I'm curious what would happen.

He doesn't own the arena, so I'm sure security would ban him from even showing up. If he owned the arena, I'd love to see what would happen though. Hell if I were him (81 and rich and nothing to lose) and I owned the Staples Center, I'd just sit at mid court.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Someone asked this earlier I think but what the hell can the NBA do if Sterling decides to take a seat courtside. Who is going to force him to get up and leave??

I'm sure the players would refuse to play but what if he just says fuck it and sits there until everyone in the arena leaves.

Obviously in reality fans would start to get violent but I'm curious what would happen.

They'd probably have security remove him from the building, to a standing ovation from the fans. They're free to ban anyone from attending their games.

 

[mgriff]

 

[irishog77]

How bad is being suspended I wonder as well? Many owners of teams (and other businesses in general) are just that- owners. They perform no duties and jobs in the running of the business. But they can still collect the profits. So I'd assume Sterling can still do that. As loony as this guy is, he may decide to do that. And say Silver and the owners aren't able to force Sterling out, then if he is suspended, who runs the team? Somebody assigned by the league?

 

[gkIrish]

They'd probably have security remove him from the building, to a standing ovation from the fans. They're free to ban anyone from attending their games.

Yeah but who would physically do it? The NBA doesn't own the security at Staples.

He doesn't own the arena, so I'm sure security would ban him from even showing up. If he owned the arena, I'd love to see what would happen though. Hell if I were him (81 and rich and nothing to lose) and I owned the Staples Center, I'd just sit at mid court.

He may not own the arena, but neither does the NBA. And I'm guessing the NBA has nothing to do with security either...

 

[GoIrish41]

Yeah but who would physically do it? The NBA doesn't own the security at Staples.



He may not own the arena, but neither does the NBA. And I'm guessing the NBA has nothing to do with security either...

Maybe the NBA will find some former players who might be willing to help.

 

[irishfan]

Yeah but who would physically do it? The NBA doesn't own the security at Staples.



He may not own the arena, but neither does the NBA. And I'm guessing the NBA has nothing to do with security either...

I'm guessing the NBA has more pull with the stadium owners than Sterling though....

 

[Cackalacky]

His ban extends to any activities assocaited with the team including front office, attending games, interactions with employees and players as well as manager meetings etc. He has effectively been blackballed. I assume the LA Clippers therefore can take all appropriate measures to ensure this ban is respected.

 

[Irish#1]

$5M is a drop in the bucket to him.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Yeah but who would physically do it? The NBA doesn't own the security at Staples.



He may not own the arena, but neither does the NBA. And I'm guessing the NBA has nothing to do with security either...

He is not allowed at the Clippers facility.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A Letter From NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: <a href="http://t.co/zubjWYjwVn">http://t.co/zubjWYjwVn</a> <a href="http://t.co/INkXHwcUzd">pic.twitter.com/INkXHwcUzd</a></p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/statuses/461235644417572864">April 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[gkIrish]

He is not allowed at the Clippers facility.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A Letter From NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: <a href="http://t.co/zubjWYjwVn">http://t.co/zubjWYjwVn</a> <a href="http://t.co/INkXHwcUzd">pic.twitter.com/INkXHwcUzd</a></p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/statuses/461235644417572864">April 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I understand that's the punishment...my question is who enforces it.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

I understand that's the punishment...my question is who enforces it.

I'd imagine that the Clippers are the lessee of the arena and they can control who can and can't come on the property.

Fans get lifetime bans from stadiums all the time.

 

[wizards8507]

Who enforces the fine? Can the commissioner just go around fining people for shit? I get if you fine a CURRENT player, coach, or owner because the implication is "pay the fine or you don't get to participate in the league." What's the incentive to pay here if he's banned for life anyways?