I guess you heard Silver's statement
today. In a sense, he really had no choice, even if this is "unfair" to
Sterling (and Silver more or less works for Sterling and the other
owners). I wonder if he will sue or fight this?
If they kept Sterling on, who would want to play/work for him? He would be a distraction and source of tension at every Clippers game (a "black eye" on the league as Magic Johnson said). That's not good anyone, and maybe even Sterling wouldn't want that for himself and family.
But on the other hand, you have guys working in the league now
who are known domestic abusers, drug addicts, and had various weapons/drunk
driving/criminal charges. Sterling made a statement in private, was kind
of entrapped, and broke no laws that we know of. Of course his opinion
was outrageous and totally unacceptable (especially since the league has
70% black players, and is an important part of African American
culture). The expectations are higher on an authority figure.If they kept Sterling on, who would want to play/work for him? He would be a distraction and source of tension at every Clippers game (a "black eye" on the league as Magic Johnson said). That's not good anyone, and maybe even Sterling wouldn't want that for himself and family.
The Dodgers fiasco also comes to mind, ironically in the same city, and Magic Johnson may end up having a stake in both franchises now.
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This whole thing is a giant circle-jerk. The dude settled out of court for racial discrimination in his housing projects, no one's opinion should have
As for the players/team/whatever. At the end of the day
the NBA players have no real power. Their skills are simply not worth
very much outside the context of the NBA. So if Sterling says he isn't
going to sell will they all boycott? You are telling me you can't find
10 guys who will play for the clippers at a million a year? They all
quit the team and go free agent, you are telling when no one picks them
up they don't have bills? Kids? A lifestyle to maintain?
I'll believe it when i see it.
A nice op-ed by kareem also. http://time.com/79590/donald-
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That was a pretty well written article by Kareem. Shows the importance
of getting a college degree before playing pro ball. The NBA as an
enterprise is ultimately powerless in this situation. At the end of the
day, I don't think sexual discrimination, racial discrimination or
religious discrimination will be the entity that brings down a business
empire. After all, Chick-Fil-A is still thriving after their religious
fiasco. It'll just create more frivolous lawsuits earning settlement
money for the accuser and their lawyer(s). Businesses will keep booming
regardless of the insensitive actions of their leaders, so what will
make anyone think this incident will be an exception to the rule?
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Thanks, guys. I disagree that
NBA players don't have power - as their lockouts and relatively high
salaries indicate. NBA players would have 90% of the power if sport was a
free market instead of a monopoly (or "new slavery" as some people have
commented, albeit quite inaccurately). Guys like Sterling think they
ARE the league, but that is BS. Like most of stale corporate America,
these fossils are only relevant because they engage in anti-competitive
activities to make them appear more valuable than they are. At the end
of the day, what is Sterling but a guy who signs checks? Not exactly a
rare skill set. And remember that he was voted the worst owner in ALL
major pro US sports for decades while the Clippers were a laughingstock.
The GM, coach, and players determine success, and of course the
fans/media provide the revenue. "Owners" are just leeches who take a
disproportionate cut of profits, because they wrote the rules to enable
that. Imagine if franchises were publicly traded companies - then the
Clippers could have 1,000 different small, non-racist owners and still
achieve the same level of performance. Heck the GB Packers have been a public nonprofit since 1923.
Sterling is now bad for business, and that is why the owners
are getting rid of him. They can't risk their image and perceptions of
racism when their talent base is majority black, as are many of their
fans/customers (and they need to have a "good image" in the community,
always). Yes, of course Sterling could find guys to fill his roster next
season, but would they be the best players available? Would they feel
motivated to play at a high level, amidst distractions and negativity
(you can imagine their friends/peers/family would keep asking, "Why do
you play for that guy?")?
It's true that probably old/rich/white America is more
racist below the surface than they would reveal, though the Obama
presidency is likely bringing some of that to the surface. That is
another more complex issue; it's pretty hard to eliminate all bigotry
from a society, especially private bigotry. But at least our public
policy should not be prejudiced.
(a lot of good sports links below if you have time; obviously I am interested in this stuff :)
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Just throwing my two cents in here.
Hypothetically, what do you think the league and
society would have done if Sterling acted differently? Say immediately
when the tape was released, what if he made a sincere public apology,
offered to meet with black leaders, enrolled himself in sensitivity
therapy, and pledged to donate a good portion of his wealth to
anti-racism programs and initiatives to help black communities? Would
they have still taken the Clippers from him? It would be a tough call,
IMO.
I think this
is a pretty sad over-reaction. UCLA Nephrology is rejecting Sterling's
$3M donation. Just because you don't want to be associated with a
racist, you are hurting patients and research? Who cares where the money
came from - if it can accomplish good, why refuse it? Taking a racist's
money doesn't make UCLA racist. And if Al Sharpton vilifies them for
it, well you can't please everyone. Heck, right wing radio personalities
say almost as nasty stuff on a daily basis, and they get rich for it.
Maybe this is a small "victory" against overt, antiquated
racism. But unfortunately, more subtle socioeconomic racism is far from
beaten.
I've seen the
first amendment and the legality of the recording get tossed around but
those two issues are irrelevant. The NBA is a private association and
has no obligation to care about those things in this context. Sterling
isn't going to jail for his comments (obviously), and even if the
recording is illegal having Sterling around as an owner after it's been
released would be very bad for business, which is all the NBA cares
about. On a side note, he probably knew and agreed to being recorded: http://www.latimes.com/sports/
M: "This
whole thing is a giant circle-jerk. The dude settled out of court for
racial discrimination in his housing projects, no
one's opinion should have chan
I
agree to a certain extent about it being a giant circle-jerk but that's
only true for people who are aware of Sterling's history. The racial
discrimination lawsuit isn't necessarily widely known. People inside NBA
circles certainly knew about him but the average person probably
wouldn't know or even be able to name him as the Clipper's owner
previously. Making some awful comments are of course, not the worst
thing he's done but it's the most public thing he's done, hence circle
jerk. If you want to accuse the other NBA owners of jerking themselves
off in a circular fashion, I wouldn't disagree. They must have known
about his shit for a while. Of course this isn't some grand blow against
racism everywhere, although I hadn't heard that sentiment in my online
travels today, but it's still a victory in that an obvious asshole gets a
little comeuppance.
To
your other paragraph/point it turns out the NBA can actually force him
to sell. Sterling doesn't have a choice if 3/4 of the other owners vote
to force him to sell. Sterling is called the owner but in reality the
NBA does have the power to force him to sell, which is apparently a very
real possibility. http://deadspin.
The
analogy I've seen thrown around is that being an owner of an NBA team
is like owning a franchise from McDonald's. You have a lot of control
over what happens there, you can call yourself the owner but the powers
that be can still take away that franchise from you.
Although
maybe Sterling can try to fight it and go to court, dragging it out for
a few years the NBA could simply lock the Clippers out and declare all
of their players free agents. As long as most of the other owners agree
to it, Sterling has no real options. And yeah, he's still going to die a
rich man. Hell, selling the Clippers will probably get him a 5000%
return on his investment. I still think it's impressive the NBA is doing
this to him nonetheless.
In
fact I'm even more surprised about the lack of surprise surrounding his
punishment. If this was the NFL Goodell would absolutely not force any
real punishment on an owner like that. A lifetime ban, 2.5 million fine,
and most likely being forced to sell is way beyond what I
expected. Commissioners are almost always stooges for the owners, so I
was absolutely shocked that the NBA was willing to go this far. I'm glad
they were willing though, better late than never.
As
for your latest comments, I largely agree and wanted to write more
about college athlete issues but I've run out of steam. Maybe next time.
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Thanks, D. It's true that the NBA commish works for
the owners, and I think that's what Silver was doing by firing Sterling.
He was looking after the interests of the other owners. So I am almost
sure they will get the 3/4 votes to force the sale of the franchise,
otherwise Silver would not risk looking like a fool by proclaiming
something without having the votes to back it up (that would be Obama
and gun control).
I agree that what Kareem and others said about "shame on
us for not knowing Sterling's past" is unfair. As you said, most people
can't name an NBA owner besides Mark Cuban. And if Sterling was so
notorious prior to this incident, then why didn't Kareem and others in
the know do something about it (and tell the world about it)? It's not
the common fan's job to investigate everyone's dirty laundry. But I do
think that the league mgmt. ignored the problem for too long.
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