Clippers Owner: No Blacks At Clipper Games

[instudiocity]

Excellent article ISC, thanks for posting.

Thank You, My Prince! I'm still chuckling at the Extreme Finger Wagging and Olympic tryouts for Morally Superior Head Shaking.The first is a Reality TV Series while MSHS Olympics could be hosted by Bob Costas!

[+ Chris Eisenhower]

When the NBA owners vote whether to expel Sterling from his position of ownership, I like to think it will look exactly like this.

 

http://www.capedwonder.com/wp-content/uploads/CW-STM-Krypton-trial-051.jpg

[instudiocity]

When the NBA owners vote whether to expel Sterling from his position of ownership, I like to think it will look exactly like this.

The commissioner needs a vote of 75% of the owners to remove Sterling's ownership - oh, and roughly a Billion Dollars. They're in this turd bucket with him.

 

Also, Adam Silver, NBA Commish and friends with Mr. Sterling for 20 years, says he's spoken to 'several owners' about removing Sterling's ownership. SEVERAL? He needs 23 of the 30 owners to vote to remove Mr. Sterling's ownership. Silver's spent 3 days or so and has only spoken to 'several owners'? What's he been doing?

 

Seems to me the outrage is muted by that $600 million to $1 Billion liability the owners would take on in removing Mr. Sterling. Cuz, they can tell him he's not an owner but they cannot confiscate his assets. If it was merely a vote, it would have occurred by now. It's the buyout they're choking on.

[MrMiniver]

The level of hypocrisy in this story is just really breathtaking. Remember this quote made by a prominent person in a private conversation in 2008:

 

"Barack Obama is .... a light skinned black with no negro dialect or at least no negro dialect unless he wants one."

 

I find that FAR more offensive or at least as offensive as Sterling's stupid comments. Was the person who made those racist comments fired? Forced to resign? Made to pay a fine? Given tons of public ridicule?

 

No, that person today, leads the United State Senate: Harry Reid.

 

Yep, hypocrisy.

[MrMiniver]

And Sterling's wife has filed suit against the supposed gold digger? The Clippers for the first time in the 33 year history of Sterling's ownership just might play for the Championship?

 

She was already being sued for a variety of things which is probably why she set him up with the tape recording.

 

Headline: "There are rich old white men who are bigots"

 

Is this really news? Until recently, we had a former KKK member in the US Senate ... I mean, c'mon. This is getting so ridiculous.

[+ WilliamM]

The best and most encouraging comment by Mr. Silver is "the process to vote on forcing the sale of the team would begin

immediately." The quicker the better. If Silver is smart, he will get this done before the play-offs are over.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/sports/basketball/nba-donald-sterling-los-angeles-clippers.html?hp

[+ Funguy]

It is possible to strip him of his ownership responsibilities while he still retains the actual ownership. e.g. Good old Marge Schott: She was banned from managerial responsibilities of the Reds by MLB in the late 90's but retained her ownership share, tho later sold it. NBA will NEVER strip Sterling of his actual ownership and will never buy him out: way, way too much money involved. Doubt there will even be any kind of significant censure, either. People like Sterling have been getting away with this crap for way too long but have too many people in their pockets to worry about it. He lost his housing case and shelled out millions but he doesn't care at all.

[+ Funguy]

It is possible to strip him of his ownership responsibilities while he still retains the actual ownership. e.g. Good old Marge Schott: She was banned from managerial responsibilities of the Reds by MLB in the late 90's but retained her ownership share, tho later sold it. NBA will NEVER strip Sterling of his actual ownership and will never buy him out: way, way too much money involved. Doubt there will even be any kind of significant censure, either. People like Sterling have been getting away with this crap for way too long but have too many people in their pockets to worry about it. He lost his housing case and shelled out millions but he doesn't care at all.

 

I am now thrilled to say, "Mea culpa"! He has been fined the max (tho only $2.5 Million), banned from any contact with Clippers, including practices, even attending games, etc., and the League is pursuing a forced sale of the team!

[whipped guy]

I have not read this thread, and I'm sure this was covered... Still, from what I have heard those "in the know", and that includes virtually the entire NBA, have known all about this BOZO for years and looked the other way. Now all of a sudden... Reminds me of the following scene from Casablanca: "I'm shocked...!!!"

 

 

(Sorry, had to link. Doing this on my mobile device and for some reason it would not post.)

[+ Charlie]

The lynch mob mentality of this whole situation really disturbs me. A wealthy old white man lusts after a mixed race young woman, to whom he has given a great deal of material goods, and he tells her he doesn't want her to associate with younger black male celebrities (whom he probably sees as threatening competition). That's shocking? He does it in a private conversation, which he has no reason to believe will be publicly broadcast. Whatever his private views, he does not rant in public about race, and he spends his money on a sport that showcases black athletes. He also gives money--a lot of it--to black organizations, not to the KKK. Is he not allowed to THINK racist thoughts or express them privately to his intimates? Have we reached a post-Orwellian state in which our thoughts are monitored and punished?

 

UCLA has announced that it is returning money he has given for medical research, because they feel that it is somehow tarnished because the giver holds racist beliefs. If the personal character of everyone who has made huge monetary contributions to UCLA, or any other school, should be given back for that reason, most major universities would be in serious financial trouble. What they really mean is that they are frightened by the lynch mob, or they have succumbed to fanatical moralism.

 

In the old days, Sterling would have been punished for openly dating a much younger woman, when he is already married. Now no one seems to mind that--they would probably praise his open-mindedness for choosing a black/Latina mistress, if he had kept his mouth shut.

 

I know some people here will jump on me for saying any of this, but I see even greater hypocrisy from those who are jumping on the anti-Sterling bandwagon than I do from the man himself, who is certainly no moral paragon. Self-righteousness has a way of biting one in the ass eventually.

[whipped guy]

... I know some people here will jump on me for saying any of this, but I see even greater hypocrisy from those who are jumping on the anti-Sterling bandwagon than I do from the man himself, who is certainly no moral paragon. Self-righteousness has a way of biting one in the ass eventually.

Charlie... as usual you are very astute. Hypocrisy was the point of the video clip that I posted in case that aspect was missed...

[Frequentflier]

We've got a fee Donald Sterlings posting in this thread - minus his money of course. And Donald is probably better looking and has a better physique than our versions.

[bigvalboy]

I have not read this thread, and I'm sure this was covered... Still, from what I have heard those "in the know", and that includes virtually the entire NBA, have known all about this BOZO for years and looked the other way. Now all of a sudden... Reminds me of the following scene from Casablanca: "I'm shocked...!!!"

 

 

 

 

(Sorry, had to link. Doing this on my mobile device and for some reason it would not post.)

Hilarious....and spot on WG!! And the commissioner who has known him for 20 years is suddenly outraged.

[instudiocity]

I know some people here will jump on me for saying any of this, but I see even greater hypocrisy from those who are jumping on the anti-Sterling bandwagon than I do from the man himself, who is certainly no moral paragon. Self-righteousness has a way of biting one in the ass eventually.

Thank you Charlie. The RUSH to judgement is not only a space time continuum but also an euphoric high for the masses, as well.

[instudiocity]

We've got a fee Donald Sterlings posting in this thread - minus his money of course. And Donald is probably better looking and has a better physique than our versions.

Ah, FF, confession and humility look so good on you.

[BSR]

I almost never agree with Mark Cuban, but I share his dismay that someone is being punished for thoughts and words in a private conversation, as opposed to actions. If the NBA is going to set the precedent of levying 7-figure fines and banishing people from the league, then why the hell did it wait this long? Ben Shapiro over at Breitbart compiled a list of 8 Things That Won't Get You Banned From The NBA:

1. Discriminating against minorities in housing (Sterling in 2009)

2. Strangling your coach (Latrell Sprewell)

3. Hating whites (Spike Lee's declaring that he wanted to shoot white people; Jay-Z's wearing a Five Percent Nation necklace, a group that believes that whites are the Devil)

4. Calling refs/cops/other players a "faggot" or (better yet) a "fucking faggot" (too many examples to list)

5. Physically attacking fans

6. Coercing your girlfriend to have an abortion

7. Drawing a gun in the locker room

8. Reckless driving that killed a passenger.

 

None of the guilty parties above received lifetime bans from the sport or 7-figure fines. All received much shorter suspensions, smaller fines, or no punishment at all. One can only conclude that the NBA, in its infinite wisdom, believes that declaring that you want to kill someone, trying to kill someone, coercing a woman to kill her unborn child, pointing a gun (I assume loaded, but not sure) at someone, and actually killing someone are relatively minor offenses, or not offenses at all. But racist thought expressed in a private conversation merits the maximum possible punishment that the league can mete out. Welcome to Wonderland.

[MrMiniver]

The lynch mob mentality of this whole situation really disturbs me. A wealthy old white man lusts after a mixed race young woman, to whom he has given a great deal of material goods, and he tells her he doesn't want her to associate with younger black male celebrities (whom he probably sees as threatening competition). That's shocking? He does it in a private conversation, which he has no reason to believe will be publicly broadcast. Whatever his private views, he does not rant in public about race, and he spends his money on a sport that showcases black athletes. He also gives money--a lot of it--to black organizations, not to the KKK. Is he not allowed to THINK racist thoughts or express them privately to his intimates? Have we reached a post-Orwellian state in which our thoughts are monitored and punished?

 

UCLA has announced that it is returning money he has given for medical research, because they feel that it is somehow tarnished because the giver holds racist beliefs. If the personal character of everyone who has made huge monetary contributions to UCLA, or any other school, should be given back for that reason, most major universities would be in serious financial trouble. What they really mean is that they are frightened by the lynch mob, or they have succumbed to fanatical moralism.

 

In the old days, Sterling would have been punished for openly dating a much younger woman, when he is already married. Now no one seems to mind that--they would probably praise his open-mindedness for choosing a black/Latina mistress, if he had kept his mouth shut.

 

I know some people here will jump on me for saying any of this, but I see even greater hypocrisy from those who are jumping on the anti-Sterling bandwagon than I do from the man himself, who is certainly no moral paragon. Self-righteousness has a way of biting one in the ass eventually.

 

Without even remotely condoning his comments, you are exactly right. Bravo!

[Frequentflier]

Ah, FF, confession and humility look so good on you.

 

It is true I am not worth $1.9 Billion like DS. I am better looking and in better physical shape than him. And I'm not a racist like him.

 

So, instudiocity, do we have enough space for you to list your deficiencies? Not that they are really a secret, but maybe it will make you feel better to confess?

[marylander1940]

... Ben Shapiro over at Breitbart compiled a list of 8 Things That Won't Get You Banned From The NBA:

1. Discriminating against minorities in housing (Sterling in 2009)

2. Strangling your coach (Latrell Sprewell)

3. Hating whites (Spike Lee's declaring that he wanted to shoot white people; Jay-Z's wearing a Five Percent Nation necklace, a group that believes that whites are the Devil)

4. Calling refs/cops/other players a "faggot" or (better yet) a "fucking faggot" (too many examples to list)

5. Physically attacking fans

6. Coercing your girlfriend to have an abortion

7. Drawing a gun in the locker room

8. Reckless driving that killed a passenger.

9. Having children out of wedlock, promoting a self-destructive behavior that has ravaged inner city and Appalachian communities.

10. Rape (Kobe Bryant and others).

11. Buying gold-digger wives.

12. Making a fortune and losing it, AKA been stupid living beyond your means.

13. Complaining about your dad been a bad parent, and doing the same over and over again.

etc...

[+ WilliamM]

The lynch mob mentality of this whole situation really disturbs me. A wealthy old white man lusts after a mixed race young woman, to whom he has given a great deal of material goods, and he tells her he doesn't want her to associate with younger black male celebrities (whom he probably sees as threatening competition). That's shocking? He does it in a private conversation, which he has no reason to believe will be publicly broadcast. Whatever his private views, he does not rant in public about race, and he spends his money on a sport that showcases black athletes. He also gives money--a lot of it--to black organizations, not to the KKK. Is he not allowed to THINK racist thoughts or express them privately to his intimates? Have we reached a post-Orwellian state in which our thoughts are monitored and punished?

 

UCLA has announced that it is returning money he has given for medical research, because they feel that it is somehow tarnished because the giver holds racist beliefs. If the personal character of everyone who has made huge monetary contributions to UCLA, or any other school, should be given back for that reason, most major universities would be in serious financial trouble. What they really mean is that they are frightened by the lynch mob, or they have succumbed to fanatical moralism.

 

In the old days, Sterling would have been punished for openly dating a much younger woman, when he is already married. Now no one seems to mind that--they would probably praise his open-mindedness for choosing a black/Latina mistress, if he had kept his mouth shut.

 

I know some people here will jump on me for saying any of this, but I see even greater hypocrisy from those who are jumping on the anti-Sterling bandwagon than I do from the man himself, who is certainly no moral paragon. Self-righteousness has a way of biting one in the ass eventually.

 

I usually agree with you, but not here. Adam Silver said yesterday that Sterling has admitted that it's his voice on the tape of the phone conversation. We do not know if Sterling would have the same concerns if his young female friend associated with white male celebrities. But, Sterling has made negative remarks about renting his apartments to African-American and Latino tenants. The people closest to the situation, African-American players, especially on the LA Clippers, may, or may not, have known about his racial views. They sure do now since Sterling has admitted making the comments on the tape. This story is not just a NBA matter; it's on the front page on every major newspaper and discussed endlessly on ESPN and CNN. The president commented over the weekend overseas.

 

My first post on this matter here said let's wait a week and see where we are, so I do agree a bit with your lynch mob comment. And in time, some people may agree that the near total support for Silver's actions in the media and the basketball world was too quick.

 

I might have more respect for Sterling if he spent some of his considerable wealth on making the Clippers a much better team over the last 33 or so years. In baseball, people may not have liked the messy personal life of St. Louis Cardinals owner Gussie Busch, but he hired the right people to make his team into a contender year after year for decades (winning three World Series and six National League Championships). Those right people, Bing Devine and Whitey Herzog, make the Cardinals into one of the most, if not the most, prominant teams with star African-American players in baseball. (see David Halberstam's book, October 1964.) If Busch (an old-fashioned man like Sterling) had been caught on a taped phone conversation, he would have had some defense. Although if Busch was still alive and owned the Cardinals, the result would likely be the same in the end. Sterling has been totally silent. It probably will not stay that way, but one would have thought he would have tried to defend himself before now.

[instudiocity]

It is true I am not worth $1.9 Billion like DS. I am better looking and in better physical shape than him. And I'm not a racist like him.

 

So, instudiocity, do we have enough space for you to list your deficiencies? Not that they are really a secret, but maybe it will make you feel better to confess?

Pardon me, ff, I have seen you list deficiencies, but only of others. Where have you listed any of your deficiencies?

 

Or do you think confession and humility are deficiencies?

 

Maybe it's that $1.9 Billion - YOUR NET WORTH = the only deficiency you possess?

 

Before you answer that, think about this... You have just proclaimed on an anonymous forum that you are Poorer, Better-Looking, in Better Physical Shape and Less of a Racist than the BIGGEST RACE-BATING RICH OLD SCOUNDREL IN THE WORLD THIS WEEK!

 

Yep, that's quite the comparison...

[Guest]

9. Having children out of wedlock, promoting a self-destructive behavior that has ravaged inner city and Appalachian communities.

10. Rape (Kobe Bryant and others).

 

I'm really amazed at the amount of support this bigot is getting from this board. I was shocked to hear that DS could even harbor the thought he expressed, let alone say them out loud, given that he's made a fortune from the labor of black people. How can one harbor such dis-respect for people who work for you, that you don't even like to be seen associating with them? Even if he weren't contractually forced to sell, how can he imagine that people are going to buy tickets to his games? I'm not a basketball fan, but if I were I would certainly not buy tickets to see a game in which his players were playing, and I'm not even black. This doesn't even include the effect of de-funding from corporate sponsors.

It's also pretty amazing that in this day and age, people (and gay people, to boot) think that the mere act of having children out of wedlock is immoral. Do we still have the mindset of early 17th century Puritan Massachusetts, as expressed in The Scarlet Letter? I have a single gay friend who brought up three children he adopted, and did a great job of it (incidentally, he's white and all three of the children--two now adults--are black). My single sister also adopted a girl who was taken away from her two married parents because the biological parents were unable to provide a suitable home environment. And my domestic partner's mother never married. My DP is a respected film editor and his sister is a respected physician. What's important is that the child be provided with a supportive environment, not that the parents are married. Maybe you should change your handle from "Marylander1940" to "Massachusetts1640"...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R8rzHm5jau4/TtjqoHMnY3I/AAAAAAAAAMs/YzlkeInbS24/s760/Hester%2Bon%2BScaffold.jpg

As for Kobe Bryant, it's pretty sad that the case was dropped only after it was proven that his accuser lied repeatedly. His accuser was well-documented to have slept with multiple guests of that hotel in the past, but that would never have been able to be brought up at trial due to "rape shield" laws. It's a pretty sad comment on the current US legal system that highly relevant exculpatory evidence can be barred from trial, and that a person can be convicted and labeled a sexual predator for life on the after-the-fact say-so of a woman that the sex wasn't consensual after all. And that it's the defendant's responsibility to prove his accuser is a liar, rather than the other way around.

[MrMiniver]

I wish you could point to any "support" for this bigot on this board. I think you are confusing "support" with a whole host of other things that have mentioned here not the least of which is hypocrisy. One can absolutely abhor the comments of Mr. Sterling while also recognizing that there's a whole lot of hypocrisy going on here.

 

And I won't be the first to say that I think actual physical violence and crime is far worse than making intemperate comments in a private conversation. And yet that sort of stuff has been tolerated in the NBA and the NFL for many, many years.

 

Today, last year's Heisman Trophy winner was found to have shoplifted from a Publix store in FL. That's an actual crime. Shouldn't he be banned for life?

[Guest]

Today, last year's Heisman Trophy winner was found to have shoplifted from a Publix store in FL. That's an actual crime. Shouldn't he be banned for life?

 

No, because that has nothing to do with his job, and he presumably will get his punishment from the criminal justice system. And yes, I do believe Latrell Sprewell should have been banned for life as well (as well as jailed, and forced to pay civil damages). But how can a man own an NBA team when he has complete disdain for the people he employs? The fact that Sprewell was left off easily doesn't change facts; two wrongs don't make a right. And, no, it's not hypocrisy to expect a different standard of behavior between the head of an organization and an employee. The owner is the face of the whole team. If the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were to make such racist comments, I don't see how he could do his job, and would expect him to be removed from office. If an enlisted man made such a comment, I would expect a less serious consequence, such as counseling and a letter of reprimand. That's not hypocrisy. That's just an acknowledgement of the reality that leaders of organizations have a greater degree of responsibility, and need to behave accordingly.

BTW, I forgot to mention that my domestic partner's sister has also been doing a great job raising her daughter out of wedlock. And none of the people I mentioned live in the "ravaged inner city" or Appalachia. Nor, presumably, do most NBA players. Sorry they don't fit it to someone's stereotypes.

[+ deej]

And I won't be the first to say that I think actual physical violence and crime is far worse than making intemperate comments in a private conversation. And yet that sort of stuff has been tolerated in the NBA and the NFL for many, many years.

 

Oh, I see. It's been tolerated for many years so that makes it perfectly OK to tolerate it today?

 

#FAIL

That it was tolerated under the previous commissioner is an indictment on the previous commissioner. That the current commissioner effectively and swiftly dealt with the first incident presented to him seems to me to be a success.

 

But on the subject of sports and lifetime bans, in general, I suspect we haven't seen the last of one Donald Sterling. For starters, he's a litigious old fuck and I suspect his lawyers are already drafting the suits he's gong to file. But also, the old rich white guys who own teams RARELY get held to the same standard their players get held to.

 

See: George Steinbrenner. Banned from baseball for life by MLB. He was back in three (THREE!) years. Yet another reason to think we haven't heard the last of one Donald Sterling.

 

But Pete Rose? Yeah, still banned. AROD? Probably dunzo.

 

But not an owner. Never an owner.