Donald Sterling *shakes head*

[dirt_dobber]

interesting take by Kareem:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Welcome to the Finger-Wagging Olympics
http://time.com/79590/donald-sterlin...jabbar-racism/

[EricaLubarsky]

Is anyone important really proposing the NBA confiscate his team? Is that even legally plausible? I mean, Sterling is a grade-A A-hole, but you can't just take someone's property away from them, even if it's mostly an intellectual property managed by a third party.

What IS plausible is penalizing the team with loss of TV revenue, no Allstar game, draft picks, etc.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Is anyone important really proposing the NBA confiscate his team? Is that even legally plausible? I mean, Sterling is a grade-A A-hole, but you can't just take someone's property away from them, even if it's mostly an intellectual property managed by a third party.

What IS plausible is penalizing the team with loss of TV revenue, no Allstar game, draft picks, etc.

Suppose you're in a business partnership (that's what the NBA is, right?) ....operating say...a restaurant, and one of your business partners is revealed to be a racist on the order of Sterling. Customers stop coming. Catering gigs dry up. Vendors stop selling to you. Longtime employees file discrimination suits. You have trouble getting skilled kitchen help, waitstaff, etc. Your landlord becomes difficult to deal with. You have trouble getting insurance for your business. The Health Department starts sending Mr. González out for what become every-two-week inspections, and you can't ever manage to come out of an inspection with less than 50 penalty points, and you keep having to close your business for Health Department-ordered repairs, and this starts getting disseminated via social media, and sites like Yelp. The local paper puts you on the front page publicizing your recent business difficulties. The local news station comes and stands in your empty parking lot and does a 4-minute segment about the racist business partner, about your recent problems with employees, vendors and the Health Department.

Would the non-culpable business partners be required to stay in business with the racist business partner? Or could they say, "Hey, this thing's going down the toilet. All of us are going to lose our investment if we can't attract business and resolve these employee lawsuits. We can give you this much money right now for your interest in the business, you leave, go far, far away, and say nothing publically ever again about our business, or our business relationship or the fact that we were ever even acquaintances; or we can all go down in flames together." If he refuses your offer, are you obligated to stay in business with him? Or can you dissolve the business relationship and re-open somewhere else on your own?

The NBA's situation is complicated, and complicated by the fact that they don't seem to have a clearcut provision for getting out themselves out of this situation. (In fact, now you've got an owner like Cuban saying that he doesn't even want such a provision.)

And even if the NBA declares that everyone on the team can be a free agent, what's to stop Sterling from suing and saying that the league has diminished the value of his investment? Or that the loss of draft picks is excessive punishment, and similarly negatively affects the value of his investment? Or that they have coerced him into divesting? Damned if they do, gosh-damned if they don't. Gonna be costly either way.

What stopped Cuban from suing Stern and saying that $500,000 was excessive or his remarks critical of NBA offciating? Where is the line? By comparison, Sterling's remarks were private, and released without his knowledge or consent. What gives the league any authority at all to punish him?

Their authority is what they say it is, and what they want it to be, whatever they have the collective will (and perhaps resources) to enforce. The other owners will have to make a business decision about how much they're willing to let Sterling cost them either in terms of a buyout, a forced buyout, protracted legal battles or lost business revenues, and labor difficulties, and general brand degradation.

29 other owners scruffling up $20 million apiece to buy Sterling out. Is there an NBA owner out there who can't get their hands on $20 million?

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by TripleDipping

One more thing, the person who obtained and leaked the audio of a private conversation between a man and his girlfriend is, imo, as big a scum as Sterling.

Really? That's what troubles you?

Maybe Sterling and his wife and their attorneys grossly "misunderestimated" this woman when they decided to try to reclaim the cash, jewlery, cars, property and other gifts that he made to during their four-year extra-marital relationship. All's fair in love and war.

Or maybe Sterling should select his mistresses more carefully, in any case.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Is anyone important really proposing the NBA confiscate his team? Is that even legally plausible? I mean, Sterling is a grade-A A-hole, but you can't just take someone's property away from them, even if it's mostly an intellectual property managed by a third party.

What IS plausible is penalizing the team with loss of TV revenue, no Allstar game, draft picks, etc.

Well if your coach quits and the star players demand trades, then your back will be up against the wall. I don't think it will be the NBA as much as the Clippers organization that will force him out. This is personal for people. It is the stupidity that bothers me more than the racist parts. I mean, you just have to be plain ole dumb to tell someone not to bring black people to a basketball game. That is stupid on a ridiculous level.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

It is the stupidity that bothers me more than the racist parts. I mean, you just have to be plain ole dumb to tell someone not to bring black people to a basketball game. That is stupid on a ridiculous level.

Speaking of stupid - Sterling loves to brag about how he's paying for the lifestyle of these black athletes, while fully ignoring the fact that the very black people that he doesn't want coming to his arena are the ones who give him the money that he pays said athletes with (at least partially)... Even if nobody had ever heard him say it, that's just bad business.

[TripleDipping]

Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr

Really? That's what troubles you?

Maybe Sterling and his wife and their attorneys grossly "misunderestimated" this woman when they decided to try to reclaim the cash, jewlery, cars, property and other gifts that he made to during their four-year extra-marital relationship. All's fair in love and war.

Or maybe Sterling should select his mistresses more carefully, in any case.

Sure it bothers me, simply because I've said things in private that I regretted later, and wouldn't want the world to know about it.

Sterling is a racist scumbag, and an idiot in selecting mistress. But invading someone's privacy is extremely low. That's all I'm trying to say.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by TripleDipping

Sure it bothers me, simply because I've said things in private that I regretted later, and wouldn't want the world to know about it.

I totally see your point. And when I hear Donald Trump talk about how slimy the woman who betrayed Sterling is, and how she baited him, and tricked him, and made him say those awful things; and when I hear Mark Cuban talk about "freedom of speech", slippery slope, yada yada blah blah, .....my mind immediately wonders to what men like them may have said "in private conversations" (not to mention 'done behind closed doors') that they now wonder whether were recorded or not.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Woj writes about how the league could get rid of him...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-nba...093958859.html

[Underdog]

Banned for life.

[TripleDipping]

Can someone watching the press conference give the details? What does lifetime ban mean? He has to relinquish ownership of the franchise?

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by TripleDipping

Can someone watching the press conference give the details? What does lifetime ban mean? He has to relinquish ownership of the franchise?

Based on Woj's article and a few other reports, the owners will vote him our of ownership with the league taking over until a sale can be negotiated.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Based on Woj's article and a few other reports, the owners will vote him our of ownership with the league taking over until a sale can be negotiated.

CP3 to NO!

[TripleDipping]

Got this from clutchfans:

Expecting a fight from Sterling? I have no idea.

Polling owners, what support to do you have to force a sale? Didn't poll the owners. Spoke to a few and I have their full support.

Authority to force a sale? Owners have authority to 3/4 vote to remove him has owner.

NBA hasn't done anything until today. Why? Can't speak to past actions. When evidence was brought to the NBA, we acted.

Lose a team over remarks shared in private? Private or not, they are now public and represent his views.

When did you decide? I decided this morning this was the appropriate action.

Process will begin immediately.

Sterling own up to this immediately? What has he expressed? Mr. Sterling acknowledged it was his voice and has not expressed to me directly any other views.

Message for the Clippers and their fans? My message is that the league is far bigger than any one owner, coach or player. I have complete confidence in Doc Rivers and basketball management.

Punishment designed to get the message across to Sterling that there is nothing to be gained from continued ownership? Did you take into account his past behavior? We did not take into account his past behavior.

What specific violation and forced sale, what covers that? The lawyers will lay that out for you.

NBA considering more African-American ownership at this point? Always open to ownership from all races, ethnicity, nationalities.

Magic Johnson? He knows he's welcome as an owner in this league.

Talk to any players before you came to this decision? Players have any recourse if they don't want to play for Sterling? I had a chance to talk to Chris Paul, Doc Rivers, players of the team. I believe the players will be satisfied. If a player doesn't want to play for the Clippers, we'll deal with that when that happens but not my sense of where we're at right now.

New rules in place for owners? Not sure. We're always willing to take a fresh look. We have appropriate rules in place to cover a situation like this.

In past cases, has Sterling been fined or suspended for racial remarks? Never fined or suspended by the league. While there have been rumors and cases filed, he was sued and did settle with the DOJ.

Elgin Baylor concerns not concern you? It concerned us greatly. Ultimately, Baylor did not prevail in that litigation.

I would say those marketing partners of the Clippers and NBA should judge us by this response to this incident.

Mr. Sterling's family will be allowed to remain in the league? No decisions about other members of the Sterling family. This ruling applies to Donald Sterling and Sterling's conduct only.

Financial impact from this scandal? I don't know. This has happened in 3 days. Hopeful there is no long term damage to the Clippers/NBA. I'm outraged so I can understand their outrage. I'll do my best to bring them back in the NBA family.

Lifetime ban is instituted. That is independent of the sale.

When I first heard it, I was shocked. I was hoping it was fraudulent or doctored. I've know Donald for over 20 years. We immediately investigated and let's get to the bottom of it.

I've had multiple conversations with Kevin Johnson and hope the actions today satisfy our players and they should.

Interactions been like with Sterling over those 20 years? Seen or felt anything like this? I have not been that close to him but nothing in his behavior to see these kind of views. There have been public findings but nothing firsthand that he held the views that were expressed on these audio recordings.

My response was as a human being. It wasn't anger but somberness. I felt strongly for that team. For those players and coaches to do what they need to do and play at the highest level and this hanging over, I had a certain sadness. Regardless of religion, this is hurtful.

Anytime during your conversation did he express remorse or denial? Not directly to me.

Clippers granted FA? Not something we're considering.

If you don't get 3/4 vote, possible Donald is absentee owner profiting? I fully expect the support from the other owners to remove him.

[DirkFTW]

Interesting revenge tool they've created for jilted lovers and disillusioned fans. Someone help the Cowboys out please...

Cuban makes some good points:

Cuban added that it was "damn scary" to ponder the thought of attempting to remove somebody from the NBA because of his personal beliefs.

"In no uncertain terms am I supporting what Donald Sterling said, or his position," Cuban said. "He's obviously racist, he's obviously bigoted. And in this day and age when you're in the public eye, you've got to be damn careful -- if that's your position, and that's unfortunately where you're at, you better be damn careful what you say, even in the privacy of your own home.

"But regardless of your background, regardless of the history they have, if we're taking something somebody said in their home and we're trying to turn it into something that leads to you being forced to divest property in any way, shape or form, that's not the United States of America. I don't want to be part of that."
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10...-kicking-owner

[DirkFTW]

Wow, Sterling bought the team in 1981 for $12 million. Valued recently at close to $600 million, and may be higher now based on Bucks and Kings sales.

Maybe he should keep the team, and the league should go with hefty annual fines and personal community service as long as he owns it:
1) 1-hour sessions of photo-ops with minority fans at the end of every game, posted to the team's website and Instagram
2) 300 hours per year of community service with specific minority causes determined by a vote of Clippers players and personnel
3) Annual PSAs on fighting racism... and the dangers of adultery while he's at it

[Murphy3]

Yep, I agree with Cuban. It's a slippery slope. We just saw a CEO basically forced to resign because of his Christian beliefs that led him to be against homosexual marriage. What exactly is next?

Sterling obviously has a screw loose, but it is a very, very slippery slope. Following the PC crowd can be a very poor choice.

[dirt_dobber]

Can he still get NBA League Pass?

(too soon?)

[Thespiralgoeson]

Wow! I did not see this coming at all. I thought he'd get a lengthy suspension but I didn't even think the league could legally force him to sell the team on such grounds.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Underdog

CP3 to NO!

When can we finalize our Calderon/Dally for Paul/Jordan trade?

But seriously, the league will do nothing for the Clips but allow them to draft. If they force Sterling out and trade away assets leading to a decreased team value when sold, they are asking for a huge lawsuit.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DirkFTW

Interesting revenge tool they've created for jilted lovers and disillusioned fans. Someone help the Cowboys out please...

Cuban makes some good points:

I dunno. I see where he's coming from, I guess, but I have trouble seeing this as any kind of violation of Sterling's rights because this is an entirely private matter that's being handled internally by the NBA. If this were the government forcing him to part from his property, that would be different. But like Jack.Kerr said, the NBA is a collection of business partners, and they just don't want to do business with him anymore. Should they be legally required to keep doing business with them, even if it's detrimental to their product and people are walking away from it droves? It's sort of like a home owner's association- sure, you own the house, but when you buy the house you enter into a contract with the other home owners. If you don't maintain your house and it becomes a dilapidated sh*thole and starts bringing down the property values in the whole neighborhood, they can force you to sell your home, and they're well within their legal right to do so.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

Can he still get NBA League Pass?

(too soon?)

That should be part of his punishment.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr

That should be part of his punishment.

I assume you mean force him to buy League Pass Broadband, but suffering through that is way too cruel.

[Thespiralgoeson]

From Cubes' twitter: "I agree 100% with Commissioner Silvers findings and the actions taken against Donald Sterling"

[Thespiralgoeson]

Apparently before his comments got leaked all over the internet, the NAACP was about to give Sterling its lifetime achievement award. Uh... what?

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

I assume you mean force him to buy League Pass Broadband, but suffering through that is way too cruel.

And costly.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Apparently before his comments got leaked all over the internet, the NAACP was about to give Sterling its lifetime achievement award. Uh... what?

Money talks.

He already received one award after donating another large sum, presumably to cover up for rumors of rampant racism (and lawsuits) twenty years ago. Non-profits often award unsavory-but-wealthy individuals with awards with the hope of receiving even more money. It's not about merit. It's about being someone who can afford to keep a non-profit in business.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

We just saw a CEO basically forced to resign because of his Christian beliefs that led him to be against homosexual marriage. What exactly is next?

Technically, this is incorrect. Eich made a contribution to NOM's (National Organization for Marriage) campaign for Prop 8, which supported 'traditional marriage'.

NOM is an organization which goes to great pains, nay contortions, to point out that they are not against homosexual marriage, but that they support TRADTIONAL marriage. You know...the kind like Donald and Rochelle Sterling's--one woman, one man, and a series of long-term highly-paid 'mistresses'.

[Murphy3]

Splitting an awfully fine hair on that one Jack.Kerr.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

Splitting an awfully fine hair on that one Jack.Kerr.

Me? Or NOM?

Do you think NOM is lying when they claim not to be anti-homosexual, but pro-TRADITIONAL marriage?

I mean.....they say it with such a straight, god-fearing face. Usually.

Or were you referring to my characterization of Donald Sterling's traditional-marriage 'mistress' as 'highly-paid'? Because you may have me there.

Sterling was reportedly suing V.Stiviano for the return of $240,000 in cash which he had 'gifted' her over the course of their four-year extra-traditional-marital relationship. That comes out to about...(divide the 4 into the 24......) $60,000 per year to "sleep" with Donald Sterling, and probably see him nekkid, and cut his golden, curled-up old-man toenails, and...who knows what-all-else she probably had to do, which I agree is not really that highly-paid after all. Particularly in California. Damned libbruls, ruinin' the world for putas and semi-happily married men.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Donald Sterling, the Cadbane of the NBA... Too bad they can't ban him.

I stand corrected...

[j0Shi]

This is a tough challenge for the owners. So far Silver pushed all the right buttons so let's hope they'll finish this/him off in the best possible way.

The complexity of the problem besides those already mentioned is also demonstrated by a tidbit I just stumbled upon on twitter. If they force a sell, they sure can't control the buyer, can they?
So what if, let's say, an investment group based in Seattle posts the highest bid? Sterling might be gone, but then so is the team.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Underdog

I stand corrected...

[spreedom]

Originally Posted by j0Shi

This is a tough challenge for the owners. So far Silver pushed all the right buttons so let's hope they'll finish this/him off in the best possible way.

The complexity of the problem besides those already mentioned is also demonstrated by a tidbit I just stumbled upon on twitter. If they force a sell, they sure can't control the buyer, can they?
So what if, let's say, an investment group based in Seattle posts the highest bid? Sterling might be gone, but then so is the team.

Pretty sure owners/ownership groups have to be approved by the league office or the owners. Can't cite a specific article on that though.

[jay3189]

I'm glad not only Cuban, but Micky Arison and Dan Gilbert came out and supported against Donald Sterling, I just wish this was done sooner. But it's up to the owners to complete all of this now. I'm just mad this idiot Donald Sterling took some of the attention away from this 2014 great NBA playoffs

[Murphy3]

I kinda hope this doesn't hold up. I don't like the precedent that it sets. But, I hope he then soon sells the team.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

As I said, it will be the Clippers who want him out more than anything. He'll sell before it comes to that IMHO.

[Murphy3]

Plus, do we all want to be judged publicly and by our employers based upon perhaps the worst thing we've ever said in our lives? I seriously doubt that this is Sterling's worst offense.. but how would you hold up if someone had recorded you at your absolute worst?

[DOMINATOR]

as Cuban said this is a slippery slope.

i mean how about the owner of the orlando magic/amway Doug Devos that contributes to anti-gay marriage organizations.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr

That's actually an interesting question, because apparently Clippers Team President Andy Roeser doesn't know the sound of his employer's voice well enough to be able to authenticate the tape recording: "We do not know if it is legitimate [the tape] or it has been altered."

Roeser does, however, recognize the voice of the owner's companion/girlfriend/mistress/hooker well enough to be able to identify her as the defendant in a civil lawsuit brought by Sterling's wife seeking return of cash, jewelry, cars, real estate and other gifts that Sterling dispensed to her during the course of a 4-year extra-marital affair/relationship. #UnemployableAnywhereInTheNBAFormerTeamPresident

Nor is Sterling's wife of 60+ years familiar enough with the sound of her estranged husband's voice to be able to tell for sure if it's him on the tape, according to ESPN's Lisa Salters. #chutzpah

At least one person, one Mr. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was previously in Stering's employ as recently as 2000, was willing to go on record as saying that he recognized Sterling's voice:
Funny how that works isn't it?

But if you go back to the very first post in this thread from nearly four years ago, you have accounts of Baron Davis being heckled from courtside by Sterling for being out of shape, and for playing poorly. So there's that. And maybe we should all be blaming Baron Davis right now for not going over mid-game and snapping the old man's neck like a twig. #PlayOn!

And then, if you read a couple of posts back, there's the information that came out in NBA legend Elgin Baylor's wrongful termination suit regarding player complaints [by former Maverick Sam Cassell, former Maverick Elton Brand, and Corey Magette] of Sterling bringing women/ girlfriends/ companions/ mistresses/ hookers into the lockerroom after NBA games while players were showering and encouraging the women to ogle the naked athletes as if they were livestock with comments like "Look at those beautiful black bodies." So there's that too.

And if you read some of the decades-long stack of allegations of racist statements and attitudes attributed to Sterling by former players and employees, you'll find where he allegedly said of/(to?) Danny Manning during contract negotiations "That's a lot of money for a poor black kid." So apparently Sterling injects himself into contract negotations, at lest to some degree.

And while Mrs. Sterling may not have been able to authenticate her husband's voice on-tape, she did have this to say: "The team (which is, or at least was worth an estimated $600 million) is the most important thing to my family." If true, does that sound like a family who is detached from the day-to-day goings-on of the franchise?

Maybe Sterling isn't as hands-on an owner as Cuban, but I'd say judging from a quick scan of available evidence that Sterling crossed paths with the players on more than an intermittent basis.



So you'd just ignore it? Keep your head down, and keep on working for someone, making a lot of money for a man who obviously didn't respect you or regard you as an equal person? Here's the thing: Sterling isn't just 'a racist' like any guy off the street. He's the longest tenured owner in the NBA, which is one of the highest-profile sports leagues in the world. He's the owner of an NBA franchise with a decades-long history of oncourt failure largely attributed to his unwillingness to pay (mostly African-American) athletes enough to remain with the team.

If Sterling feels like that about the players his team employs, can you imagine what he must feel like about the fanbase with a large number of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans who come to his games?

Oh wait! You don't have to imagine! Sterling's past comments on people like that are part of the public record in the form of court proceedings. Because in addition to being an NBA owner, Sterling is one of the wealthiest men in Southern California (net worth nearly $1.5 Billion), with a real estate empire and an extensively documented record as a slum lord, with numerous tenant complaints over unfair housing practices that resulted in a near $3 million fine by the U.S. Justice Department.



While Sterling's attitudes toward Asian-Americans are, in a perverse way, not quite as toxic:



...still they can't be characterized as positive.

And while Sterling apparently quite enjoyed the company of women other than his wife, LOTS of women, his attitudes toward them were not, shall we say, 21st-century enlightened:



So, Melonhead, you say, "But I'm not African-American. I'm not Mexican-American, I'm not Asian-American, and I'm most definitely NOT a woman! What does any of this have to do with me? Anyway, they're playing a sport!"

And let me hasten to say, Melonhead, that I understand your confusion. I have seen and heard attitudes like yours expressed often by people who are not African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Asian-Americans, or women--i.e. white males who've never been on the business end of the discrimination stick, and who, thus, have not developed any sense of empathy for people mistreated by incorrigible, unrepentant, elitis, classist, bigoted, chauvinistic, sexual predators like Donald Sterling. (Now, I'm not necessarily assuming that you're a white male, but I will observe that your perspective sounds very similar.) So maybe your sense of empathy for people in that situation isn't finely honed, but surely you have a mother? A sister? A wife? A daughter? Maybe a non-white-male friend? Would you really want any of them to have to work for a man like Donald Sterling?



Even as a white male (correct me if that's wrong), would you yourself want to work for a man like Donald Sterling? Would you just politely bow your head when he became abusive and demeaning, and wait for that twice-a-month paycheck? When you pose the question "....how long does one have to dwell on an ignorant person saying something ignorant...", I think you're posing the wrong question. Instead the question is "How long do you ignore the behavior of a bigot like Donald Sterling? How long do you have to put up with it?"

And the answer is: "Not one second longer than you have to."

And guess what? The players (and coaches) on the Clippers and the players across the league have figured out they don't have to put up with it any more. Those recordings are game-changers. Current Clippers players no longer have to put up with what past players, and past employees, and past tenants of buildings owned by Donald Sterling have had to put up with for decades.

Those recordings (and the others that are sure to come) will force the league to address a problem (Donald Sterling) that it had allowed to fester for far too long. In retrospect, Donald Sterling may be the indelible blemish on David Stern's NBA legacy, the ugly sh!tstain that Stern managed to keep hidden while he was NBA Commissioner, but who became impossible to ignore once Stern retired. (To be fair, Sterling loves playing hardball. David Stern attempted to fine Sterling $25 million in 1984 for relocating the Clippers from San Diego to Los Angeles without league approval. Sterling in turn sued the league for $100 million, and Stern ended up penalizing Sterling a mere cost-of-business $6 million by withholding his share of new expansion franchise fees. Maybe King David's fingers were singed enough by that interaction that he was reluctant to lock horns with Sterling thereafter.)

So to the question: "...how long does one have to dwell on an ignorant person saying something ignorant ..."? When that person is Donald Sterling, the answer for NBA players right now is "You dwell on it until Sterling is out of the league, or at least disassociated from Clipper ownership."

And after that? Is Sterling the only NBA owner with questionable social attitudes and business practices? Sadly, probably not. Is he the most extreme case? Gosh, you have to hope so. <...cough...Dolan...cough>

But if other similar examples to Sterling's years-long dossier of misbehavor come to light, the NBA Players Association should be prepared to point to Sterling as an example of the cost of doing nothing, and insist that the league be prepared to act.

As for the rest of us? When we hear with our own ears a billionaire, social- and power-elite like Sterling expressing an unequivocally bigoted mentality, and we see that mentality clearly manifested in his business practices over the years, we shouldn't bury our head in the sand and pretend that we're somehow 'post-racial'.

And when we see recent Supreme Court decisions that allow a majority of voters to abolish Affirmative Action programs; or that allow state legislatures to draw voting districts in such a way as to minimize minority political representation; or that allow state legislatures to pass Jim Crow-esque voter requirements that result in the suppression of racial minorities' voting rights, we should ask ourselves exactly whose interests the Supreme Court is protecting. If you're a billionaire, social- and power-elite without a conscience like Sterling, you can feel comfortable enough. But if you're a non-white-male, non-billionaire, non-social-and-power elite, chances are that Roberts, Scalia, & Alito ain't workin' for you.

I consider myself white because I didnt come from Mexico, but my dads family is from mexico. Im half/half. I guess my frustration was with the fact that this isnt out of Sterling's realm (his comments). Everyone already knew what kind of person he was but that didnt stop players or coaches from going to play for LA. And dont take this the wrong way, but it was a private conversation. Its public now and has to be dealt with. But we've all said things in private(maybe not to the same degree) that Id never repeat in public(different topics). Its also a known fact he loves litigation. This trying to force an owner out will not happen or will be dealt with in court for years.

Im not naive thinking there isnt plenty of racism in the country. There will always will be (on all sides). I noticed Larry Johnson's story got no air time on Inside the NBA or ESPN. I cant sympathize totally with what Sterling has said either because ive never been in that situation(and probably why im talking in circles), but again, 99% of those players dont have ongoing contact with that man. They play for themselves, the players, coaches, and whoever is in that locker room. And from some people, it feels like fake outrage. Id say those same people have heard way more racist insults thrown at them than that. I know I've heard worse. Apologies if none of this was in direct response. Im just rambling at this point.