Baller Mind Frame’s No Layups brings you the hottest NBA stories on the web mixed with personal opinion from our very own Aaron Lanton
That’s the way it is…He is honest about what he believes in..Been going on for a long time, Hats off 2 the Team.. 4 playin above it all.
— Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) April 26, 2014
I didn’t learn anything new about Donald Sterling. This is old news. The racist opinions of Sterling are well documented since the 80s with potential coaches, Clippers’ players, and a record settlement in a 2009 lawsuit by the Department of Justice that alleges Sterling discriminated against potential minority tenants. Many journalists have reported these particular atrocities, such as Bomani Jones.
here’s my donald sterling archive. 2006: http://t.co/BPphpdDTPh 2012: http://t.co/XeP05PeHy8 2013: https://t.co/roL0ixgl1o
— Bomani Jones (@bomani_jones) April 26, 2014
The stories have gone away several times because Sterling has friends in high places, but this time social media has gotten ahold of the story which means the narrative is being shaped by the masses. Sterling is being racked over the coals, as he should be.
.@cjbycookie and I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 26, 2014
From @npsport ‘Definitely not a place for it in the NBA’: Raptors’ union rep Steve Novak on… http://t.co/UnGLHvkQh1 #Raptors #toronto
— Posted Toronto (@postedtoronto) April 26, 2014
.@cp3 statement: “As players, we owe it to our teams and our fans to keep our focus on our game, the playoffs, and the drive to the Finals.”
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) April 26, 2014
Let’s add some important context to this: The owners of each franchise make up a board of governors in their respective sports which each act of the bosses of the commissioners for each sport. If a majority the board backs the decision of the commissioner, it usually sticks. When owners are mired in controversy, any suspension a commissioner wishes to levy takes some assistance from the board.
For example, it appears that Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, will not be forced to do more than not attend games after his a recent arrest for DUI while being caught with $29,029 in cash and many bottles of prescription drugs. The comments from NFL owners have been sympathetic and supportive. NBA owners have known about Sterling racist idiosyncrasies for decades. This is Adam Silver’s first true test as the NBA commissioner. It might be possible to indefinitely suspend Donald Sterling, but it’s highly unlikely he can be forced to sell the team.
Silver’s long-term goal has to be getting DS to sell. But legally there’s no real precedent. NBA couldn’t get George Shinn to sell either.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 26, 2014
Forcing Donald Sterling out of NBA will be hard. He might sue NBA for breach of franchise agreement & sue other owners under antitrust law.
— Michael McCann (@McCannSportsLaw) April 26, 2014
Public pressure might force everyone’s hand in this case, but there’s no precedent for this sort of situation so any speculation about Sterling’s future as an owner is pure conjecture.
Michael Jordan is the only minority who is a majority owner in the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB. It doesn’t mean that every owner is a racist but it does suggest that something is unequal when there is only one majority owner out of 122 possible franchises in the year 2014. There’s no way to know what the consequences for this leaked tape will be, but at least it will open some eyes of the willfully ignorant who believe we live in a post racial society.
Featured image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.
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