Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is under fire for comments displaying nothing short of a plantation mentality after audio tapes from TMZ Sports and Deadspin were leaked on April 25, 2014. He sounded like the real life version of Calvin Candie, a character from the 2012 film “Django Unchained.”
The remarks were blatantly racist and especially vile considering the fact that Sterling owns a team in a league (the NBA) that is 75-percent black as well as the majority of his roster and his head coach.
Despite the shady appearance of V. Stiviano (the mistress to whom Sterling’s comments were made), one cannot ‘un-ring’ the bell. Even if Sterling had chosen to dispute the sound bite’s authenticity, the perceptions and opinions the situation has raised are now out there. The damage is done. It appears that Sterling’s girlfriend Stiviano set him up and he fell right into the trap.
The knowledge that the L. A. chapter of the NAACP accepted multiple grants from the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation and gave Sterling a “Lifetime” achievement award is disturbing. The fact that the organization was on the verge of awarding Sterling with another is embarrassing, especially considering that the organization had full knowledge that the man was a slum lord.
There was no outrage or action from either the NBA or NAACP when Sterling was forced to pay a staggering $3 million for denying housing to blacks. Sterling has more, by his deeds rather than his words, made his feelings clear. The fact of the matter is that this situation is a black-eye for the NBA … a distraction from arguably one of the most entertaining first rounds of playoffs ever. But all the more recent outrage should have happened when Sterling’s comments first came to light.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who has been on the job since February 1st of this year; inherited this mess, although it was the NBA and previous commissioner David Stern that validated Sterling with the Chris Paul trade late in 2011. This is Silver’s first big problem as NBA Commissioner, but Stern deserves some blame in the Donald Sterling situation… he was never afraid to discipline other NBA owners.
Stern suspended Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor for a year and fined him $1 million for signing free-agent player Joe Smith to an illegal secret contract. In 2007, the then-commissioner fined the late great Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss $25,000 and suspended him for two games for a misdemeanor drunk driving charge. Stern also fined Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner, nearly $2 million over the years for confronting and criticizing league officials.
Yet with overwhelming evidence of Sterling’s’ deeds, Stern never fined or suspended the Clippers owner let alone led a charge for the league to remove the cancer that he is. For years, under David Stern’s watch, Sterling was able to dodge various allegations even though it has been common knowledge for 30-years that Sterling was a bully, slum lord and racist.
Sterling has been a long-time thorn in the NBA’s side and, as despicable, disheartening and abhorrent as Sterling’s behavior has been, this is an owners’ problem and the owners must act. The group has wanted Sterling out going back to 1984 when he moved the Clippers to Los Angeles after six seasons in San Diego. For that he received a $25 million fine from the NBA but he countersued and the penalty was drastically reduced.
In all fairness, perhaps the previous commissioner felt that he would not have the support of the other owners’ to remove Sterling from the league. Sterling, also a skilled and experienced attorney/litigator, loves to fight and has spent the majority of his adult life in a court room. But he will find fighting the NBA much more difficult this time. When one tangles with the National Basketball Association, everything is in arbitration, NOT litigation.
After Sterling’s recent comments became public, Clippers sponsors such as State Farm, CarMax, Kia and Virgin America reportedly yanked their team sponsorship deals with the team (although not with individual players).
In a defining moment for Adam Silver yesterday, he let everyone know that he is not David Stern. After the league’s investigation and with the support of the other 29 owners, Silver banned Donald T. Sterling for life from the NBA and any NBA business, and fined him $2.5 million for his comments. As well, he is urging 75-percent of the owners to force Sterling to sell the team.
The investigation included an interview with Sterling, who came clean and confirmed what everyone knew: that it was his voice on the recordings. Hopefully, Commissioner Silver’s quick actions satisfy the NBA players, coaches and fans worldwide, bringing some closure and proof that there is no place for racism and bigotry… anywhere. Hate the man not the team, however.
This is an issue of respect. What other race calls themselves a derogatory name face-to-face on a daily basis? What other race uses the same derogatory name in Hip Hop music? What other race disrespects their women and calls them derogatory names on a daily basis?
If we, as black people, are to demand respect, we have to step up our game, respect ourselves, be respectful of others and teach it to our children and urge members of our community to do the same.
Donald Sterling put the Los Angeles Clippers coaches and players in a precarious situation in the midst of the best season in team history, during the playoffs while his team is attempting to win a championship. NBA Hall of Fame head coach Jack Ramsay passed away on April 28 and, on a day during which all NBA fans could have been honoring the legacy, class and grace of Ramsey, it is the stupidity and ignorance and verbal diarrhea of one Donald Sterling that instead has the focus.