While I do not think the Donald Sterling saga is anywhere close to over (he has a history of fighting these racism/discrimination allegations and denying wrong-doing), there just is no place for him in the NBA at this point, regardless of the means by which his racist nature came to light. I commend new NBA commissioner Adam Silver for levying virtually the maximum possible punishment on Sterling after just a few short months in office. I think it is a testament to the type of commissioner the NBA has inherited after the departure of David Stern. And while it may have have been a self-preserving PR move to save face of the "old, rich white men" club that is NBA ownership today, I commend other NBA owners such as Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander for issuing powerful statements on public record condemning the actions of fellow owner Donald Sterling instead of the usual slew of no comments or "the league will handle it." While we admire the players on the court night in and night out, it takes a message from the people running the show and signing the checks to really exhibit the stance the league is going to take on the issue.
However, the comments made by Donald Sterling should come as no surprise to anyone. As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pointed out on the Rachel Maddow Show, Sterling has been accused of racist antics in the city of Los Angeles for years and the NBA did nothing to address it (legally, may not have had grounds to as Sterling settled each case without admitting wrong-doing). But it took a direct jab at a NBA legend in Magic Johnson to sound the sirens on this guy and give him the boot from the league. Nobody was concerned with the countless number of low to mid-income families denied housing in Sterling's residences because of their ethnicity or the color of their skin. Sterling was accused of saying African-American tenants "smell" and "attract vermin" but business continued as usual for the L.A. Clippers and the rest of the NBA world.
It also saddens me to say that Sterling is far from alone in his bigoted beliefs. As mentioned in the audio, he hears from "friends" about V. Stiviano associating with African-Americans all over social media. Might some of those friends just be owners of other NBA franchises? While we love to glorify the realm of sports as a venue that transcends race relations, we have seen time and again that in reality it does not. For some, they still see black and white versus Packer green and gold or Knick Blue and Orange. Many may remember Marge Schott, former owner of the Cincinnatti Reds who has been quoted as saying Hitler was good for Germany and that she would rather have a trained monkey working in her office than an African-American. Or Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder whose successful broadcast career came to an abrupt halt after making comments on film alluding to the "superiority" of the black athlete.
And some might say that these people were old, stubborn, and set in their ways, raised during a different generation. They are far from the only perpetrators. Just this past week Brazilian footballer Dani Alves had a banana thrown at him during a match in Spain. The same has happened to Philadelphia Flyer Wayne Simmonds, an African-American hockey player. There is still only one black majority owner in the NBA (Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats) in a league that is 76% African-American. The NFL felt the need to implement the Rooney Rule, requiring minorities to be interviewed for head coaching and front office positions. Benjamin Watson, New Orleans Saints Tight End, scored a 48 on the wonderlic test during the NFL combine, one of the best scores ever. However, most people only heard about the 6 that Vince Young posted or the 4 that Morris Claiborne scored, each of them African American players. Just a few years ago, while I was playing a baseball game in upstate New York, a mixed-race teammate of mine was called a racial slur by a fan while hustling out a ground ball to first base. This was a Junior Varsity baseball game, 16 year old kids, in small town New York encountering racism in sports first hand.
But I fear that racism will soon take a back seat in bigotry to the sports world's next hot topic - homophobia. As more courageous individuals like the NBA's Jason Collins, former Missouri football player Michael Sam, the WNBA's Brittany Griner, and UMASS basketball player Derrick Gordon reveal themselves to the world, we will see a whole new form of intolerance and small-mindedness rear its ugly head. Jason Collins has already acknowledged he has been called this and that while taking the floor during NBA games. Brittany Griner has said that she was "silenced" while at Baylor, a Christian University, regarding her sexuality for recruiting purposes. ESPN spent the better part of an entire week analyzing how Michael Sam's coming out was going to negatively affect his draft stock. Not because of any lack of talent, simply because he is gay.
I would like to think that after all of the hard work and courage that the likes of Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King, and others did to break down racial/gender barriers in sports that we would be better prepared to handle the "coming-out" party we are and will continue to witness in major sports today. Early indications are I am sorrily mistaken. What will it take for people to realize a win is a win, a loss is a loss regardless of the gender, race, ethnicity, or sexuality of the players involved? At the end of the day, isn't what the scoreboard reads after the clock strikes zero what really matters?
My personal opinion is that I have no issue at all if Sterling is forced to sell the Clippers because I think he's a pretty despicable person. But as far as what I think is a fair business decision: I don't think it's a reasonable punishment to have the owners vote on whether Sterling should be allowed to keep his team. The Clippers are Sterling's business. He bought them with his money, and thus runs that business the way he chooses. The way he chooses is obviously something most of us find despicable, but that does not give us the right to force him to stop doing business. Everyone directly and indirectly involved in the Clippers business has given their reaction to his comments. Sponsors withdrew from participating with the team, the league fined Sterling and banned him from participating in league activities, and the players of the Clippers and Warriors even said that they would not play if Sterling was allowed to come. Fans that hate Sterling are allowed to not buy tickets and root for a different team. I would even go so far as to say that the upper management of the Clippers should be allowed to discuss removing Sterling as owner. But having the NBA force him to sell his business does not seem to be an appropriate response to me.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree wholeheartedly with what you are saying. I think the NBA has done its job. I am not sure what the NBA constitution all owners had a say in and abide by says about the removal of an owner. I do know that gambling on games, financial instability are grounds for removal, but illegally obtained comments in the privacy of your own home I doubt is in there. And I think it would open up a whole new can of worms if they were to vote Sterling out if such a move were permitted. I am sure Sterling would have plenty of dirty laundry to air on other owners and personnel in the league if such were to be brought to court. And you are right, it is up to us as fans and players and sponsors to not associate with a Sterling-owned team, but it is quite a disservice to the NBA and the LA community and the Clipper family with him still in place. So I am not sure what the right answer is in terms of his continuing ownership. I don't think it is lawful for a forced removal, but I think we are definitely heading down the path of a strongly coerced sale of the team. But to your point, you express similar sentiment to Mark Cuban in that we are traveling down a slippery slope if we take someone's business away because they hold different (albeit reprehensible) views of the world. We can only hope he takes the path of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich and removes himself from the picture. Not likely considering he is the man in charge, nobody else to answer to.
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