Minnesota Sports Forum

My position is very clear on this, sjm. I don't think Silver had any choice but to do what he did, and the 100% concurrence of the other owners shows why...Sterling was jeopardizing the 100's of millions these guys have at stake, and they were not going to let that stand. As for Johnson, if he were involved in a domestic assault, I personally find that despicable. But I don't think it is the NBA's role to express their outrage every time a player is involved in something heinous...or LeBron James' role for that matter.

Just to be clear, what is your position on this?

1) Do you think that the NBA should not have taken action with respect to Sterling?

2) Do you think the NBA should punish players every time they are involved in something bad? Domestic disputes? What about DUIs? What should be the extent of that punishment...fines, suspensions, permanent ban?

3) You mentioned LeBron James a couple times, and his silence to this point on the Johnson allegations, and seem to be outraged about that. Is it your position that LeBron should weigh in every time a player misbehaves or does something illegal? Even during the playoffs or should he get an exemption from his judging during the finals at least?

I'm trying to keep this at a level meaningful for a sports forum, so the appropriateness of the actions (or lack thereof) of the various people involved seems to be a proper way to frame the discussion.

Long, I have no problem with the NBA punishing Sterling, other than the fact that it was something private that was illegally leaked. There has been, no will there be any investigation into the tape from what I have read. Sterling comments did go against the bylaws for the NBA, but I am not sure if private conversations should be considered.

I think that if the players want to make demands on the NBA for what Sterling did, then they should be ready to be upheld to the same standard.

I am calling out Lebron because he put himself front and center by calling for the removal of Sterling before they had even authenticated the tape. Teams don't even comment on criminal misconduct by players until the legal process runs it's course. Why shouldn't the players have to follow that same set of rules.

What bothers me most about this is that until their nosed were rubbed in it, none of the owners or players seemed to give two cents about the matter. Everyone knew Sterling was a racist, but they were all happy to take his money. You said yourself that this was about money.

As far as the players go, this could just be a case of the NBA "brotherhood". While some players were certainly very offended by what Sterling said, it is hard to say if everyone was specially passionate about it; but I have no doubt that the players feel they need to stick together when it comes to anyone outside the brotherhood. Gilbert Arenas forgave him a few days later but he does not have anything to lose anymore. When a fellow player is in legal trouble, they seem to get each others' back moreso than anything else.