Hypocrisy involved with Sterling's comments

[mjs34]

Here is an article written by Kareem on the whole situation. I think it does a great job of covering the bases.

http://time.com/79590/donald-sterling-kareem-abdul-jabbar-racism/

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The prevailing board opinion seems to be that although Sterling is a despicable guy, the punishment that he received was too severe. I don't agree. While I'm generally a proponent of free speech and normally wouldn't support any penalty for someone merely making a comment, no matter how heinous, the NBA is a different story...it's not real life. I know that comparisons of the NBA to slavery won't sit well with many, in that the African Americans involved are almost all millionaires. But the fact remains...the NBA is a business in which the work force is 80% black and ownership is 98% white, a potentially explosive situation if not monitored carefully. And Sterling broke the rules by making hateful comments certain to anger the work force that the white ownership relies on to add to their billions. And the other rich white owners are just as angry because Sterling's comments jeopardize the fragile social contract the NBA represents, and threatens to take away their golden egg-laying goose. If I were an insider in this situation...that is either a player or an owner...I would be enormously angry also. The players, because they have been insulted and demeaned, and the owners, because their livelihood has been threatened. Sterling's words are serious given their context within the make-believe world of the NBA, and he needed to be thrown out of the club.

I don't think this will be easy though, because I don't think a prick like Sterling will go peacefully. Most billionaires made their fortunes ether by building strong relationships or being incredibly creative. Not Sterling. He made his fortune through pure ruthlessness. He doesn't appear to have any friends (the seats around him at Clipper games are usually empty unless he brings a hooker), and he doesn't seen to care what people think about him. Although the NBA bylaws allow a vote of 3/4 of the owners to force a sale, the lawyers on this board would understand better than I whether these bylaws are constitutional. Sterling was a lawyer once, albeit an especially sleazy one, and he is going to fight this to the end. Fasten your seatbelts, gents, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

[A Friendly Flatulence [enjin:8907904]]

Players were ready to boycott the playoffs and I actually believe that they would to make a statement. This guy (sterling) is making money off of black players/coaches and he sees them as second class citizens. I'd sit a game or two in order to ensure everybody (owners especially) knew that this sentiment will not stand. I think they would be justified in boycotting, the fans/public perception would be on their side I believe.

I believe the absolute max punishment was warranted, get this POS out of the NBA, he has done nothing to grow the game in perennially fielding a terrible squad until the NBA gifted him Chris Paul. The NBA has grown despite of Sterling, he should be thankful they're letting him sell the team at its current value. Not to mention he is not remorseful at all about his comments GTFO Donald.

N.B.A.- No Bigots Allowed

[kms789 [enjin:6694798]]

The prevailing board opinion seems to be that although Sterling is a despicable guy, the punishment that he received was too severe. I don't agree. While I'm generally a proponent of free speech and normally wouldn't support any penalty for someone merely making a comment, no matter how heinous, the NBA is a different story...it's not real life. I know that comparisons of the NBA to slavery won't sit well with many, in that the African Americans involved are almost all millionaires. But the fact remains...the NBA is a business in which the work force is 80% black and ownership is 98% white, a potentially explosive situation if not monitored carefully. And Sterling broke the rules by making hateful comments certain to anger the work force that the white ownership relies on to add to their billions. And the other rich white owners are just as angry because Sterling's comments jeopardize the fragile social contract the NBA represents, and threatens to take away their golden egg-laying goose. If I were an insider in this situation...that is either a player or an owner...I would be enormously angry also. The players, because they have been insulted and demeaned, and the owners, because their livelihood has been threatened. Sterling's words are serious given their context within the make-believe world of the NBA, and he needed to be thrown out of the club.

I don't think this will be easy though, because I don't think a prick like Sterling will go peacefully. Most billionaires made their fortunes ether by building strong relationships or being incredibly creative. Not Sterling. He made his fortune through pure ruthlessness. He doesn't appear to have any friends (the seats around him at Clipper games are usually empty unless he brings a hooker), and he doesn't seen to care what people think about him. Although the NBA bylaws allow a vote of 3/4 of the owners to force a sale, the lawyers on this board would understand better than I whether these bylaws are constitutional. Sterling was a lawyer once, albeit an especially sleazy one, and he is going to fight this to the end. Fasten your seatbelts, gents, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

This is a fantastic post

[Monster]

At first I was thinking something like this was going to be too harsh, but one perspective is that its a privilege to be an owner of a pro franchise. Sterling has done plenty in the past to show that these comments were legit and if they wanted to keep him from having the privilege of having a team then so be it. Of course they don't worry that much about character of owners when they are looking at purchasing a team, but do you think the NBA would be interested in Sterling right now if he was looking to buy a team? Obviously no.

I'll also say its convenient that Silver is new on the job so he can even bring along the stuff nobody did anything about before and pile on. He wasn't the commish back then and now he can do something abut this.

Is this punishment fair? Thats a complicated question, but here is the deal Sterling as it has been mentioned is going to still be flithy rich and how many minorities have been oppressed by Sterling's hands directly not to mention any other more wide history of oppression. The guy deserves this and even if all this punishment goes through how bad will it make his life? I really don't know it really does seem like he doesn't care much about anyone else.

[The Rage Monster [enjin:8010341]]

Here is an article written by Kareem on the whole situation. I think it does a great job of covering the bases.

http://time.com/79590/donald-sterling-kareem-abdul-jabbar-racism/

Sums it up well. The fake or delayed outrage really annoys me. Sterling has been this person for a long time, it's not like he became racist overnight and then made these comments. If Silver was truly as outraged by Sterling as he wants to appear he would have began an investigation and handed out some type of consequence the moment he became commissioner.

[Porckchop]

Does this mean guys like Riley Cooper and Kobe Bryant should be forever void of owning a business after their basketball careers are over? Should they be allowed to continue their playing careers? Slippery slope! Along with punishment should come forgiveness.. Casting stones comes with a huge responsibility .
The media is full of self righteous pricks who have stirred up a mob. Not a single one can say theyve never insulted the obese, too skinny, too tattoed too meek etc.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I do wish people would stop using the "he's making money off black players and coaches" argument. THEY'RE PAID PROFESSIONALS. This isn't anything remotely close to "slave labor" as Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless were protesting yesterday. Is he racist? I think it's fair to say he is. Did he break any laws, though? Nope. Not one. In fact, he's the victim to his private conversation being exposed to the world, which actually is illegal in California. Making racist comments is ignortant, morally wrong and frowned upon, but it's not illegal in any way, shape or form.

If Sterling can get a lifetime ban for his WORDS, then Silver better be ready to hand out the same punishment for players/coaches/FO personnel/owners who find themselves in trouble with the US law. Actions speak louder than words every single time. How would it be fair for a player to get legally charged with a DUI/sexual assault/gun possession and then not receive a lifetime ban? I think we'll see that in due time. This punishment has created more problems than it solved, in my opinion.

And just to bring this up, because I think it's a fair question, would Silver have been so hard on Michael Jordan or any other black owner had they been exposed expressing their dislike of white people? I'd say the punishment wouldn't be anywhere near as harsh and the world wouldn't be so upset over it anyway. Just some thoughts.

[kms789 [enjin:6694798]]

I do wish people would stop using the "he's making money off black players and coaches" argument. THEY'RE PAID PROFESSIONALS. This isn't anything remotely close to "slave labor" as Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless were protesting yesterday. Is he racist? I think it's fair to say he is. Did he break any laws, though? Nope. Not one. In fact, he's the victim to his private conversation being exposed to the world, which actually is illegal in California. Making racist comments is ignortant, morally wrong and frowned upon, but it's not illegal in any way, shape or form.

If Sterling can get a lifetime ban for his WORDS, then Silver better be ready to hand out the same punishment for players/coaches/FO personnel/owners who find themselves in trouble with the US law. Actions speak louder than words every single time. How would it be fair for a player to get legally charged with a DUI/sexual assault/gun possession and then not receive a lifetime ban? I think we'll see that in due time. This punishment has created more problems than it solved, in my opinion.

And just to bring this up, because I think it's a fair question, would Silver have been so hard on Michael Jordan or any other black owner had they been exposed expressing their dislike of white people? I'd say the punishment wouldn't be anywhere near as harsh and the world wouldn't be so upset over it anyway. Just some thoughts.

It comes down to money, as it always does. The NBA stood to lose a ton of money over the public perception of this guy. CEO's get fired all the time for saying stupid things on twitter or in the media. It's the same thing, but that is considered okay. The NBA shouldn't be forced to lose a ton of money over Donald Sterling, and I don't feel bad for the guy.

[Phenom]

At the end of the day, the NBA is bigger than one person. Maybe Sterling's punishment was too severe but I don't think Silver or NBA had much of a choice. The reality is that keeping Sterling around would cause many problems involving revenue, fan interest and personnel issues within the team. One person will never be worth that hassle and I doubt anyone else would get off any easier with those issues looming. Should the NBA now put the hammer down for all other offenses, many with actual criminal distinction? Yes, but they won't unless it disurpts league operations in a similar manner. Sad but true.