# NBA Owner's Racism Exposed **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069 "2014-04-26T18:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/201 "2014-04-30T00:48:05Z")
I’m pretty stunned that he was banned for life. I predicted a 1-year suspension. After 30 years of this guy working the same schtick, with ample opportunities to wave the banhammer, I’m thinking the reason he got banned was because Adam Silver had to prove that he wasn’t soft. If he fumbled his first crisis he would have had credibility problems for the rest of his tenure. Those doubts don’t exist anymore. Not that Sterling didn’t deserve it. He did. But he’s deserved it for a very long time. I didn’t think the NBA bigwigs had it in them. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/202 "2014-04-30T01:01:58Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > [Here you go](http://nypost.com/2014/04/06/jay-zs-medallion-bears-logo-of-five-percent-radical-group/) What beliefs does Jay-Z have? Do you have a cite for his beliefs, or just a link to a picture of him with a medallion on? ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/203 "2014-04-30T01:07:42Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Wait, zero tolerance? What the fuck? Are you the same **chargerrich** whose opening gambit in this thread was to say Sterling was set up, and then follow it with > > ? > > As long as we’re sharing opinions: I think you sound like you’re invested in defending the kind of supremacist culture **Acsenray** was talking about. I think you’d prefer it if racism would keep being swept under the rug. I openly admitted that I had not heard the whole recording and apologized for making a comment beforehand. At this point, you do not want to win any argument you simply want to badger thinking you are being cute by being selective in your reading. I am not impressed. If I state my stance is that all racism should be treated harshly and equally, you either agree or disagree, anything else including personal attacks is simply you being an arrogant prick. So congrats, you win tough guy you are the better internet asshole. Since I do not do anonymous message board fights so I will remove myself from the “dialogue”. Happy flaming elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/204 "2014-04-30T01:09:58Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > You “betting” he would have been fined harshly is not a fact. But feel free to continue to get personal instead of having a civil dialogue. It’s pretty clear it’s not a fact given Jay-Z has never said such a thing, and that he likely wouldn’t. Either way, your whole premise is foolish. Once again: 1. Jay-Z is not a 5 percenter. 2. He wasn’t an owner at the time he wore the chain 3. The NBA has no power to fine fans who espouse unpopular beliefs. You should just drop this idea that the two things are analogous at all. > [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > I never said I may have heard about a documentary. I saw the documentary. Although it may have been a WGN special report. I really don’t recall where I saw it. Well no, you started off by saying it was a well-known fact. Which it clearly is not. Then you went on about this documentary you saw somewhere that substantiated this. Again, given you were wrong about this being a known to most, why should anyone assume you are accurately describing what you saw given you cannot even recall where you saw it, or the specific details of this well known racism heaped on White NBA players. > [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > So let me ask you this, What Sterling said is bad but he said it in confidence not knowing this was going public. What if he tells a black player on the court…Hey sit down black boy, you ain’t shit. This kind of talk goes on towards white players all the time. Do you not understand that trash talk between PEERS on different teams WHILE PLAYING A GAME is different that an OWNER saying the same thing, and advocating discriminatory practices? Even beyond the fact that saying, “White boy” is pretty mild in terms of trash talk, the idea that the intent is racist is highly suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/205 "2014-04-30T01:11:33Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I do understand that completely. > > However IMO all racism should be treated as equally unjust, ignorant and narrow and should be met with something approaching zero tolerance. You know, two rights do not make a right and all. I don’t think you understood **Acsenray’s** point at all. All racism \* isn’t\* equally unjust. Let’s take another look at what he posted and you claimed to understand: > [@Acsenray](#): > > To an _overwhelming_ extent, white racism against non-whites has had a deep, devastating effect on non-whites in America for half a millennium. Racism against whites–while it no doubt exists to some extent–has almost zero negative effect on white people. We still live in a white supremacist culture (though no doubt it has slowly been getting better since 1865) and so long as this is true, white racism against non-whites will remain an important social factor and not the other way around. So you understand all that completely, but you want us to act as if it’s not true? Institutional white racism against non-white people - especially from somebody as powerful as Donald Sterling - has a much greater capacity to hurt people and is a far greater injustice than whatever Jay-Z’s bling says about whitey. Pretending otherwise comes off as a futile attempt to defend the indefensible. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/206 "2014-04-30T01:13:47Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I do understand that completely. > > However IMO all racism should be treated as equally unjust, ignorant and narrow and should be met with something approaching zero tolerance. You know, two rights do not make a right and all. It’s one thing to say that all racism should be met with zero tolerance. It’s quite another to minimize white racism that is being dealt with publicly by saying “hey, there’s anti-white racism too!” You are clearly implying that something is wrong or out of proportion regarding the reaction to Donald Sterling. Anti-white racism is simply not a significant socio-cultural phenomenon. It’s a red herring. Sure, it’s unfortunate that it exists but it’s simply _not that important_ given the history and current reality of racism in America. And When the real problem of racism is being dealt with, don’t be surprised if “but anti-white racism exists!” is met with irritation. At that point, you’re trifling with us. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/207 "2014-04-30T01:16:34Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > It’s pretty clear it’s not a fact given Jay-Z has never said such a thing, and that he likely wouldn’t. Either way, your whole premise is foolish. Once again: > > 1. Jay-Z is not a 5 percenter. > 2. He wasn’t an owner at the time he wore the chain > 3. The NBA has no power to fine fans who espouse unpopular beliefs. > > You should just drop this idea that the two things are analogous at all. > > Well no, you started off by saying it was a well-known fact. Which it clearly is not. Then you went on about this documentary you saw somewhere that substantiated this. Again, given you were wrong about this being a known to most, why should anyone assume you are accurately describing what you saw given you cannot even recall where you saw it, or the specific details of this well known racism heaped on White NBA players. > > Do you not understand that trash talk between PEERS on different teams WHILE PLAYING A GAME is different that an OWNER saying the same thing, and advocating discriminatory practices? Even beyond the fact that saying, “White boy” is pretty mild in terms of trash talk, the idea that the intent is racist is highly suspect. So calling Sterling a racist in the same way you call the KKK racist is the same thing because they are both white yet if a black guy makes MINOR racist remarks it’s not a big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/208 "2014-04-30T01:24:09Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Happy flaming elsewhere. I’m not flaming, and I’m certainly not tough. I didn’t keep badgering you when you backed off. But you picked right back up with trying to find equivalences to things that aren’t equivalent. The only possible effect that continuing to bring these things up can have is to drown out the actual problem in background noise. It’s very inconvenient for you if it isn’t your goal, but whether it’s your goal or not, the effect is that you’re mounting a defense for racism. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/209 "2014-04-30T01:36:42Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > So calling Sterling a racist in the same way you call the KKK racist is the same thing As of this moment, the KKK has little power in our society. It was disc retied long ago and no one takes them seriously. By contrast, it is racists like Donald Sterling—men with power and wealth and influence—the kind of racists who, unlike Sterling, are usually smart enough to keep their views to themselves—they are the ones who still run our society and they are the ones who need to be taken down. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/210 "2014-04-30T01:39:23Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > So calling Sterling a racist in the same way you call the KKK racist is the same thing because they are both white yet if a black guy makes MINOR racist remarks it’s not a big deal? 1. I don’t agree that calling a guy “whiteboy” while trash talking during a basketball game is necessarily racist. 2. None of that has anything to do with Donald Sterling 3. I never compared Sterling to the KKK 4. Donald Sterling is clearly a racist, and just because that same term is used to describe other people doesn’t mean anything. To make a simple analogy you can understand. I think most would agree Michael Jordan is tall at 6’6". People would also agree that Dikembe Mutumbo is tall at 7’1". Calling both of them tall isn’t really an issue. And lest you think Black people associated with the NBA are not criticized for saying bigoted things, just Google “Tim Hardaway fired”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/211 "2014-04-30T02:01:52Z")
Hey, remember how the Clippers agreed to get J.J. Redick and then the deal got held up for a couple of days for some reason? [It might be because Sterling had reservations about Redick because he’s white.](http://fansided.com/2014/04/29/nba-rumors-donald-sterling-didnt-think-j-j-redick-deserved-big-contract-white/) As far as I’m concerned, white players are under no obligation to say anything about Sterling. There’s nothing wrong with them speaking out, but I’m happy to assume they disagree with him absent other evidence. The stuff this guy said was vile and I wouldn’t assume anyone agreed with it- and unlike team owners, white basketball players are pretty much making a choice to associate with black people on a full time basis. And this is really fascinating: [all the teams are sharing this message.](http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10858570/nba-teams-unite-los-angeles-clippers-one-message) [There are even reports the players were willing to boycott tonight’s games over this issue.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/nba-players-boycott-sterling-punished/story?id=23520534) There’s a widespread assumption that the NBA Players’ Union got crushed during the last lockout - not only did the owners get pretty much everything they wanted, but the players fired their union head over misconduct and nepotism accusations - but they really stood up for themselves here. The star players and commentators were also very outspoken. I assume Kevin Johnson (mayor of Sacramento/former player) deserves a lot of the credit for this stand. It might be an important moment in the labor/management relationship in the NBA. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/212 "2014-04-30T02:04:21Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > And lest you think Black people associated with the NBA are not criticized for saying bigoted things, just Google “Tim Hardaway fired”. And if you want to see how a person can handle being publicly and loudly wrong with class and a real desire to correct the situation, just Google “Tim Hardaway fired”. Oh heck, I’ll save you the trouble and quote his wiki entry: > [@](#): > > During a February 14, 2007 interview on a Miami sports radio show, in response to the coming out of former NBA player John Amaechi, Hardaway remarked that he would try to distance himself from a player he knew was homosexual. When asked by the radio show host whether he realized that his remarks were homophobic, Hardaway responded by saying: “Well, you know I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.” He also said that if he found out he had one or more gay teammates, he would try to get them fired.[9][10] > > Later in the day, Hardaway apologized for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox affiliate WSVN in Miami. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said I hate gay people or anything like that.”[11] He further apologized on February 15 in a statement released by his agent.[12] On the same day, the NBA responded to Hardaway’s comments by removing him from its All-Star Weekend activities later that week.[12] Hardaway’s employer, Trinity Sports, owner of the Anderson-based CBA Indiana Alley Cats, dismissed him from his position as Chief Basketball Operations Advisor,[13] and the CBA issued a statement distancing itself from Hardaway’s remarks.[14] > > In a September 2007 interview, Hardaway spoke about his February comments, saying he “had no idea how much I hurt people. A lot of people.” He described the controversy as “the biggest bump [in the road] in my life”, and added, “I’m going to do whatever I can to correct it. That’s all I can do.”[15] > > In an interview on February 11, 2010, on Hardcore Sports Radio on Sirius, Hardaway spoke about his recent work with The Trevor Project and The YES Institute, which he has done to educate himself on gay, lesbian and transgendered issues.[16] > > In April 2013, when Jason Collins came out as the first active openly gay male player in a major American professional team sport, Collins claimed that Hardaway called him in support of his homosexuality.[17] In July 2013, Hardaway was the symbolic first signer of a petition to put a proposed amendment to the Florida State Constitution overturning Florida Amendment 2 and allowing same-sex marriage in his home state of Florida on the ballot in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/213 "2014-04-30T02:11:22Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What beliefs does Jay-Z have? Do you have a cite for his beliefs, or just a link to a picture of him with a medallion on? To add to your post, you’ll note that the bottom paragraph of the article has a five per center attacking him for wearing it because he’s not a member, doesn’t subscribe to their beliefs and is using the symbol as a fashion accessory. Note I’m hardly a Jay Z fan but he strikes me as being more like one of those idiot white hipsters who wear CCCP or Che T-shirts than some believer in the evilness of white people. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/214 "2014-04-30T02:14:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t see any need to compare consequences for varying degrees of racism. > > Taking a broad perspective, Banning a filthy rich old fucker from owning an NBA team is a pretty small consequence for him in my view. > > It hurts Stirling almost not at all, but makes a very important symbolic statement. Almost perfectly in proportion so far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t talking about that. He’s banned for life from even attending a game. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that decision. I don’t want to defend the slimeball, but we’re getting into Scarlet Letter territory here. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/215 "2014-04-30T02:18:25Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wasn’t talking about that. He’s banned for life from even attending a game. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that decision. I don’t want to defend the slimeball, but we’re getting into Scarlet Letter territory here. I still don’t see the big deal, he can watch them at home like the other millions of people who never get to go to games. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/216 "2014-04-30T02:20:51Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wasn’t talking about that. He’s banned for life from even attending a game. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that decision. I don’t want to defend the slimeball, but we’re getting into Scarlet Letter territory here. Really? Getting banned from watching live basketball seems pretty meh as punishments go. People get banned from bars and clubs for bad behavior all the time. Is there something fundamentally wrong with that as well? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/217 "2014-04-30T02:28:57Z")
Incidentally, ok Spike Lee’s statement is hypocritical considering how often he whined it was wrong for Jewish leaders to criticize Farrakhan when Farrakhan made anti-Semitic comments, but his recent comments were hardly outrageous much less comparable to Sterlings claims. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/218 "2014-04-30T02:50:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wasn’t talking about that. He’s banned for life from even attending a game. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that decision. I don’t want to defend the slimeball, but we’re getting into Scarlet Letter territory here. Fundamentally wrong? Nah, it’s small potatoes. There are plenty of people who will never be able to attend an NBA game in person. It won’t affect his quality of life in any meaningful way. But again the symbolism is very significant. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/219 "2014-04-30T03:38:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Fundamentally wrong? Nah, it’s small potatoes. There are plenty of people who will never be able to attend an NBA game in person. It won’t affect his quality of life in any meaningful way. But again the symbolism is very significant. I think what John’s going for is the concept of the thought police. It’s not like Sterling is ever physically going to go to a game. He’s made himself so unpopular as to become a crowd control problem. He might as well change his name to “fuck you” because that’s how he’s going to greeted anywhere he goes. But I find the ban to be conceptually large potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/220 "2014-04-30T03:43:26Z")
It’s no different than a bar or night club banning you for life for going on a racist tirade that upsets your clientele. Who is supposed to be the police and how are they policing thoughts? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=12)