# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/101 "2014-04-29T18:38:42Z")
If they weren’t already, things got a lot more clear cut when we heard that Sterling confirmed the voice was his, and showed no remorse over the remarks. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/102 "2014-04-29T18:40:36Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > People just seemed to care a tad more this time. And honestly, beyond a few cases of internet outrage and some quippy soundbites, is there actually much of an uproar? To the point that most people will remember this in 5 years? I sincerely doubt it. When Sterling was being a 100x worse scumgbag in 2009 I don’t remember player protests, wall to wall coverage on bball blogs, the bball personalities talking about it constantly on TNT, ESPN, ABC, other owners weighing in, league sanctions, mainstream news coverage, getting run on the Daily Show, Obama getting on the soapbox… But maybe I missed it. I do remember a couple stories about the Elgin Baylor thing, but most everyone just shrugged their shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/103 "2014-04-29T18:42:41Z")
Wow, great decisive move by the league. Only one thing I don’t quite get. What exactly is he banned for life from? Attending games and showing up to league functions? Or banned from owning a team? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/104 "2014-04-29T18:44:50Z")
BOOM! ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/105 "2014-04-29T18:53:38Z")
WOW! Silver doesn’t play around! That is more than I expected the league to actually do, but it’s what some NBAers were asking for. They went to maximum punishment allowed. How long is he allowed to take to sell the team? Is there a set rule for something like this? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/106 "2014-04-29T19:00:25Z")
Whatever the owners as a group decide, I guess. I guess Magic and company will get the team after all. \*The ban means Sterling is now barred from attending any NBA games or practices, be present at any Clippers office or facility, or participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. He also cannot participate in any league business going forward.\* ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/107 "2014-04-29T19:01:08Z")
> [@Kiros](#): > > If they weren’t already, things got a lot more clear cut when we heard that Sterling confirmed the voice was his, and showed no remorse over the remarks. Did he really do this? Well, there is no way out for him. He gets what he deserves. I think what bothers me about this whole thing is that it took so long. Why wasn’t the Rollie Massimino incident investigated? How about the Elgin Baylor incident? Are we all supposed to believe he was not overheard by anyone but Baylor when he brought women into the locker room to look at the amazing black bodies? I mean, WTF was the league waiting for? ETA: seems the league did something recently, but I don’t know the details. I’ll go and look them up. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/108 "2014-04-29T19:05:58Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Wow, great decisive move by the league. Only one thing I don’t quite get. What exactly is he banned for life from? Attending games and showing up to league functions? Or banned from owning a team? He is banned from having any kind of relationship or input or decision making with anything involving the NBA. I imagine as long as he is the owner he would still collect checks from the team. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/109 "2014-04-29T19:19:00Z")
Well, I’d say a lifetime ban and a $2.5 million dollar fine (which he will never pay) and the forced sale of the team is about as severe as you could get. I am glad the verdict came in so quickly. For those of you who thought I was being a supporter of Sterling, here is a quote from Adam Silver. > [@](#): > > “When I first heard the comments I was hoping it was doctored and hoping it wasn’t Donald,” Silver said. "I’ve known Donald for over 20 years. Just as I was saying, Silver wanted to make sure the tape wasn’t doctored. However, is anyone bothered by the very next statement attributed to Silver? > [@](#): > > “I haven’t been that close to him, but never seen anything that would indicate that he held the views that were expressed in these audio tapes.” Really? He’s known Donald for over 20 years and was hoping the tapes were doctored, yet he “never saw anything that would indicate that he held these views?” I have asked this two posts ago, but I will ask again… What about the Rollie Massimino incident? What about the Elgin Baylor lawsuit and the alleged comments made by Sterling in the locker room about the black players bodies? I ask again, what took so long, and why the conflicting statements by Silver? Or am I reading that second statement wrong? It didn’t take long for folks to find articles relating Sterlings racist behavior… I can buy that Silver may not have heard the Massimino incident (I don’t personally believe it, since he has known Sterling for 20 years and has been involved in the NBA that long at least, but I’ll give him that one.), but how could he not have known about the Elgin Baylor allegations? That link posted by **brickbacon** on page 1 is amazingly graphic, and if accurate, are just as disturbing as these latest statements, ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/110 "2014-04-29T19:19:56Z")
Am I really the only one thinking this is a witch hunt? Yes the guy has a history of being racist and maybe for his PREVIOUS statements he should be removed from the league, forced to sell, shamed, et al. Heck I will concede the guy is both a racist and an entitled ass$%^… But having now listened to the full audio, I wonder if all these coaches, players and owners who have called the audio “disgustingly hateful” and other inflammatory adjectives like Michael Jordan stated heard something different than I did. The content of the audio is certainly unsavory but it is borderline racist at worst. What quote did I miss? I heard that he simply wanted to tell the gold digger that she should stop hanging around other men in public and posting the pics for all to see if she wanted to remain his girlfriend and taking his Ferrari’s, 2 Bentley’s and 250k in cash. It just so happens that she had been hanging out predominantly with black men, so he - stupidly and probably in anger - used the word black people. He even went on to say how much he admired and liked Magic Johnson. But had the gold digger been taking pics with Kirk Heinrich and Kevin Love he would only have removed one word from that sentence… Black. I believe he would have almost word for word the exact same thing. The old dude sounds mad/sad/hurt/upset and that’s the worst he says? TO ME he was referring to men in general. He even tells her he doesn’t care if she even sleeps with them (out of anger i am sure) but not to humiliate him publicly… but taking suggestive photos with other men, it just so happens they were not white (or jewish or whatever) and were African American which is an instant hot button. How is that full blown, lifetime ban racist? What am I missing? I do not understand the outrage and this seems like a witch hunt. For the record I do not give a rats ass for the guy, but damn this seems harsh. ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/111 "2014-04-29T19:25:48Z")
In the tapes, she asked him if it would have made a difference if she were hanging out with white guys. It definitely had to do with their being black. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/112 "2014-04-29T19:28:25Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > He is banned from having any kind of relationship or input or decision making with anything involving the NBA. I imagine as long as he is the owner he would still collect checks from the team. Yeah, if nothing else happens he will not be able to go to any Clippers facility or any NBA game or function, including NBA governance meetings. He would retain ownership of the team an still be entitled to the team’s profits as he was before. I’m not familiar with any other NBA owners this has happened to, but in baseball it happened to both George Steinbrenner and Marge Schott. Steinbrenner was banned for life in the early 1990s for paying a private investigator to dig up dirt on one of his players, but Bud Selig I believe reinstated Steinbrenner once he became Commissioner (I believe it was Fay Vincent who banned him.) During the interregnum so to speak, someone basically stood in as controlling partner for Steinbrenner and he was not allowed to have any interactions with the organization. Marge Schott was banned twice, one in 93 for racist comments and for two years starting in 1996 for even more racist comments (including saying Hitler was a good guy for Germany and that she didn’t consider the word “Jap” to be offensive.) She ended up selling the Reds during that ban period. To take the franchise away from Sterling will require a 3/4 vote of the rest of the NBA owners, which I suspect will probably happen, but Silver can’t force a sale unilaterally as that is outside the powers of the Commissioner. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/113 "2014-04-29T19:30:16Z")
I just want to know: When did the [Dean](http://cdn.splitsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Jim-Rash-e1321553456429.jpg) from _Community_ take over as NBA [Commissioner](http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/002/758/236/2fd900b9d760149c928a52ea37f58c54_crop_north.jpg?w=630&h=420&q=75)? ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/114 "2014-04-29T19:31:18Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > It just so happens that she had been hanging out predominantly with black men, so he - stupidly and probably in anger - used the word black people. “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with… people. Do you have to?” ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/115 "2014-04-29T19:36:56Z")
Can anyone post a link to the entire recording? I haven’t heard it from start to finish and I am curious as to what else was in there. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/116 "2014-04-29T19:42:36Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > It’s cool that we’re about 50/50 on whether it’s the NAACP and/or the girlfriend or the guy who disgorged the actual racist rant who we want to be ashamed of themselves. No, I think we’re pretty well unanimous in thinking Sterling should be ashamed of himself. There are just some of us pointing out that absolutely none of the major players in this mess are coming out looking good. ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/117 "2014-04-29T19:46:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In the tapes, she asked him if it would have made a difference if she were hanging out with white guys. It definitely had to do with their being black. SHE said that - which is leading/baiting by the way - but that only speaks to HER opinion/thought/interpretation of the conversation. ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/118 "2014-04-29T19:49:48Z")
This is not testimony in court. Concepts like “leading” or “baiting” don’t apply. He made it clear he doesn’t want his “delicate white” girlfriend (who isn’t white) to be seen on Instagram or at Clippers games with black men. ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/119 "2014-04-29T19:51:54Z")
Honestly, who gives a fuck if she asked a leading question? Is there a serious argument here that asking someone to stop associating with black people isn’t “fullblown” racist? ---
**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 29, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/120 "2014-04-29T19:52:39Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Can anyone post a link to the entire recording? I haven’t heard it from start to finish and I am curious as to what else was in there. https://www.youtube.com/embed/dZh6WGbZUvA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=7)