# 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:** 7
**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, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/121 "2014-04-29T19:53:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > 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. That is your interpretation. Maybe I am naive and do not look far enough into the words but he made it clear to me… he doesn’t want his “delicate white” girlfriend (who isn’t white) to be seen on Instagram or at Clippers games with OTHER men (while dating him and milking him for over 2 million in coin and gifts). Sadly for him, the OTHER men were African American and he made the mistake of using the world “black”. To my way of thinking, that is rude, unsavory, poorly worded, stupid and MAYBE borderline racist but not worth a 2.5 million fine and lifetime ban from the sport. ---
**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, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/122 "2014-04-29T19:54:52Z")
V: I don’t understand, I don’t see your views. I wasn’t raised the way you were raised. DS: Well then, if you don’t feel—don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black people, and don’t come. V: Do you know that you have a whole team that’s black, that plays for you? ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/123 "2014-04-29T19:57:08Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > 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. Either you misunderstood my use of the word baiting or I did not explain clearly. If you listen to the audio, she asks the - irrelevant - baiting question (would it be different if it were Larry Bird) AFTER his comment which only serves to paint the PREVIOUS comment in a racist light. Surely you guys can see that. :dubious: Edit - not sure why I am defending the guy, his previous and unrelated history just means he is getting his due… but I stand by the witch hunt comment. ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/124 "2014-04-29T19:57:44Z")
No one can see it. It isn’t a point. He said why do you have to associate with black people. This is the example of racism that anti-“PC” people are always saying other examples of racism _aren’t_. It actually could not be any more racist. His entire point is about race. Race is the thing he’s talking about. One race is the race he’s against, and another one is the one he’s for. This is not a trick question. ---
**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, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/125 "2014-04-29T19:58:18Z")
V: Honey, if it makes you happy, I will remove all of the black people from my Instagram. DS: You said that before, you said, “I understand.” V: I DID remove the people that were independently on my Instagram that are black. DS: Then why did you start saying that you didn’t? You just said that you didn’t remove them. You didn’t remove every— V: I didn’t remove Matt Kemp and Magic Johnson, but I thought— DS: Why? V: I thought Matt Kemp is mixed, and he was OK, just like me. DS: OK. V: He’s lighter and whiter than me. DS: OK. … DS: It’s the world! You go to Israel, the blacks are just treated like dogs. V: So do you have to treat them like that too? DS: The white Jews, there’s white Jews and black Jews, do you understand? V: And are the black Jews less than the white Jews? DS: A hundred percent, fifty, a hundred percent. V: And is that right? DS: It isn’t a question—we don’t evaluate what’s right and wrong, we live in a society. We live in a culture. We have to live within that culture. V: But shouldn’t we take a stand for what’s wrong? And be the change and the difference? DS: I don’t want to change the culture, because I can’t. It’s too big and too [unknown]. V: But you can change yourself. DS: I don’t want to change. … … V: Racism! Discrimination. DS: There’s no racism here. If you don’t want to be… walking… into a basketball game with a certain… person, is that racism? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/126 "2014-04-29T19:59:35Z")
This board is hilarious. There is always someone on this board trying to make a case that something that is blatantly racist isn’t that bad, or he’s old so of course he’s racist so how can we be surprised, or is just “arguably” racist, or “borderline” racist, or might not be racist at all because the woman is a gold digger whore, and someone else is to blame for the racism. We’re just missing the full-fledged “liberals and blacks are the real racists.” Those are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/127 "2014-04-29T20:00:12Z")
@chagerrich - Go listen to that 9 minute youtube video posted just above you. It has subtitles. Sterling is specifically complaining that she’s posting pictures of herself with minorities. “Why are you taking pictures with minorities?”, those are Sterlings’s exact words. He made this about race all by himself. He has no one but himself to blame for the situation he’s in. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/128 "2014-04-29T20:01:16Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > This board is hilarious. There is always someone on this board trying to make a case that something that is blatantly racist isn’t that bad, or he’s old so of course he’s racist so how can we be surprised, or is just “arguably” racist, or “borderline” racist, or might not be racist at all because the woman is a gold digger whore, and someone else is to blame for the racism. > > We’re just missing the full-fledged “liberals and blacks are the real racists.” Those are my favorites. Don’t forget how it’s the female who is really to blame. That’s always the bit I like. ---
**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, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/129 "2014-04-29T20:01:38Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Either you misunderstood my use of the word baiting or I did not explain clearly. If you listen to the audio, she asks the - irrelevant - baiting question (would it be different if it were Larry Bird) AFTER his comment which only serves to paint the PREVIOUS comment in a racist light. > > Surely you guys can see that. :dubious: What makes you think it’s irrelevant. The whole conversation is about his being upset that there was a black person in the pic. She’s using the counter-example of Larry Bird like any reasonable person might. If he didn’t want her being seen with men period, regardless of race, he would have said so right then when she asked about Larry Bird. ---
**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, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/130 "2014-04-29T20:01:58Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > It actually could not be any more racist. Really? Hyperbole much? :rolleyes: If you REALLY think that is the most racist thing that can be said then you lose any credibility IMO and we do not have much to debate. That said, mob rules /lights torch and grabs pitchfork. ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/131 "2014-04-29T20:03:47Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > 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. I can’t imagine them not doing it although I doubt they’ll vote before the end of the season. Cuban and Jordan have been pretty clear on where they stand and if nothing else the other owners have to realize they risk protests, boycotts, and player walkouts if Sterling starts the next season as an owner, even absentee. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/132 "2014-04-29T20:03:48Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Don’t forget how it’s the female who is really to blame. That’s always the bit I like. I thought I had that covered with the gold digger whore meme. If I didn’t… I blame me. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/133 "2014-04-29T20:05:43Z")
[The bottom line is that there’s a significant chance we may never know with certainty the identity of the man in that recording. Audio forensics is an imprecise field and the quality of the recording is not superb. However, the one thing we can say with certitude about that anonymous voice is that it is a voice of reason. Indeed, within moments of listening to the audio, I was struck by the speaker’s commanding tone and his courage to speak difficult truths.](http://www.theonion.com/articles/its-impossible-to-say-whose-voice-that-was-but-he,35898/) ---
**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, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/134 "2014-04-29T20:05:52Z")
He’s saying treat this race one way, and treat this other race a different, better way. Is he doing that, and are you dumb, those are really the only steps we need to play the “is obvious racism racism” game. ---
**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, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/135 "2014-04-29T20:09:14Z")
OK I had read what I thought was the full transcript but just listened to the subtitled audio…:smack: Yeah dude is a raging racist, my apologies but given what I heard I thought it was a witch hunt (and would be if that were everything) but I missed A LOT and the guy has to go. I retract my stance and offer my humble apologies. /bow ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/136 "2014-04-29T20:13:57Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > For those of you who thought I was being a supporter of Sterling, here is a quote from Adam Silver. You are/were clearly a supporter given the contortions you twisted yourself into to try to figure out a way to defend this guy. Even if it wasn’t him, the conclusions most have drawn in this thread would still be 100% accurate. Your weak attempts to talk about irrelevant things like wiretapping laws and due process just made you look crazy and delusional. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Just as I was saying, Silver wanted to make sure the tape wasn’t doctored. It’s one thing for Adam Silver, a lawyer and commissioner of the league, to tread cautiously given his position. However, please note he didn’t make excuses for Sterling like you did. He didn’t contend there was some liberal PC rush to judgment, or claim he was being lynched, or compare Sterling’s detractors to “hysterical children”, or suggest there was some witch hunt, or blame is girlfriend, or claim the NBA “giving” him Chris Paul or him receiving awards from the NAACP makes him less deserving of judgement. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > However, is anyone bothered by the very next statement attributed to Silver? Did you expect him to say, “I kinda knew he was a racist dirtbag all along, but now he is fucking with our money, so it’s time for him to go?” > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > 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? Listen, the reality is that he is not being punished for being a racist, but rather costing the league money, and tarnishing their brand. People were perfectly happy to let him act as he had been acting so long as he didn’t make his behavior something they would have to pay for and answer for. Keep in mind that the NBA ownership has only become a great business proposition recently (last 3 years or so). In 2011, Philly sold for $280 million and NO couldn’t even find a buyer. Six teams were sold in 2010 and 2011. Bad teams, and teams in small markets, were likely losing money year to year in that period. Now, any NBA would easily sell for double that 2011 valuation. Steve Ballmer recently wanted to buy a team, and had a package worth over $800 million, and he couldn’t do it. The Clippers are in a big (seemingly saturated) market, but they sucked for decades and didn’t seem to be on a road to getting better. The NBA was in no position to publicize the fact that one of their owners is a world class scumbag, and hurt the brand of the league and the value of the Clippers in the process. Given they couldn’t force him to sell the team in the past, and that there were likely not many buyers, addressing his behavior head on was not really a viable strategy given the costs. Sterling is known to be a pretty litigious guy, so I am not sure why making it public would have been a good thing at the time given the gloomy prospects for the league at the time. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I ask again, what took so long, and why the conflicting statements by Silver? Or am I reading that second statement wrong? I didn’t hear his full statement, but if it was as you stated, it’s probably because he felt he had to lie to avoid making it seem like the NBA was complicit. I don’t know why you expected him to be 100% honest anyway. He is a paid spokesperson. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > 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, Yes, yet you still went on about how there was a rush to judgement. Why? ---
**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, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/137 "2014-04-29T20:45:00Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > Am I really the only one thinking this is a witch hunt? Its only a thing if they weren’t witches. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/138 "2014-04-29T20:52:02Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I thought it was a witch hunt I thought there were elements of a make-up call in it. This guy’s been in the league long enough that pretty much everyone must have already had a pretty good idea about this problem. But they never did anything about it, whether or not they had a factual basis to act on. This event may not have forced the NBA to act, but it may have simply given them the excuse they needed to finally do what they probably have known for many years they should have done. ---
**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, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/139 "2014-04-29T20:52:10Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > No one can see it. It isn’t a point. He said why do you have to associate with black people. > > This is the example of racism that anti-“PC” people are always saying other examples of racism _aren’t_. It actually could not be any more racist. His entire point is about race. Race is the thing he’s talking about. One race is the race he’s against, and another one is the one he’s for. This is not a trick question. Let me ask you something… because I personally agree with you that his comment was racist. If Sterling’s “girlfriend” was jewish, and he said, "look, I don’t want you to be seen with anyone but Jewish people. I don’t care what you do with anyone in private, but I wish you wouldn’t post Instagram pictures with all of these non-jewish people. I don’t like having to answer questions about it. Would you consider that to be racist? ---
**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 29, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069/140 "2014-04-29T20:54:07Z")
Banned for life? Jeez, doesn’t a guy get a chance to rehabilitate himself? I can see slapping him with a hefty fine, but banned for life from attending games? That seems ridiculous. (Although the guy is kind of old, so in absolute years it probably won’t be that long.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-owners-racism-exposed/687069.md?page=8)