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fired for a political contribution.

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Which is public information, no?

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fired for a political contribution.

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Which is public information, no?

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As are the tapes of Sterling.

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That needed to be done. There's absolutely no room for that type of ignorant opinion in America, whatsoever.

Yes, it's 100% a harsh punishment. It was also 100% warranted. If you're part of a work place and you send an email or talk about racially sensitive material at work, you're subject to being fired. Same thing here. I'm so happy that there were no exceptions made, and instead, the NBA and America as a matter of fact, got a little bit better today.

Progress, it's all about progress

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Exactly!

Could you imagine the outrage if any NBA owner (past/present/future) made comments similar to this? Maybe something along the lines of:

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So I ball so hard muthaf*****s wanna fine me
first ni**gas gotta find me
What's 50 grand to a muthaf***** like me
Can you please remind me?
Ball so hard, this **** crazy
Y'all don't know that don't sh*t phase me
The Nets could go 0-82 and I look at you like this s**t gravy

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Or

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You know I - thug em, **** em, love em, leave em Cause I don't ****in need em Take em out the hood, keep em lookin good But I don't ****in feed em

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Could you imagine the outrage, indignation and fines/bans that would follow for somebody saying something like that?

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Progress, it's all about progress

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This isn't progress. This is bull****. Metaphorically burning a guy at the stake for words in an illegally recorded conversation? Are you kidding me? Progress would have been doing this 9 YEARS AGO when he was brought up on charges of racism by the DOJ in his real estate practices, where he was fined and had to pay ~7M altogether in fines and court costs. You know, cause his racist practices there actually MATTERED. Punishing him now, for ignorant comments made in a private conversation that really had no effect on anyone, is just looking for acceptance from the popularly outraged public that the NBA is doing the "right" thing, even though this situation is nothing compared to his former convictions of racism.

Donald Sterling is a despicable man, but he's done far worse things publicly that the NBA did absolutely nothing about.

One other thing (and I ask because I have no clue but saw it on the news earlier)...

The NBA can force him to sell the team but can they force the price that the team must be sold at?

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Progress, it's all about progress

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This isn't progress. This is bull****. Metaphorically burning a guy at the stake for words in an illegally recorded conversation? Are you kidding me? Progress would have been doing this 9 YEARS AGO when he was brought up on charges of racism by the DOJ in his real estate practices, where he was fined and had to pay ~7M altogether in fines and court costs. You know, cause his racist practices there actually MATTERED. Punishing him now, for ignorant comments made in a private conversation that really had no effect on anyone, is just looking for acceptance from the popularly outraged public that the NBA is doing the "right" thing, even though this situation is nothing compared to his former convictions of racism.

Donald Sterling is a despicable man, but he's done far worse things publicly that the NBA did absolutely nothing about.

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One other thing (and I ask because I have no clue but saw it on the news earlier)...

The NBA can force him to sell the team but can they force the price that the team must be sold at?

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Market value

I wonder when Tony Parker's lifetime ban is coming?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tony-parker-apology-quenelle-photo

Or Shaq for his racists comments to Yao Ming?

http://modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=301:the-right-to-be-racist-against-asians-&catid=44:media&Itemid=56


Oh wait, we don't really car about RACISM, right? It's just THAT racism that gets us all hot and bothered.

this is not going to hurt the value of the team. an NBA franchise in LA? there will be plenty of bidders ready to "save" this franchise from their racist overlord.

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Disagree. I don't think anyone associates his comments with the 29 other owners or the NBA. No one thinks the NBA is racist now. They think "That old piece of **** that everyone hates is a piece of ****."

Minnesota's owner did much worse for the reputation of the league when he agreed to an under the table contract with Joe Smith. He got a 1 year ban and lost 4 draft picks.

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That's not what I meant when I said his comments harm the league. If the NBA did nothing (or not enough) to punish Sterling than there is a very real chance they would lose a lot of fans which decreases the value of the NBA as well as the value of every other team. Fans/players could boycott any games for/against the Clippers with Sterling still in place which would also harm the rest of the owners financially.

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Punishing him now, for ignorant comments made in a private conversation that really had no effect on anyone

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If they didn't have an effect on ANYONE, then why the hoopla?

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Donald Sterling is a despicable man, but he's done far worse things publicly that the NBA did absolutely nothing about.

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That happened under David Stern's watch.
He was known for turning the other cheek at pretty much everything.

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I wonder when Tony Parker's lifetime ban is coming?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tony-parker-apology-quenelle-photo

Or Shaq for his racists comments to Yao Ming?

http://modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=301:the-right-to-be-racist-against-asians-&catid=44:media&Itemid=56


Oh wait, we don't really car about RACISM, right? It's just THAT racism that gets us all hot and bothered.

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Market value

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It sounds like the market value of the Clippers could be well over $1 Billion.

Tough loss for the guy...

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I wonder when Tony Parker's lifetime ban is coming?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tony-parker-apology-quenelle-photo

Or Shaq for his racists comments to Yao Ming?

http://modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=301:the-right-to-be-racist-against-asians-&catid=44:media&Itemid=56


Oh wait, we don't really car about RACISM, right? It's just THAT racism that gets us all hot and bothered.

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So are you insinuating that blacks are the real racists in America?

[This message has been edited by BoxingAg84 (edited 4/29/2014 4:00p).]

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Market value

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It sounds like the market value of the Clippers could be well over $1 Billion.

Tough loss for the guy...

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Closer to $700 million but yes

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I wonder when Tony Parker's lifetime ban is coming?

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tony-parker-apology-quenelle-photo

Or Shaq for his racists comments to Yao Ming?

http://modelminority.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=301:the-right-to-be-racist-against-asians-&catid=44:media&Itemid=56


Oh wait, we don't really car about RACISM, right? It's just THAT racism that gets us all hot and bothered.

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So are you insinuating that blacks are the real racists in America?

[This message has been edited by BoxingAg84 (edited 4/29/2014 4:00p).]

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Oh god..... You know that's not what he's saying

What if Sterling sold to the Seattle guys?

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So are you insinuating that blacks are the real racists in America?

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Not to speak for him, but, I think he is insinuating that the NBA is taking a huge stand against a white racist because he is a racist.

However, the NBA hasn't had an issue with black racists (see Jay-Z ownership and the links posted earlier).

In another note...what's crazy is how racist and bigoted so many countries around the world, including western Europe, yet America gets stuck with the "image."

I'd argue that America has overcome its history and issues with race much more than many other civilized, western countries who continue to bury it and act as if it isn't a problem.

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Could you imagine the outrage if any NBA owner (past/present/future) made comments similar to this? Maybe something along the lines of:

quote:
So I ball so hard muthaf*****s wanna fine me
first ni**gas gotta find me
What's 50 grand to a muthaf***** like me
Can you please remind me?
Ball so hard, this **** crazy
Y'all don't know that don't sh*t phase me
The Nets could go 0-82 and I look at you like this s**t gravy


Or

quote:
You know I - thug em, **** em, love em, leave em Cause I don't ****in need em Take em out the hood, keep em lookin good But I don't ****in feed em


Could you imagine the outrage, indignation and fines/bans that would follow for somebody saying something like that?

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Chill, bro. Those are classics.

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Chill, bro. Those are classics

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yes, they are.

were they really promoting the image the NBA wanted to promote?

Seems like a headscratcher to me that the NBA was fine with one owner that would say things like that, and get paid for it, but they are not fine with another owner saying something similar.

What is wrong with admitting there is a double standard?

Sterling could've defended this as art if he had spoken in haikus.

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However, the NBA hasn't had an issue with black racists (see Jay-Z ownership and the links posted earlier).

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Jay-Z isn't an NBA owner and isn't racist.
Where are you coming up with this?

I don't have a problem with Silver trying to kick Sterling out. It's similar to an HOA trying to foreclose on a home that is lowering neighborhood property values. NBA ownership is among the most exclusive of properties. That is why there are constitutions and by-laws in place.

This is not a free speech issue. The NBA is a private "club" which has its own set of rules. I would be very against the government attempting to remove someones assets due to personal beliefs. That is not what is happening here.

I do believe that if Sterling maintained ownership it would cause harm to the NBA brand and to a lesser extent other teams. It has already been noted that a number of sponsors have dropped out for the Clippers. It is likely that many sponsors are also exerting pressure on the NBA as a whole behind closed doors. Not to mention the potentially chaotic backlash among players (and free agents) if Sterling maintained ownership.

The NBA doesn't need the bad (unnecessary) publicity that allowing Sterling to maintain ownership would bring. It's their club. If the owners want Sterling to stick around they can still make that happen.

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Jay-Z isn't an NBA owner and isn't racist.
Where are you coming up with this?

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He was an owner and the NBA never had an issue with it.

*edit* For jeff...

I don't disagree with anything you just said.

However, Cuban's comments about a slippery slope are very true.

If I were a member of that club, I'd be incredibly worried about what this decision could mean in the long-term. You are effectively booting a guy based on personal private comments he made that were illegally made public. No matter how horrible those comments are, you have set precedent within that club of what could happen if we all don't agree.

If you trust your leadership and the other members of the club, then it should be fine. But this weakens the strength of every owner in the club.

[This message has been edited by Bunk Moreland (edited 4/29/2014 4:29p).]

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He was an owner and the NBA never had an issue with it.

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What did Jay-Z say that was racist?
Btw...he owned 1 fifteenth of 1% of the Nets.
That doesn't really constitute full ownership.

That is an excellent point.

ESPN posted that Silver was kicking him out for reasons that were "detrimental" to the NBA.

However, detrimental isn't defined and it sounds like he is essentially ordering all of the owners to vote the way he wants them to vote.

What happens if he decides he doesn't like Mark Cubans antics (for example)? He could easily do the same and coerce the other owners into voting the same way.

These are not the only racist comments anyone associated with the nba has made. There are plenty of off color things said. Often as jokes. I expect this will set a new standard in dealing with it.

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What did Jay-Z say that was racist?
Btw...he owned 1 fifteenth of 1% of the Nets.
That doesn't really constitute full ownership.

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Read the song quotes I posted. Also check out Jay-Z and the 5%ers...

http://thegrio.com/2014/04/07/jay-z-criticized-for-wearing-five-percent-nation-%C2%ADmedallion/

If you don't like that source just hit up google box.

Also, does it matter if it is full ownership or partial ownership? As Silver stated"

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Sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic league

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Again, it's ok to admit there is a double standard. Racism is wrong across the board.

As a side note to all this, who is running this girl?

I can't imagine she dreamed up all on her own a plan to record her conversations with Sterling, bait him into a discussion about race where he revealed his own prejudices, release them to a notorious gossip website (TMZ) etc.

Any beef she has would seem to be with Sterling's wife who is suing her, and not Sterling himself.

I'm curious as to who/what was behind the need to record to begin with and what the motivation was. The dude is loaded so I imagine some of this was related to some future blackmail opportunities but I'm betting that this girl in her wildest dreams never thought this big a **** storm would come down from this.

If I ahd to venture a guess, I would say Magic Johnson.

He has had interest in buying the Clippers and he likes young women.

I wouldn't be surprised if he colluded with her to do it so Sterling would possibly be forced out and he could swoop in and buy the team.

I don't think the wife would do it as it would take assets away from her and a divorce.

EDIT- what I am more interested in is, what legal fallout will come from this? If she illegally recorded him, can he press charges against her?

Also, if she edited the tapes in anyway to make him look bad could that result in libel/slander charges against any organizations that played the transcript of the edited tapes (I am guessing no, but I have no idea)

[This message has been edited by SockAg (edited 4/29/2014 4:43p).]

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If I had to venture a guess, I would say Magic Johnson.

He has had interest in buying the Clippers and he likes young women.

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Again with the Magic stuff. Also, where have you been since 1991?

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10857268/removing-donald-sterling-la-clippers-owner-fix-our-culture

For anyone interested.

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Read the song quotes I posted. Also check out Jay-Z and the 5%ers...

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Rap lyrics are nothing more than stories.
No different from a scene in a movie...they're stories!
As far as the 5% chain...
Jay-Z has always been pro black.
However, he's NEVER spoken ill will or racist views toward those of a different ethnic backgrounds.