Clearly, the LA Clippers owner Don Sterling is an a-hole and a hypocrite on many levels.
Here's Al Sharpton's response to Don's (alleged) comments:
"No one should be allowed to own a team if they have in fact engaged in this kind of racial language."
What is Al Sharpton talking about taking the team from him? Is there any way to actually remove Sterling as the owner without violating property rights? Doesn't seem possible to me.
http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/al-sharpton-investigation-donald-sterling…
Who cares what Al Sharpton thinks?
Actually not that many. As an African American, I am not a fan of Al Sharpton and neither are quite a few people I know. Everyone knows racism is still present in the United States and will likely never go away but people like Sharpton always come out and demand these grand retributions just to extend their 15 minutes of fame rather than talking sensibly about the issue of race.
If this were Venezuela then you could just confiscate property without just compensation. I guess we're not yet Venezuela.
Al Sharpton is the biggest detractor from his own cause. By virtually teleporting to the front line of every racist confrontation, he trivializes the matter at hand and turns it into "another thing Al Sharpton is complaining about." He should take a note from something I learned in my early (and arrogant) fraternity days: learn to lead from the rear.
That said, Don Sterling is a dick and there's little we can do about it.
The NBA owners can vote to have him sell his stake, the Clippers are property of the NBA, not Sterling. For example, he can't randomly decide to have the Clippers leave the NBA. There is precedent for owners forcing another owner to relinquish a team, the mlb did this with that old antisemite chic that owned the reds. But then again, Hebrews have power, blacks don't, so I doubt they'll be taking the team from him.
Actually, that doesn't look to be the case.
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/26/report-nba-probably-c…
Actually, the comments were against blacks and Jews. For someone to have black players and make money off of them and say this is beyond disgusting especially while smiling in their faces and using them as a cash machine. His girlfriend is also black and latino. You have to be braindead to think that the nba should let him continue as an owner.
He is Jewish. Comments were about black Jews, not Jews in general.
@paidoff: that's semantics and illustrates my point.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I'm not familiar with the complexities of the NBA, but couldn't the league structure a mega fine to force him out of ownership?
The man is a terrible human. I respect the right to free speech, but that does not mean you can say whatever you want without repercussions. He is going to be forced out of ownership one way or another.
He will likely lose ownership
Who fucking cares. If people really were offended by this they would protest with their pocketbooks. Which is never going to happen so its a pointless debate.
That's ridiculous. It comes from the same school of shallow and fallacious thinking as saying "if you want Wal Mart to change their policies, just stop shopping there."
This.
The bigger issue at hand here is that this isn't a new thing, Sterling has done this sort of thing before. Hopefully the punishment will be different this time.
Exactly. For anyone who isn't new to the situation, this is just another one of Sterling's missteps. It's NOT news that he's a rascist. What I find frustrating is that the NBA, players, fans, and media are just now getting around to doing something about it. And in relation to his track record, the most recent comments weren't his worst.
I'm glad he's leaving. I just wish it would have happened sooner.
You guys can heap all the monkey shit you want to, doesn't change the reality of the situation. People will still go to the games, still buy the jerseys, still watch on tv. The league bylaws only allow for a forced sale due to monetary reasons. So if you are for a forced sale then you stop watching the games, stop buying their crap, and get your friends to do the same. Other wise everyone is throwing a fit for no reason. Much ado about nothing.
Crowdfunding for a buyout?
I gave you a SB to even it out @"heister"
@"TNA" haha thanks man I just find it funny how ass hurt some people get about this stuff. Rather than look at it rationally they all let their emotions rage.
@"Anihilist" no, I have no interest in buying a sports franchise. At, least not now. But I doubt I will ever buy one even if I could.
@"heister" I just find it funny how everyone is ready to off his head without any process. It is also funny how this guy wins numerous NAACP awards and his team and front office is full of individuals of color, women, and ethnicity. Pretty apparent that if this guy is a racist it hasn't impacted his hiring practices or being recognized by the NAACP.
Meanwhile Magic is fanning the flames, but wait, he is trying to acquire the Clippers.
Almost makes it seem like a hit job.
On a different note, I don't take anything that non profits say or do seriously. Most of them are nothing more than a giant circle jerk among themselves.
I read an amazing article today on the new moral standard of our society. Nobody cares that this guy cheated on his wife with an obvious gold digger, but having racist views (which pretty much everyone of every race has, even if spoken silently) is such that the whole league is melting down over it--President Obama, on an overseas trip to address the looming World War III, even addressed the subject as being indicative of the larger American society.
I have to admit that even when it was plainly obvious to me (that this incident happened with his 40-something-his-junior gf who is being sued by his wife for taking/receiving millions of dollars in community property), it even flew over my head. Our society's moral standards have been completely re-programmed to the point where we're numb to any depravity, except for the sin of racism or homophobia. Racism (which is definitely real) and homophobia (which is largely imagined) are the new "en vogue" sins.
This isn't NASCAR or the NHL dude. The NBA is really important to the black community, and obviously, black players represent like 80% of all NBA players. Oh, and as for the President...being the first black president is one of the few things he still has going for him. I don't know that Bush would have felt the need to issue a statement quite as quickly, but I don't blame Obama for doing so.
I actually get what you're saying to an extent; racism and homophobia are vilified more frequently and openly in the press than many other transgressions these days. But this Sterling stuff warrants a quick and comprehensive response from the NBA and its stakeholders.
I think if society got off the witch hunt bus and actually stepped back and reviewed the conversation in its context then it would be incredibly instructive. You have an older guy who is in love with a half black/half Mexican woman, who owns an NBA team dominated by black people, and who is obviously tight with certain members of the black community (since he was getting an NAACP award—you don’t get that out of the blue). What you have here is a man who is battling generational conflicts—on one hand he doesn’t care about the race of his girlfriend; on the other hand everything he was taught as a young person has remained in his psychology decades later. The guy is much more like Thomas Jefferson than he is like Adolf Hitler. He represents a larger struggle of conscience among a generation.
But you can be certain that no honest analysis will take place--race hustlers like Barack Obama and Al Sharpton will score as many points as they can and move on.
We have such a clown commander-in-chief that he is weighing in on TMZ audio recordings. What a joke.
Wait, did you just say basketball is important to the black community?
Merely addressing DC's disapproval of the widespread reaction to this alleged "scandal." In context, they're quite appropriate.
It’s not disapproval of the reaction—it’s amazement at how society has so radically changed. It demonstrates that even secular societies have “sins” that must be addressed by those who are in no way associated with the issue at hand. Should the NBA address it? Absolutely. But we have the “Pope” and his “religious men”—Sharpton, Jackson, Obama—who will prosecute and persecute until they have driven the sin from Earth, just like Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. were successful in driving out the sins of lust, greed, pride…oh wait.
Don Sterling should go. Letting him off the hook would send so many wrong messages to everyone fighting racism around the world.
I'm not going to make excuses for this dude. He obviously has a history of racial bias. My point is simply lets find out exactly what went on regarding this. The guy got a bunch of NAACP awards and all of a sudden a taped convo leaked my some trash online site has people demanding his head on a plate.
Fire up the drones, the USJD is about to release the memo that makes it okay to kill American citizens.
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