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http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=3B35C230-DA2D-5528-1F562D64A1C3ABF1 (http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=3B35C230-DA2D-5528-1F562D64A1C3ABF1)
Race row roils NBA
By: Associated Press
April 26, 2014 03:33 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO — Anger, frustration and calls for action echoed around the NBA on Saturday after an audio recording surfaced of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to games.
Everybody except for the embattled Clippers owner, who has a decades-long history of discrimination and offensive behavior, seemed to have a response.
The league said it was investigating the recording posted on TMZ's website, calling the comments "disturbing and offensive." Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, a target of Sterling's remarks, said he wouldn't attend Clippers' games as long as Sterling was the owner. Miami Heat star LeBron James asked new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to take aggressive measures, saying "there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league."
"Obviously, if the reports are true it's unacceptable in our league," James said. "It doesn't matter, white, black or Hispanic — all across the races it's unacceptable. As the commissioner of our league they have to make a stand. They have to be very aggressive with it. I don't know what it will be, but we can't have that in our league."
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said players even discussed boycotting Game 4 of their first-round playoff series at Golden State on Sunday during a 45-minute team meeting but quickly decided against it.
"I think the biggest statement we can make as men, not as black men, as men, is to stick together and show how strong we are as a group," Rivers said. "Not splinter. Not walk. It's easy to protest. The protest will be in our play."
Clippers President Andy Roeser said in a statement that the team did not know if the tape is legitimate or has been altered. He said the woman on the tape, identified by TMZ as V. Stiviano, "is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would 'get even.'"
Roeser also said the recording does not reflect Sterling's beliefs. He added that Sterling is "upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him" about Johnson, whom he called Sterling's friend.
In the recording posted on TMZ, the man questions his girlfriend's association with minorities. TMZ reported Stiviano, who is of black and Mexican descent, posted a picture of herself with Johnson on Instagram — which has since been removed.
The man asked Stiviano not to broadcast her association with black people or bring black people to games. The man specifically mentioned Johnson on the recording, saying "don't bring him to my games, OK?"
"I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner," Johnson responded on Twitter. He also said the alleged comments are "a black eye for the NBA" and said he felt bad that friends such as Rivers and Clippers point guard Chris Paul had to work for Sterling.
Paul released a statement through the players union that said "this is a very serious issue which we will address aggressively." Paul and Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin declined further comment on the issue after the team's practice at the University of San Francisco.
Other players were not made available as Rivers said he would speak for the team.
"A lot of guys voiced their opinions. None of them were happy about it," Rivers said. "This was a situation where we're trying to go after something very important for us, something that we've all dreamed about all our childhoods. Donald or anyone else had nothing to do with that dream, and we're not going to let anything get in the way of those dreams."
Silver was scheduled to address reporters Saturday night in Memphis, Tenn., before the Grizzlies' playoff game against Oklahoma City.
On TNT's halftime studio show Saturday, host Charles Barkley said "this is the first test of Adam Silver." He said Silver had to "suspend him and fine him immediately."
NBA TV analyst and former player Chris Webber said that "the NBA owners need to handle their own."
In Dallas, where the Spurs were getting ready to play the Mavericks, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said: "The comments are obviously disgusting."
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said "I have plenty of opinions, just not going to share them," fending off several inquiries before saying: "Obviously, if any business or entrepreneur says or does things that aren't congruent with what the organization is trying to convey, that's a problem. But it's not my problem."
Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who played for the Clippers from 1992-94, said of Sterling's comments: "My feeling would be the same, no matter if I was coaching, playing or a fan. There's no place for it."
Jacky Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, said the organization planned a protest outside Game 5 of the Clippers-Warriors series Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Sterling, a real estate owner, bought the Clippers in 1981. He is the longest-tenured owner in the NBA since Lakers owner Jerry Buss died last year.
He has been frequently criticized for his frugal operation of the Clippers, although in recent years he has spent heavily to add stars such as Paul and Rivers, who is in his first year as coach. Sterling also has been involved in several lawsuits over the years, including ones with accusations of discrimination.
In November 2009, Sterling agreed to pay $2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics and blacks and to families with children. The Justice Department sued Sterling in August 2006 for allegations of housing discrimination in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles.
In March 2011, Sterling won a lawsuit against former Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor when a jury rejected the Hall of Famer's claim of age discrimination and harassment. Baylor, who was 76 at the time, had sought about $2 million after claiming he was forced out of the job he had held for 22 years. The team said Baylor left on his own and a jury awarded him nothing.
Sterling is a courtside fixture at Clippers home games. But he rarely visits the team's locker room at Staples Center, although he made an appearance in December 2012 after they had won their 11th straight game, when he led an awkward locker room cheer.
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http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/donald-sterling-clippers-owner-black-people-racist-audio-magic-johnson/ (http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/donald-sterling-clippers-owner-black-people-racist-audio-magic-johnson/)
Clippers Owner Donald Sterling to GF -- Don't Bring Black People to My Games ... Including Magic Johnson
L.A. Clippers Owner to GF:
Don't Bring Black People to My Games ...
Including Magic Johnson
4/25/2014 10:00 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
(http://ll-media.tmz.com/2014/04/25/042514-donald-sterling-large-launch-v4-3.jpg)
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his GF he does NOT want her bringing black people to his games ... including Magic Johnson ... and it's ALL on tape.
TMZ Sports has obtained audio of Sterling making the racist declaration during a heated argument on April 9th with V. Stiviano ... after she posted a photo on Instagram posing with Magic.
Sterling rails on Stiviano -- who ironically is black and Mexican -- for putting herself out in public with a black person (she has since taken the pic down). But it doesn't end there. You have to listen to the audio to fully grasp the magnitude of Sterling's racist worldview. Among the comments:
-- "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?" (3:30)
-- "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that ... and not to bring them to my games." (5:15)
-- "I’m just saying, in your lousy f******* Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people." (7:45)
-- "...Don't put him [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games." (9:13)
Sterling has a documented history of allegedly racist behavior -- he's been sued twice by the federal government for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to Blacks and Latinos.
He was also sued by former Clippers exec Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination -- though a jury was ultimately not convinced and shot down Baylor's case.
Sterling has been separated from his wife Shelly for years. She remains a key player in running the team and sources tell us she's "mortified" by Sterling's comments.
We have made several calls to Sterling and his people ... so far, no word back.
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I saw this earlier today. Quite extraordinary. The new NBA commish has a major PR issue on his hands.
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“this is why i hate white people. You guys try to turn everything into a racial issue.” ~ charles barkley
:beer:
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I is be hatin on White peoples cause they always be's talkin bout Black peoples like we is be being stupid an shit. We is be being the same as them is be being. GET USED TO IT!
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http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/jesse-jackson-clippers-donald-sterling-audio-nba/ (http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/26/jesse-jackson-clippers-donald-sterling-audio-nba/)
Jesse Jackson -- Calls for Symbolic Protest ... From Clippers Players
Jesse Jackson
Calls for Symbolic Protest
... From Clippers Players
4/26/2014 8:09 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Home
Jesse Jackson -- Calls for Symbolic Protest ... From Clippers Players
Jesse Jackson
Calls for Symbolic Protest
... From Clippers Players
4/26/2014 8:09 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
EXCLUSIVE
042614_rev_jesse_jackson_launch
Reverend Jesse Jackson is calling for Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the rest of the Clippers to employ some kind of "symbolic expression" to protest the statements made by team owner Donald Sterling.
We just spoke with Jackson ... who tells us he's outraged by Sterling's racist comments -- and says it puts the players in an awkward situation, due to the fact they have a playoff game tomorrow.
Jackson says the league "must respond and respond quickly" -- and says the players should do something during the game to "show a sign of indignation."
Jackson pointed to the Miami Heat players -- who wore hoodies to show their outrage after the shooting of Trayvon Martin ... and says the Clippers should do something similar.
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Oh my. The thug league finds itself in a twist.
Couldn't happen to a better bunch of guys.
Meanwhile, me and mine are watching the National Hockey League Playoffs, where rapin', robbin', and boorish behavior are not the order of the day.
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You want racism?
I'll show you racism. The white man beating the black man down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjl3zOYPbRg
Black man gotta fight back
Show the plantation owner who da man is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7N3Iicu9EE
Plantation owner happen to be black.
It happens.
(http://nbabasketball.1pages.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/heatfunformobile---miami-heat-hot-flames-south-beach-305-nba-2ku1xywf.gif)
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/27/us/nba-team-owner-alleged-racist-remarks/ (http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/27/us/nba-team-owner-alleged-racist-remarks/)
Obama responds to alleged racist comments by Clippers' Don Sterling
By Kevin Conlon and Shelby Lin Erdman, CNN
updated 7:01 AM EDT, Sun April 27, 2014
(CNN) -- The racism controversy embroiling Don Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has reached half way around the world to Malaysia, where President Obama is on a diplomatic mission to Asia Pacific nations.
At a press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Sunday, Obama was asked about racist comments Sterling allegedly made about African-Americans.
"When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk. That's what happened here," the President said.
Obama also said Sterling's alleged comments are an example of how "the United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race and slavery and segregation."
"That's still there, the vestiges of discrimination. We've made enormous strides, but you're going to continue to see this percolate up every so often," Obama said in Malaysia.
Sterling, who has owned the basketball franchise for nearly three decades, is now under investigation by the NBA over the alleged comments.
According to the website TMZ, Sterling made the alleged discriminatory remarks during a 10-minute argument he had with girlfriend V. Stiviano on April 9. TMZ posted a recording of the argument online Friday.
If authentic, the remarks seem to reflect Sterling's embarrassment and frustration with Stiviano over her associating with African-Americans at Clippers games and for posting such pictures on her Instagram account.
Clippers president Andy Roeser on Saturday questioned the recording and suggested a woman -- whom he doesn't mention by name -- was "getting even" with Sterling over a lawsuit.
According to a report from CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS last month, Rochelle Sterling, the wife of Donald Sterling, filed a lawsuit last month and is seeking damages and property.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that the league's investigation will seek to determine whether the tape is authentic and to figure out the context in which these "offensive and disturbing" comments were made.
But he cautioned that Sterling must be afforded due process, so he would not speculate on any possible punishment, if any -- but said that the investigation will move "extraordinarily quickly."
Speaking about the recording, Roeser said, "we do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape -- who we believe released it to TMZ -- is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would "get even."
TMZ has not said who made the recording or how the celebrity-centric website obtained it.
Attempts to reach Stiviano on Saturday were unsuccessful. She is part African-American, according to the recording.
The man alleged to be Sterling takes particular exception to a photo she posted to Instagram with NBA icon Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
"In your lousy f**ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with -- walking with black people," the man says.
"If it's white people, it's OK?" she responds. "If it was Larry Bird, would it make a difference?"
Bird, the longtime Boston Celtics star, was Johnson's NBA rival.
"I've known [Magic] well and he should be admired .... I'm just saying that it's too bad you can't admire him privately," the man on the recording says. "Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f**k him, but don't put [Magic] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."
Johnson responded Saturday afternoon via his verified Twitter account.
"I feel sorry for my friends Coach Doc Rivers and Chris Paul that they have to work for a man that feels that way about African Americans" read a tweet from @MagicJohnson. "I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner," read another.
"We also suggest that African Americans and Latinos should honor his (Sterling's) request and not attend the games," Alice Huffman, the President of the NAACP California State Conference said in a statement released Saturday.
It's the first suggestion of a boycott of the team after the racism allegations.
In a side bar, Sterling was expected to receive a lifetime achievement award at an event next month to mark the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles NAACP.
"If these allegations are proven true, we are extremely disappointed in Mr. Sterling," Huffman said.
She urged the Los Angeles branch of the NAACP to withdraw Sterling's name from the honoree list for the anniversary celebration.
Roeser said Sterling is upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. "[Sterling] has long considered Magic a friend and has only the utmost respect and admiration for him -- both in terms of who he is and what he has achieved."
Sterling is "emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings," Roeser said.
"I don't know if I'm surprised or not," Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said at the team's practice Saturday, adding that he "obviously" didn't like the comments.
Rivers, who is in his first year coaching the team, told reporters that he didn't want the controversy to distract from the playoffs. He said he would be the sole person speaking on behalf of the team.
Miami Heat forward LeBron James was one of several players and former players weighing in on the controversy. James spoke to reporters before the playoff game against the Charlottle Bobcats Saturday night.
"If the reports are true, it's unacceptable. It's unacceptable in our league. It doesn't matter if you're white, black, Hispanic, whatever, all across the races. It's unacceptable and as a commissioner in our league, they have to make a stand, and they have to be very aggressive with it."
"Should this guy continue to be an owner?" asked Shaquille O'Neal, who also called the comments "repugnant."
"We cannot have an NBA owner discriminating against the league," said Charles Barkley. "We're a black league."
Both discussed the issue during the Atlanta Hawks-Indiana Pacers halftime program on TNT, which like CNN, is a division of Time Warner.
The players union's response will be led by NBA player-turned-mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson. "The reported comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling are reprehensible and unacceptable," he said in a statement.
Meantime, Sterling will be conspicuously missing from his usual courtside seats. He's agreed not to attend the Clippers palyoff game Sunday in Oakland against the Warriors.
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http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/376641/racist-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-democrat-tim-cavanaugh (http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/376641/racist-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-democrat-tim-cavanaugh)
Racist Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Is a Democrat
By Tim Cavanaugh
April 27, 2014 1:48 AM
(http://c0.nrostatic.com/sites/default/files/donaldsterling.jpg)
L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, whom commentators have tried to tie to the Republican Party after his alleged racist statements, is in fact a Democrat, according to campaign contribution records.
Sterling is in hot water after TMZ released recordings purporting to be a weird psychosexual rant he directed at girlfriend V. Stiviano, accusing her of publicly associating with black people. The highly offensive comments have drawn condemnation from across the National Basketball Association as well as from many other sources; and inevitably, attempts have been made to link him to the Republican Party. These appear to be based on campaign contribution records for a different Sterling, who lives in the state of Texas. Clippers owner Donald Sterling lives in Beverly Hills, has a long history of bigoted behavior in his Los Angeles business dealings, and according to a 2011 RealGM report, was a very occasional Democratic donor in the 1990s:
Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers
Records show Sterling has donated just $6,000, with no activity since the early 1990s. He supported Gray Davis early in his career, as well as Bill Bradley.
Bradley was a Hall of Fame forward for the New York Knicks before becoming a U.S. senator from New Jersey and an unsuccessful presidential candidate. Davis made out with Cybill Shepherd in the 1960s before becoming California’s 37th governor and the first Golden State executive ever to be recalled.
At the American Power blog, Donald Douglas has an extended discussion of Sterling’s donations to liberal causes and the left-leaning commentators who have lauded him in the past. At the time TMZ released its recording, Sterling was scheduled to receive a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP.
This will be an interesting banquet… pic.twitter.com/FZdcjI7mAJ
— Shelby Grad (@shelbygrad) April 26, 2014
Presuming the recordings are authentic, Sterling’s fixations appear to be strangely selective. At one point he fumes about Stiviano’s associating with Magic Johnson, not on the grounds that Magic is a former Laker but because Sterling believes she is publicizing her friendship with the beloved Los Angeles icon:
“[A]dmire him — bring him here, feed him, f–k him, I don’t care. You can do anything. But don’t put him on an Instagram for the world to see so they have to call me. And don’t bring him to my games.”
In another section Sterling reiterates that he is untroubled by the prospect of Stiviano’s sleeping with black men — an ancient point of agitation for white racists — but doesn’t want her to post pictures of blacks on Instagram:
“You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games.”
Sterling made his fortune as a divorce and personal injury lawyer and Southern California real estate developer. He is reported to be worth $1.9 billion.
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http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/133170-latest-clipper-owner-race-wrinkle-naacp-scheduled-award-donald-sterling-lifetime-achievement-award/ (http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/133170-latest-clipper-owner-race-wrinkle-naacp-scheduled-award-donald-sterling-lifetime-achievement-award/)
NAACP Scheduled To Give ‘Racist’ Democrat-Backing LA Clippers Owner Lifetime Achievement Award
By Michael Hausam
The NAACP is scheduled to award L.A. Clippers owner and Democrat supporter Donald T. Sterling a lifetime achievement award next month, adding to the controversy about racist comments he allegedly made to his girlfriend.
Charges of racism against Sterling are not new, having been sued by his 22-year employee and basketball star Elgin Baylor in 2009 (which was thrown out of court) and also settling a housing discrimination lawsuit.
On the other hand, he received a previous lifetime achievement award from the NAACP in 2009 and the President’s Award from them in 2008. Alice Huffman, president of the NAACP California State Conference, said in a statement, “If these allegations are proven true, we are extremely disappointed in Mr. Sterling.”
The Clippers organization released a statement today and definitely added some twists to the story. They deny that the recording reflects Sterling’s sentiments and are investigating to see if it is his voice or if it has been altered. Furthermore, the statement said this about the woman involved:
We do know that the woman on the tape — who we believe released it to TMZ — is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would “get even.”
Obviously, it will be incredibly interesting to follow where this story goes.
Update: African American conservatives makes a hilarious point via our friends at Young Conservatives:
I don’t know which political party Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling supports.
But if msnbc doesn’t focus on him exclusively for the next 2 weeks, if Rev. Al Sharpton and the NAACP don’t call for protests and demand Chris Paul and Blake Griffin quit the team, and if he isn’t forced to sell Clippers, he’s not a Republican.
Exactly.
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NAACP Will No Longer Give Clippers Owner Lifetime Achievement Award (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sterling-no-naacp-award)
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This is going to end up like Marge Schott...and the Cincinnati Reds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott)
An eight year-old $1,000 donation to a one man, one woman marriage group brings down a tech CEO.
Followed by a private conversation made public.
I don't believe in coincidences. The NSA collects all meta data....but they can convert it to audio if they decide to look at 'you' specifically.
This is all scripted, IMO. They're trying to start a race war.
And I am tickled to death that these 'car-jackers in shorts' are pissed off. If I were an owner, I'd let them leave....cancel all their contracts and recruit Indiana and Kansas players. LOL!
Talk about the golden goose fable.......
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This is going to end up like Marge Schott...and the Cincinnati Reds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott)
An eight year-old $1,000 donation to a one man, one woman marriage group brings down a tech CEO.
Followed by a private conversation made public.
I don't believe in coincidences. The NSA collects all meta data....but they can convert it to audio if they decide to look at 'you' specifically.
This is all scripted, IMO. They're trying to start a race war.
And I am tickled to death that these 'car-jackers in shorts' are pissed off. If I were an owner, I'd let them leave....cancel all their contracts and recruit Indiana and Kansas players. LOL!
Talk about the golden goose fable.......
OK...
Fine...
But let that all happen AFTER WE THREEPEAT.
(http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/thingstodo/miami-heat-25.jpg)
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This is going to end up like Marge Schott...and the Cincinnati Reds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marge_Schott)
An eight year-old $1,000 donation to a one man, one woman marriage group brings down a tech CEO.
Followed by a private conversation made public.
I don't believe in coincidences. The NSA collects all meta data....but they can convert it to audio if they decide to look at 'you' specifically.
This is all scripted, IMO. They're trying to start a race war.
And I am tickled to death that these 'car-jackers in shorts' are pissed off. If I were an owner, I'd let them leave....cancel all their contracts and recruit Indiana and Kansas players. LOL!
Talk about the golden goose fable.......
You could be spot on correct, nothing would surprise me at this point in time.
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You could be spot on correct, nothing would surprise me at this point in time.
It was well known in the owner's circle-of-influence that he holds a "last century" POV regarding Black Americans.
If every phone call or email or picture saved on the internet has been tracked, and you could be used to manipulate the headlines....destroying lives and creating mayhem....well, you all get what I'm saying.
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Hmm.
Donald Sterling (real name: Donald Tokowitz; he's Jewish, which adds an interesting wrinkle to all of it, at least to me) is the longest tenured owner in the NBA. He bought the Clippers in the early 1980s and brought the team to LA (it was previously the Buffalo Braves, then briefly the San Diego Clippers under Irv Levin). Magic Johnson is well-known for his business exploits. Plus, there is a movement to find a team to move to Seattle (they tried to buy the Sacramento Kings but the NBA said no way) and revive the old Supersonics.
It would not be the least bit surprising that the NBA (arguably the most corrupt of all the major leagues) is using this fiasco to orchestrate Sterling's ouster from the league, get them out of the Lakers' market and put the team up for sale.
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Obama weighs in before all the facts are known, just like the Gates incident, Trayvon Martin and every other racial incident in the past five years.
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http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=568011 (http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=568011)
Newsmax
Al Sharpton Taking Aim at NBA's Business Partners Over Sterling
Monday, April 28, 2014 06:14 AM
By: Scott Soshnick
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said he’s “totally outraged” the National Basketball Association has yet to discipline Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, and that beginning today he’s targeting marketing and broadcast partners as well as advertisers in an effort to pressure the league into imposing a punishment.
The NBA pledged to investigate “extraordinarily quickly” a recording on which, according to website TMZ, Sterling told his girlfriend he didn’t want her to bring black people to his games after she posted a photo of herself with Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson on Instagram.
“I’m totally outraged that they are stalling on this,” Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, said in a telephone interview. “It does not take an investigation. Either he is the man on the tape or not. And he has not said unequivocally that he is not.”
Sharpton said he hasn’t spoken with Silver, who took over for Commissioner David Stern on Feb. 1. He has spoken with Johnson, a part owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers who during ABC’s playoff pregame show said Sterling “shouldn’t own a team anymore.”
Sharpton agrees, saying he wants the league to insist that Sterling sell the club.
“If this man is not penalized and dealt with we are then saying that in official mainstream sports in America that racism and bigotry is acceptable and excusable,” Sharpton said. “At this point we’re calling for his removal. If something else is possible they’ve got to put it on the table. They’ve put nothing on the table but some claim we’re going to investigate. What is there to investigate? Either it’s his voice or not, and no one has said it’s not.”
Silver said in a statement that “All members of the NBA family should be afforded due process and a fair opportunity to present their side of any controversy. The core of the investigation is understanding whether the tape is authentic, interviewing Mr. Sterling and interviewing the woman as well and understanding the context in which it was recorded.”
The Clippers and Golden State Warriors are tied two games apiece in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Game 5 is Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Clippers President Andy Roeser said the team doesn’t yet know if the audio is legitimate or has been altered. “We do know that the woman on the tape -- who we believe released it to TMZ -- is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would ‘‘get even,’’’ Roeser said. ‘‘Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings.’’
Sharpton wouldn’t say which companies or networks he intends to contact. Walt Disney Co.’s ABC and ESPN are NBA broadcast partners. Staples Inc. has its name on the downtown Los Angeles arena the Clippers share with basketball’s Lakers and hockey’s Kings. The NBA’s marketing partners include Coca- Cola Co., Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, Adidas AG, Nike Inc., American Express Co. and State Farm Life Insurance Co., which uses Clippers All-Star and NBA Players Association President Chris Paul in its advertising.
‘‘You’re dealing with major corporations that have stockholders, that have to deal with municipal, state and federal governments that don’t want to have their business complicated on why they’re investing in a business with a guy who would say something like this,” Sharpton said, adding that he plans to organize rallies in Los Angeles and New York. “When you start hearing from corporations that have stockholders and boards of directors, they will have to deal with different options.”
The NBA under Stern was often recognized for its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Among those who have admonished or lambasted the words attributed to Sterling are President Barack Obama, Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan and the Miami Heat’s LeBron James.
“This is not about an apology and a check. This is about making it real clear that we cannot tolerate this for a moment in the NBA,” Sharpton said. “It’s not about meeting and talking. It’s about seeing some action.”
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmQFxDMCAAI9Qni.jpg)
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Watching this news item on CNN last night was something else.
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“This is not about an apology and a check. This is about making it real clear that we cannot tolerate this for a moment in the NBA,” Sharpton said.
Why the NBA? Is Mr. Sharpton attempting to imply that the NBA is a "blacks only" league? That the Europeans and Argentinians should just pack up and go home? Do I dare note the veiled antisemitism that the Sharpton lobby has exhibited in the past (buddy Jesse Jackson's infamous Hymietown remarks, for one)?
As I said in another thread, this looks like a classic Sharpton Shakedown. The NBA is looking to find a team to put in Seattle, for one, without losing another market. Perhaps they think by running another one of these, they can give Sterling the ol' Margie Schott and force him to sell. (Magic Johnson, mind you, is a big wheeler-and-dealer in sports and entertainment investment.) With the Clippers sharing a market and arena with the more prestigious Lakers, they would seem to be the ideal candidate.
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Why the NBA? Is Mr. Sharpton attempting to imply that the NBA is a "blacks only" league? That the Europeans and Argentinians should just pack up and go home? Do I dare note the veiled antisemitism that the Sharpton lobby has exhibited in the past (buddy Jesse Jackson's infamous Hymietown remarks, for one)?
As I said in another thread, this looks like a classic Sharpton Shakedown. The NBA is looking to find a team to put in Seattle, for one, without losing another market. Perhaps they think by running another one of these, they can give Sterling the ol' Margie Schott and force him to sell. (Magic Johnson, mind you, is a big wheeler-and-dealer in sports and entertainment investment.) With the Clippers sharing a market and arena with the more prestigious Lakers, they would seem to be the ideal candidate.
Just heard it mentioned on the sports radio that Magic Johnson is interested in purchasing the Clippers...
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The cockroach analogy holds here, I think. You see one out in the open, there are twenty more behind the wall. It is just starting for Sterling.
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(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BmQFxDMCAAI9Qni.jpg)
:silly: :silly: :silly: :silly: :silly:
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Honestly, why is this guy just making news? A married billionaire team owner who brings his mistress to the game and nobody blinks an eye. He should have been under scrutiny a long time ago, and in other States under other teams probably would have been.
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I find it unbelievable that a guy who owns an NBA team would have this attitude. He's paying African-Americans millions of dollars per year. Does he think they're part of his plantation? If so, then I wish I had the talent to be a "slave" as well.
When I was training to be a Realtor we were constantly told to be wary of customers who ask about the racial make-up of neighborhoods. At the time I remember thinking that people just don't think that way anymore. But then, after I got into the business I found a surprising number did. Not a majority, mind you, but a significant number (maybe 15 percent). They'd use the n-word like it was the most natural thing in the world. I haven't sold real estate in 20 years, so I wonder what the percentage would be today? Less, I hope. I'd like to think guys like this, and that other guy in Nevada, are dinosaurs.
The more important question as far as I am concerned is how an old, ugly guy like that can get a young good-looking beauty to pretend she cares about him. I guess money can buy just about anything.
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The more important question as far as I am concerned is how an old, ugly guy like that can get a young good-looking beauty to pretend she cares about him. I guess money can buy just about anything.
We've all heard the term "beer goggles," but I think "money goggles" are more prevalent.
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We've all heard the term "beer goggles," but I think "money goggles" are more prevalent.
I can think of 2 billion reasons why a young girl latches on to an old fart like him. Or in the case of George Soros, 10 billion reasons.
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http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=7B37D06E-228D-4B89-9559-FF2972A10045 (http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=7B37D06E-228D-4B89-9559-FF2972A10045)
Oprah Winfrey speaks out on Donald Sterling
By: Jonathan Topaz
April 29, 2014 09:05 AM EDT
Oprah Winfrey joined the chorus of critics that have bashed Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his comments on race, saying they were indicative of a “plantation mentality.”
When asked on CBS “This Morning” on Tuesday whether she had been following the story, Winfrey said: “Of course I’ve been following this story. It feels like a plantation mentality in the 21st century, in 2014, it just doesn’t fit. And, I’m waiting to see what they’re going to do, because something has to be done.” She reiterated her belief that action needs to happen “now.”
The NBA has yet to announce any specific actions it might take against Sterling. The league will hold a press conference later Tuesday.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who appeared on the program with Winfrey, said he believed Sterling should be permanently banned from the NBA. “If it were up to me, I’d ban him for life,” he said.
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T H E O P R A H has spoken..now we can move on.
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Dummy Sterling, should have paid the Obama shakedown and this could all have been washed under the deck.
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Oprah, whose own career is dependent on first amendment freedoms, had little to say about the implications of the mob taking action against a person for something he said in a private conversation, however repulsive it may be.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/bigot-final-shot-sterling-pleads-team-article-1.1772279 (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/bigot-final-shot-sterling-pleads-team-article-1.1772279)
Clippers owner Donald Sterling begs former mistress V. Stiviano to 'make this go away'
Sterling is scrambling to salvage his reputation and hang on to his team after 15 minutes of tape surfaced over the weekend of him going on a racist tirade about Stiviano publicly associating with African-American athletes.
BY Nancy Dillon , Bill Hitchinson
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, April 28, 2014, 9:55 PM
With his “gold-digger” ex-girlfriend holding 100 hours of damning, unreleased tape recordings, babbling billionaire bigot Donald Sterling is pleading for the mercy rule.
The 80-year-old Los Angeles Clippers owner has reached out to the attorney of his 31-year-old former mistress, V. Stiviano, begging, “How can we make this go away?” according to a report.
Sterling is scrambling to salvage his reputation and hang on to his team after recordings surfaced over the weekend that revealed him launching a racist tirade about Stiviano publicly associating with African-American athletes.
He demanded she strip her Instagram account of photos of her posing with black athletes like Magic Johnson and Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp, and commanded her: “Don’t bring blacks to my games!”
At least a dozen corporate sponsors of the Clippers suspended their association with the team on Monday because of Sterling’s vile rant. The comments have sent shock waves through the NBA, and even Clippers coach Doc Rivers said Monday that he’s so angry he’s refusing to take Sterling’s calls.
“I’d just like to reiterate how disappointed I am . . . in the comments attributed to our owner, and I can’t tell you how upset I am, our players are,” Rivers told reporters in a conference call.
continued
Updated: Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 9:14 AM
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Geez....why can't anybody respect what was supposed to be a PRIVATE CONVERSATION?
And who among us...not here in the forum only, but across the globe would not be destroyed if ANYTHING you've uttered in your life could become headlines and life-ruining? (Metadata my a$$)
The way I see it....and certainly not excusing him here but, here's an 83 year old man who, despite his wealth and fame, is no longer virile and able to enjoy what he looks at all day.
And he's paying $$$ in gifts just for a trophy on his arm.
And she's boinking black athletes who can make her scream all night long.
NOW.....go listen to the tape again and perhaps it will add a little context.
She set him up. The beginning and end of it.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/exit-strategy-for-nba--donald-sterling--sell-clippers-to-magic-johnson-073015142.html (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/exit-strategy-for-nba--donald-sterling--sell-clippers-to-magic-johnson-073015142.html)
Exit strategy for NBA, Donald Sterling: Sell Clippers to Magic Johnson
Adrian Wojnarowski
By Adrian Wojnarowski April 28, 2014 3:30 AM Yahoo Sports
For all these despicable revelations tumbling out of the hateful heart of Donald Sterling, there promises construction of a roadmap to redemption for the Los Angeles Clippers and the NBA. There's a way out for the most hated man in Los Angeles now, a way out for the commissioner's office and the owners responsible for long legitimizing and harboring a bigot and slumlord.
Magic Johnson and his billionaire backers, the Guggenheim Partners, want a chance to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers, league sources told Yahoo Sports. "Magic's absolutely interested," one source closely connected to Johnson's business interests told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night.
To bail themselves out of the NBA's worst crisis of credibility since the Tim Donaghy officiating scandal, the easy part for the NBA will be enlisting the eagerness and financial muscle of Magic Johnson and Mark Walter of the Guggenheim Partners – owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
For commissioner Adam Silver, the chance to turn the Clippers over to Magic Johnson and his partners is the best possible of solutions. Exit Sterling, enter Magic. It would be the greatest trade in sports ownership history since, well, Magic for the McCourts, with the Dodgers.
Magic Johnson is the ultimate cleanser in sports, and steering a Clippers sale to him could be transformative for the franchise. Truth be told, it could change the balance of basketball power in Los Angeles forever. To keep Doc Rivers as president and coach, to hold together the core of a championship contender and keep building it, Magic can make it happen.
Make no mistake: Magic's Dodgers group is angling for a Southern California sports empire. Magic Johnson and Guggenheim had been aggressive in pursuing a purchase of the Los Angeles Lakers – only to have the Buss family make clear to them the franchise isn't for sale, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Nevertheless, this is business and Magic's willing to change colors and make himself a Clipper. Between the Dodgers and Clippers, Magic Johnson could be the face of two championship contenders.
Magic could have it all.
"This is 100 percent Magic's plan," a league official intimately involved in the buying and selling of franchises told Yahoo Sports.
As an exit strategy, Sterling could walk away with a $1 billion-plus sales price for his franchise, and a final act of goodwill to soften his exile into the sports netherworld. Sterling will be reviled forever, but he has to understand clearing the way for Magic Johnson and the $200 billion-plus group backing him could be a decent farewell punctuating a most indecent ownership tenure. Sterling made Magic Johnson a part of those hideous audio tapes that have started to crumble his Clippers ownership, and here's the old man's way to make it right.
After all, he has little choice left. Sterling will never be able to sit courtside for a Clippers game again, never be able to march through his locker room glad-handing players. All the reasons Sterling has loved owning an NBA team, well, they're all gone.
Across the league now, owners want Sterling out. They should've done so years ago, but understand every franchise will now pay a price for failing to remove Sterling. Finally, they're pushing Silver to find a way. These owners are on the clock, and they know it.
"If the owners can't force [Sterling] to sell, they need to be held accountable to change the bylaws so they can," one member of the NBA's Board of Governors told Yahoo Sports on Sunday. "A fine and suspension is meaningless, and that'll be seen as a lack of acceptance that the league and owners are responsible for this ass----."
The Dodgers group is serious about owning an NBA team, and the league knows it. Together, they arranged for Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners to purchase the WNBA's cash-strapped Los Angeles Sparks in February. The league office needed someone to spare it the embarrassment of the WNBA's flagship franchise folding, and Magic and Guggenheim bailed it out. This hadn't been born out of a sense of benevolence, but rather a pragmatic move to deeper ingratiate themselves with the NBA.
So Sunday, Johnson goes on national television and tells everyone: Donald Sterling should lose the Clippers. He's right. The NBA will move to suspend Sterling in the short-term and turn its army of lawyers onto a way to force Sterling into a sale. Magic Johnson could always see the court, the next play, and it's unfolding now. It won't be easy. It won't be tidy.
For now, it's the ultimate escape plan for the NBA, the ultimate exit for Donald Sterling. Magic Johnson wants the Clippers, and it could change Los Angeles basketball – change the NBA – forever.
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"This is 100 percent Magic's plan," a league official intimately involved in the buying and selling of franchises told Yahoo Sports.
It makes me wonder whether Magic and his group might have had a hand in getting the girlfriend to tape the conversation and go to the press in the first place. Not that I would criticize Magic's group if it was true. Quite the contrary. Their business adversary had a soft underbelly and they figured out how to take advantage of it.
That's the way business is supposed to work. When the old bull is too old and incapacitated to tend the herd, the young bull turns him out to pasture. If this was a setup, I have to admire the ingenuity.
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http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/29/donald-sterling-clippers-nba-commissioner-punishment-indefinite-suspension/
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has tentatively decided to suspend Clippers owner Donald Sterling INDEFINITELY and impose a multi-million-dollar fine -- but Sterling will NOT be forced to sell the team -- sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ Sports.
We're told the suspension does NOT include members of Sterling's immediate family, but the NBA will have approval rights on who is running the team.
We're told Commissioner Adam Silver had a forensic expert review the recording and found no evidence it was altered and confirmed Sterling's voice.
And we're told ... an NBA investigator spoke with Sterling by phone after we posted the recording and the Clippers owner agreed to sit down for a follow-up interview but then changed his mind and backed out.
And we're told V. Stiviano told NBA reps the same thing we've reported ... that she had Sterling's consent before she recorded him.
One source tells us the fine has been tentatively set at $5 Mil.
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Why don't the rich black men buy a team of their own? A few of them have the brains and discipline to manage such an undertaking.
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A lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine.
One question: If he is banned for life, why would he pay the fine?
I think a lawsuit is coming...
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/naacp-forgive-clippers-donald-sterling-yanking-award/story?id=23501911
The NAACP said today they are still willing to work with Los Angeles Clippers' owner Donald Sterling despite yanking an offer of a lifetime achievement award over an audio tape containing racist comments that Sterling allegedly made.
At a news conference today, NAACP Los Angeles president Leon Jenkins said that an audio recording that surfaced this weekend on TMZ, which purportedly had Sterling's voice recorded making racist comments, was "devastating."
But the organization would be open to talking to Sterling, with whom they've worked for nearly 20 years.
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If they don't like what he said, perhaps they should return all the money he's donated.
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A caller to the Rush Limbaugh program would not name Johnson, per se, but.....two plus two still equals four, doesn't it?
Rush says, right now they're in the "Driving the price down" stage.
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-bans-donald-sterling-for-life--fines-him--2-5-million-for-racial-comments-181803437.html (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-bans-donald-sterling-for-life--fines-him--2-5-million-for-racial-comments-181803437.html)
NBA bans Donald Sterling for life, fines him $2.5 million for racial comments
By Adrian Wojnarowski 1 hour ago Yahoo Sports
The NBA has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million for racial comments he made to his reported girlfriend. The NBA will immediately begin working to try to force him to sell the team.
"The hateful opinions voiced by that of the man [on the tape] are those of Donald Sterling," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. "…I'm personally distraught the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations."
As part of the ban, Sterling is not allowed "to attend 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." Sterling also will be barred from attending any Board of Governors meetings and participating in any other league activity.
The fine is the maximum the NBA can issue under the NBA constitution, Silver said. Seventy-five percent of the NBA's owners must vote to oust Sterling to force him to sell.
"I fully expect to get the support needed," Silver said.
Several groups hoping to purchase the Clippers are already stepping forward with a bidding war expected to exceed $1 billion for the franchise, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Among those groups, Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners will be front and center in pursuit of the Clippers.
Silver said Sterling violated league rules through his "expressions of offensive and hurtful views, the impact of which has been widely felt throughout the league."
The NBA's announcement comes a little more than three days after TMZ released the first audio recording of Sterling telling his reported girlfriend – identified as V. Stiviano – he didn't want her bringing African-Americans to Clippers games. In the recording, he also said he wanted her to remove photos of African-Americans – including one of former Los Angeles Lakers guard and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson – from social media.
Among the more inflammatory quotes attributed to Sterling:
• "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?"
• "You can sleep with them. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that … and not to bring them to my games."
• "Don't put him [Magic Johnson] on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."
Deadspin later released an extended version of the audio recording in which Sterling tells the woman that blacks are treated "like dogs" in Israel. When reminded that most of the players on the Clippers are black, Sterling goes on to say, "I support them and give them food and clothes and cars and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have – who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners that created the league?"
Clippers players staged their own subtle protest during Sunday's playoff loss to the Warriors by wearing their warm-up shirts inside-out to hide the "Clippers" name. They also wore black socks and wristbands.
Many of Sterling's fellow NBA owners, including Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats, condemned the comments in recent days.
The controversy ranks as the NBA's greatest since the Tim Donaghy scandal and comes less than three months after Silver replaced David Stern as NBA commissioner. Sterling had been sued multiple times in the past for racial discrimination, including a 2009 case in which he paid $2.7 million to settle allegations his companies targeted and discriminated against blacks, Hispanics and families with children in renting apartments in greater Los Angeles.
Under Stern, the NBA never publicly punished Sterling after the settlements.
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Forcing him to sell, and reap a profit of over $1 billion, for owning about the worst pro basketball team of all time?
Where's the punishment in that? Will it hurt his feelings? His self-esteem?
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Rush had a fascinating segment about this today, "Caller's Sterling Set-Up Theory". It's a bit of read, but right on the money!
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/04/29/caller_s_sterling_set_up_theory
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Forcing him to sell, and reap a profit of over $1 billion, for owning about the worst pro basketball team of all time?
Where's the punishment in that? Will it hurt his feelings? His self-esteem?
Had some jerk radio host say that he was for forbidding Sterling from selling the team....so that he couldn't realize profits.
He wants it tied up until he dies and then his family can sell it.
Amazing what creatures we are isn't it?
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Anybody else bothered that private conversations are now fair game for job actions?
Meanwhile, the carjackers-in-waiting jump in the stands attacking fans and beating up their wives and are lauded.
Who in the NBA ISN'T a criminal?
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Anybody else bothered that private conversations are now fair game for job actions?
Meanwhile, the carjackers-in-waiting jump in the stands attacking fans and beating up their wives and are lauded.
Who in the NBA ISN'T a criminal?
Bothers me a lot...not that I agree with this a-hole but I thought this country had a little thing called free speech...guess not!
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Two and a half million?
What a joke.
He probably spent more than that on his "girlfriend's" gender reassignment surgery as his penile pump implant
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Bothers me a lot...not that I agree with this a-hole but I thought this country had a little thing called free speech...guess not!
He is free to say what he wants. But, the NBA has a right to protect its brand - and I am sure that is stipulated in his agreements with the league. The issue for me is that these were private conversations which were brought to light. I read somewhere that he had given permission to be recorded. Seems strange.
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Anybody else bothered that private conversations are now fair game for job actions?
That's exactly what offends me about this whole thing. Now we're all subject to losing our businesses, our livelihoods over something said - we thought - in private?
I don't know the particulars of it, but it appears the woman tape-recorded a private conversation without his consent. Some states have laws against such things.
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4 Extremely Rational Quotes Mark Cuban Made About Clippers’ Owner Donald Sterling’s Racist Comments
By Emily Hulsey
IJ Review (http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/133803-4-extremely-rational-quotes-mark-cuban-made-clippers-owner-donald-sterlings-racist-comments/)
Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks and an investor on Shark Tank, waited a few days before speaking out about Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling’s racist comments. When he did finally start talking about it, he had a lot to say.
#1 – On his views of Sterling’s comments:
“What Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent. There’s no place for racism in the NBA, any business I’m associated with, and I don’t want to be associated with people who have that position.”
#2 – On whether/how the NBA should respond:
“I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.”
#3 – On suggestions that the NBA should ban Sterling from the league:
“If it’s about racism and we’re ready to kick people out of the league, OK? Then what about homophobia? What about somebody who doesn’t like a particular religion? What about somebody who’s anti-Semitic? What about a xenophobe?”
#4 – On what it all boils down to:
“In this country, people are allowed to be morons.”
Cuban’s quotes came as many other owners and coaches were calling for the NBA to force Sterling to step down.
While Sterling’s comments were certainly racist and just plain wrong, Cuban made a fantastic point that kicking someone out of the NBA for an opinion they voiced is a “slippery slope” that could quickly expand to comments about gay marriage, religion, etc.
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Political Correctness is the real scourge that is eating away at our society.
Not a day passes where my hatred for Libtards doesn't increase in leaps and bounds.
It's just a shame that people are so totally bent out of shape over some old geezers idiotic comments, yet not a damned thing that the Obama Regime is doing gets any reaction.
People best pull their heads out of their asses.
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Bothers me a lot...not that I agree with this a-hole but I thought this country had a little thing called free speech...guess not!
Free speech is not free, especially to billionaires.
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Anybody else bothered that private conversations are now fair game for job actions?
Meanwhile, the carjackers-in-waiting jump in the stands attacking fans and beating up their wives and are lauded.
Who in the NBA ISN'T a criminal?
Yes it bothers me a lot.
The thing about this deal in particular, is that rather than owning a stand-alone business that should (in theory) be free to rise or fall based on the marketplace's reaction to the owner (even if I don't particularly like the way his private thoughts were publicized, they did nonetheless), he owns a team that is part of a league that operates in a coordinated manner to some key degrees. Therefore, he is subject to the directives and dictates of the League as represented by the Commissioner.
And yes, it is a league of criminals playing to entertain criminals, to a large degree.
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Free speech is not free, especially to billionaires.
I see that!
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4 Extremely Rational Quotes Mark Cuban Made About Clippers’ Owner Donald Sterling’s Racist Comments
By Emily Hulsey
...
While Sterling’s comments were certainly racist and just plain wrong, Cuban made a fantastic point that kicking someone out of the NBA for an opinion they voiced is a “slippery slope” that could quickly expand to comments about gay marriage, religion, etc.
Yes, and while this action has been taken by a private entity (the NBA), with the kind of gubmint we have now, it is chilling. Are you too outspoken about the right to life, maybe the IRS starts to come down hard (including SWAT raids) on your CPA practice and maybe even your clients. Seen at too many Tea Party and/or Liberty meetings in the area, maybe OSHA and EPA need to start "inspecting" your company workshop, say once or twice a week....
I don't like the tenor of what I hear from our society as a whole on this whole issue..... I have been flabbergasted at the number of people I hear calling sports talk shows that want the gubmint to seize his property as "punishment." Not a good course, in my mind.... :shrug:
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http://www.newsmax.com/NewsmaxTv/Rick-Santorum-Donald-Sterling-deserved-racially/2014/04/29/id/568489/
by Bill Hoffmann
April 29, 2014
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "got what he deserved" with a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine from the National Basketball Association for his racially tinged remarks about blacks, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says.
The more I learn about this character, the more I question why wasn't this done a long time ago," Santorum told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"This is nothing new in this guy's playbook, and obviously it's now out there in the public," he said Tuesday.
The NBA meted out the stiff punishment Tuesday after reviewing a taped phone conversation in which Sterling admonishes his girlfriend not to bring black people to Clippers games.
It also emerged this week that Sterling, a billionaire businessman, has had past issues with black people.
"I'm glad they reacted the way they did, it was appropriate," said Santorum, who is now CEO of EchoLight Studios, which produces PG-rated, family-friendly movies.
"[Sterling] certainly got what he deserved, and probably deserved for a while."
(excerpt, video and further transcript of interview at link above)
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Political Correctness is the real scourge that is eating away at our society.
Not a day passes where my hatred for Libtards doesn't increase in leaps and bounds.
It's just a shame that people are so totally bent out of shape over some old geezers idiotic comments, yet not a damned thing that the Obama Regime is doing gets any reaction.
People best pull their heads out of their asses.
:beer:
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Daniel Snyder better brace himself for a whole new push against his Washington Redskins.
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(http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608050528945766970&pid=1.7)
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(http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608050528945766970&pid=1.7)
That's really good - it shows the absurdity of the whole stupid issue! :laughingdog:
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Free speech is not free, especially to billionaires.
Whoa... this has absolutely nothing to do with free speech.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There has been no action by Congress here for one, and two, free speech doesn't mean free from the possible consequences of exercising your right to speak freely.
He was free to say what he said and retains the freedom to continue saying it.
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The point of the this whole story is that strange women equal trouble. And the more you have to lose, the more you should stay away from them.
{Women plus money} = trouble.
proof {1 + 1 = 2}
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I understand part of the animosity between Sterling and the woman is that he gave her gifts valued at over $1.4 million.
The ex-wife demanded 50% of that $1.4...that were part of assets targeted in the divorce.
If $2.5 million in a fine is equivalent to $51.00 to him (based upon $1.9 Billion worth)....then shame on him.
He should have just written another check for "$23.00" to avoid all this.
LOL!
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First, the mistress committed a crime for illegally taping a conversation without a party consent. California's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. California makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on any confidential communication, including a private conversation or telephone call, without the consent of all parties to the conversation. See Cal. Penal Code § 632. I would think that Mr. Sterling should consider legal action against his mistress over the taping of the conversation. But he decides to take that route, he should prepare himself for a lot of "pillowtalk" between him and his mistress splattered in court. Secondly, The NBA went way too far in this time. I would expect a investigation before an punishment to be given out. Mr. Sterling has not given the NBA his side of the story.
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/california-recording-law
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http://www.mediaite.com/online/wsj-editor-naacp-backed-sterling-when-he-lined-their-own-pockets/ (http://www.mediaite.com/online/wsj-editor-naacp-backed-sterling-when-he-lined-their-own-pockets/)
WSJ Editor: NAACP Backed Sterling When He ‘Lined Their Own Pockets’
by Noah Rothman | 3:14 pm, April 29th, 2014
Jason Riley, the Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary editor, does not find the NAACP’s reaction to the controversy surrounding racist remarks made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to be particularly genuine. Riley noted that the NAACP gave Sterling a lifetime achievement award and was prepared to give him a second so long as they benefited financially from their association with him. Riley noted that this “pattern of behavior” from groups like the NAACP and MSNBC host and activist Rev. Al Sharpton.
“I don’t think that these comments are as surprising as the NAACP is pretending they are,” Riley began. “This man has a long history of paying to make lawsuits – anti-discrimination lawsuits – go away, and this has to deal with his non-basketball activities.”
RELATED: NAACP Head: Sterling Will Not Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
“The NAACP knows about this history, and yet gave him a lifetime achievement award and was about to give him a second one,” the WSJ editor continued.
“This is another example of how the civil rights movement has become an industry,” Riley added. “You have groups like the NAACP, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, others who basically go around the country shaking down corporations and individuals for money.”
“This guy gave them money,” Reilly said of Sterling, “and that’s what’s most important to them.”
He said that the organizations and individuals he named care more about “lining their own pockets” than aiding the minority community. He cited these groups opposition to charter schools and the expansion of Wal-Mart stores while taking funds from labor and teachers unions. “So, there is a pattern here,” Riley asserted.
Riley closed by saying that President Barack Obama’s comments on the Sterling controvery were fine, but that the president is not supportive of “racial unity.”
“When you pal around with Al Sharpton, you are not into racial unity,” he concluded.
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http://toprightnews.com/?p=2777&fb_action_ids=10152124497050748&fb_action_types=og.likes (http://toprightnews.com/?p=2777&fb_action_ids=10152124497050748&fb_action_types=og.likes)
NBA Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Rips BOTH SIDES in Donald Sterling ‘Scandal’
by Top Right News on April 29, 2014
by Scott Aberdeen | Top Right Sports
The NBA players, media, and grievance mongers such as Al Sharpton are up in arms over vile L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s alleged racist remarks. But NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar today said a pox on both your houses – calling out the hypocrisy behind the whole affair and presenting by far the most rounded – and surprisingly libertarian — view thus far.
Abdul-Jabbar, in an op-ed piece in TIME attacked the collective outrage emanating from America’s media over Sterling’s aremarks to his girlfriend, calling the publication of a private conversation “sleazy” and wondering why earlier, more public manifestations of racism failed to shock those such as Al Sharpton, and the NAACP.
Abdul-Jabbar explains that we’re witnessing a veritable “finger-wagging Olympics . . . all over the latest in a long line of rich white celebrities to come out of the racist closet.”
“Yes, I’m angry, too,” Abdul-Jabbar admits, “but not just about the sins of Donald Sterling. I’ve got a list.”
That list includes Sterling’s girlfriend, V. Stiviano, whose voice is heard on the racially-loaded tape and who likely set the Clippers’ owner up.
“Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out,” he mocked. “She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.”
And speaking of the news media? “They caught big game on a slow news day,” Abdul-Jabbar explained, “so they put his head on a pike, dubbed him Lord of the Flies, and danced around him whooping.”
The former NBA all-star, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks and L.A. Lakers from 1969 to 1989, has no sympathy for Sterling. But he is upset that everyone is acting so surprised, noting that the NBA owner has said offensive comments in the past and has been sued over both housing and employment discrimination.
The NAACP “did nothing” after Sterling was forced to pay a staggering $3 million fine for denying housing to Blacks, saying they “smell, and attract vermin,” Abdul-Jabbar noted. They were even going to present Sterling with an NAACP award on May 15th, with the Rev. Al Sharpton on hand. “Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?”
Abdul-Jabbar is correct, but it is worse than that. The NAACP accepted multiple grants from the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation and handed Sterling several “image awards” — despite full knowledge of his prior, massive fine for discrimination against Blacks in his slumlord housing.
Abdul-Jabbar, perhaps channeling his closet libertarianism, also blasted the fact that Sterling’s private conversation — however racist — was suddenly broadcast nationwide.
“Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way?” he asked, comparing the secret tape-recording to Mitt Romney’s embarrassing 47 percent remark, recorded without the then-candidate’s knowledge.
“The making and release of this tape is so sleazy that just listening to it makes me feel like an accomplice to the crime,” Abdul-Jabbar fumed. “We didn’t steal the cake but we’re all gorging ourselves on it.”
“So, if we’re all going to be outraged,” the former NBA star wrapped up, “let’s be outraged that we weren’t more outraged when his racism was first evident. Let’s be outraged that private conversations between people in an intimate relationship are recorded and publicly played. Let’s be outraged that whoever did the betraying will probably get a book deal, a sitcom, trade recipes with Hoda and Kathie Lee, and soon appear on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”
Brilliant.
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He's absolutely right.
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/04/30/UCLA-Returns-Clippers-Owner-s-3-Million-for-Kidney-Research (http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/04/30/UCLA-Returns-Clippers-Owner-s-3-Million-for-Kidney-Research)
by Joel B. Pollak 30 Apr 2014, 6:00 AM PDT
UCLA announced Tuesday that it would reject a $3 million donation by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, and would return the portion of that donation that had already been delivered, local CBS news affiliate KNX reports. The announcement is the latest public repudiation of Sterling after his privately expressed racist comments were recorded and exposed, and comes as the NBA prepares to force Sterling to sell his team.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that Silver would be banned for life from any association with the league or his franchise. That decision satisfied many fans, but the public rejection of Sterling has only just begun. The Los Angeles City Council, for example, unanimously passed a resolution urging local news outlets to reject advertising for Sterling's businesses, and expressed the city's outrage at his remarks.
UCLA's decision to reject Sterling's donation may have helped it avoid public relations problems, as Sterling had previously placed ads touting the donation and claiming a laboratory was being named for him. "Mr. Sterling’s divisive and hurtful comments demonstrate that he does not share UCLA’s core values as a public university that fosters diversity, inclusion and respect," UCLA said in a statement reported by Yahoo! Sports.
There is a precedent for universities returning donations from figures with extreme views. Harvard, for example, returned $2.5 million for Islamic studies from the president of the United Arab Emirates in 2004 after a student pointed out his ties to a think tank that promoted anti-American and antisemitic views. However, the cost to research at UCLA is significant, and many patients might have benefited from treatments that resulted.
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Well now that is just dumb...what does kidney research have to do with all this? Keep his money and do some good with it. We are just getting nutty about jumping on bandwagons.
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Intelligent take on this from Jabbar.
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Well now that is just dumb...what does kidney research have to do with all this? Keep his money and do some good with it. We are just getting nutty about jumping on bandwagons.
You took the words right off my keyboard.
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Gee, I hope no one dies unnecessarily as a result of this fit of pique.
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"The more I learn about this character, the more I question why wasn't this done a long time ago," Santorum told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
We're certainly learning a lot more about Santorum's character lately, given all these pathetic efforts to get his name in print every day.
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We're certainly learning a lot more about Santorum's character lately, given all these pathetic efforts to get his name in print every day.
There were always something slightly "off" about Santorum. Never could put my finger on it, but it was there, like a missing tooth.
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My head is exploding.
Oprah may buy Clippers off Donald Sterling
By Jonathan Lehman NY Post (http://nypost.com/2014/04/30/oprah-considers-bid-to-buy-clippers-off-donald-sterling/)
April 30, 2014 | 12:17pm
Media empress Oprah Winfrey may get into yet another game: NBA ownership.
According to ESPN, Winfrey is considering teaming with David Geffen and Larry Ellison for a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers from Donald Sterling, who is facing massive pressure to sell the franchise as part of sanctions stemming from his infamous racist rant.
Sterling is heard on an audio recording scolding his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, for posting Instagram photos of herself with black acquaintances and for bringing them to Clippers games.
Winfrey was outspoken in criticism, saying Sterling’s comments were indicative of a “plantation mentality,” though on Tuesday she had said, “I won’t be buying the Clippers.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday: “I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him.”
Geffen and software billionaire Ellison were previously tipped as candidates to purchase the Clippers in bidding that may tick toward $800 million. Lakers great Magic Johnson, with financial backer Guggenheim Partners, also is considered a front-runner.
The Clippers rank as the 13th most valuable team in the league, according to Forbes, at an estimated $575 million. But the team likely would sell for millions more, on the promise of a rich new cable TV contract. A sports investment banker told The Post’s Josh Kosman the Clippers could sell for as much as as the Nets, valued at $780 million.
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http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10861503/oprah-winfrey-group-considering-bid-buy-los-angeles-clippers (http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/10861503/oprah-winfrey-group-considering-bid-buy-los-angeles-clippers)
Oprah considering Clippers bid
Updated: April 30, 2014, 2:26 PM ET
Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen and Larry Ellison will join together in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers if the NBA's board of governors votes to force Donald Sterling to sell the team, Geffen told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Wednesday.
Geffen said he and Ellison would run the team, while Winfrey would be an investor.
"Oprah is not interested in running the team," Geffen told Schaap. "She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise.
"The team deserves a better group of owners who want to win. Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry's a sportsman. We've talked about this for a long time. Between the three of us, we have a good shot."
Winfrey's spokesperson, Nicole Nichols, issued a statement later Wednesday, confirming Geffen's claim.
"Oprah Winfrey is in discussions with David Geffen and Larry Ellison to make a bid for the Los Angeles Clippers should the team become available," Nichols said in the statement.
Geffen, a music and film mogul with a net worth that Forbes estimates at $6.2 billion, reportedly tried to buy at least a controlling stake in the Clippers in 2010 for $600 million but was rebuffed by Sterling.
Geffen also told Schaap that LeBron James was interested in playing in Los Angeles when he was a free agent in 2010 and that James, who ultimately signed with the Miami Heat, told him he would not play for Sterling.
"[The] reasons are perfectly clear," said Geffen, would not specifically disclose why James didn't want to play for Sterling.
"I'm a fan. I bring something to the table, it's fun and I can afford it," Geffen said. "I live in L.A., that's one thing that makes it attractive."
Geffen said he and Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, a business software and technology company, were also interested in buying the Los Angeles Lakers, but the team wasn't for sale.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants Sterling to sell the Clippers as part of the extremely stiff sanctions brought against the longtime owner in response to racist comments the league determined he made in a recorded conversation.
Silver banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and said he will press the other teams to support his desire to make Sterling sell.
"I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him," Silver said.
Silver was asked Tuesday whether the league was considering more minority ownership in response to the sanctions against Sterling.
"As you know, we have an African-American primary owner in the league right now," Silver said. "Shaquille O'Neal just became a small owner of the Sacramento Kings. David Robinson is an owner of the San Antonio Spurs. Vivek Ranadive, a person of color born in Mumbai, India, just became the primary owner of the Sacramento Kings. So I believe we have a very diverse league, but I'd always like to see it become more diverse."
Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music mogul Sean Combs both claimed interest in buying the team Tuesday, as did real-estate tycoon Rick Caruso.
Magic Johnson, Mark Walter and their Guggenheim Partners group, which made the billion-dollar purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, also are possible bidders, though sources have told ESPN that any such discussions were premature at best.
Johnson, who was specifically mentioned in the recorded conversation involving Sterling, laughed off the suggestion he should buy the Clippers in an appearance on ESPN on Sunday night, saying he was focused on bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles.
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"As you know, we have an African-American primary owner in the league right now," Silver said. "Shaquille O'Neal just became a small owner of the Sacramento Kings. David Robinson is an owner of the San Antonio Spurs. Vivek Ranadive, a person of color born in Mumbai, India, just became the primary owner of the Sacramento Kings. So I believe we have a very diverse league, but I'd always like to see it become more diverse."
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
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http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/jesse-jackson-shows-court-clippers-warriors-game (http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/jesse-jackson-shows-court-clippers-warriors-game)
Jesse Jackson Shows Up on Court Before Clippers-Warriors Game
"We have a high tolerance for racism."
4.30.2014
Truth Revolt
(http://www.truthrevolt.org/sites/default/files/styles/content_full_width/public/field/image/articles/warriors-clippers-sterling-basketball.jpg?itok=xIdhtxp4)
As the fallout continued regarding the NBA’s decision to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life based on racist comments made in private and leaked on tape, Jesse Jackson showed up on court before Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, race-baiter extraordinaire Jackson appeared at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in Beverly Hills, where he stated that Sterling’s comments showed “why we need affirmative action. People in high places have no will toward goodness unless the law is there to force it.” Jackson continued by stating that Sterling “should apologize, he should resign and he should sell the team. We have a high tolerance for racism. His past is very well known. It took this over-the-hill statement…to get to this point.”
In 2008, Jackson was caught on tape stating that he would like to “cut off [President Obama’s] nuts” for “talking down to black people…telling n****** how to behave.” In the 1980s, Jackson referred to New York City as “Hymietown.” He called Ward Connerly of the California Board of Regents a “house slave” and “puppet of the white man,” and according to James Mtume, stated in 2008 that Barack Obama was a “half-breed n*****.”
(http://images.politico.com/global/2014/04/29/140429_offensive_foul_ap_605.jpg)
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Jesse Jackson Shows Up on Court Before Clippers-Warriors Game
Of course he does.
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What was it Carville said about dragging a dollar bill through a trailer court? That pretty much describes Jesse and the other race-baiting poverty pimps.
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Daily Mail (U.K.): (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2617672/Oprah-Winfrey-joins-Floyd-Mayweather-bid-buy-Los-Angeles-Clippers.html)
Oprah Winfrey joins Floyd Mayweather in bid to buy Los Angeles Clippers
By Mike Dawes
Published: 05:10 EST, 1 May 2014 | Updated: 06:50 EST, 1 May 2014
American talk show host Oprah Winfrey has added her name to the list of stars looking to buy the Los Angeles Clippers.
After Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned for life by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, a number of people have expressed an interest in the franchise including Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya and Magic Johnson.
But now Oprah has joined David Geffen and Larry Ellison and formed a consortium to take over the NBA team. The three billionaires have a combined wealth of $60 billion (£35.54b).
Television entrepreneur Winfrey, is joining forces with the world's fifth richest man, Ellison and entertainment mogul Geffen to pry the franchise from Sterling's grip - after he revealed he would not sell the team he bought for $12 million (£7.1m) in 1982.
Mayweather, meanwhile, wants to put the $40 million which is his guaranteed minimum for Saturday night’s fight towards cost to purchase the Clippers.
However, despite the celebrity billionaire interest, Sterling is refusing to sell his team - signaling a lengthy and costly legal battle with the NBA.
NBA commissioner Silver has told Sterling that he wants him to sell the Clippers as part of the extreme sanctions brought against the owner in response to racist comments he was recorded making by a former girlfriend.
'I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him,' Silver said.
The NBA on Tuesday banned Sterling from the game for life and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments that drew a storm of outrage from players, fans and commercial sponsors.
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http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=568716 (http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=568716)
Newsmax
Clippers Owner Sterling: 'I Am Not Selling the Team'
Wednesday, April 30, 2014 03:50 PM
By: REUTERS
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling told Fox News on Wednesday that he is not selling the team, despite his banishment from the NBA for making racist remarks.
Sterling, who was banned for life and fined $1.5 million, told Fox Sports broadcaster Jim Gray on Tuesday before he was penalized by the league that he would not sell the team.
His position did not change on Wednesday.
"I am not selling the team," Gray quoted Sterling as saying.
Some NBA owners on Wednesday said they expect the league likely will vote to force Sterling to sell the Clippers, which he bought in 1981 for $12.5 million.
But The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday reported that Sterling could opt to challenge the NBA, setting up what could be a protracted legal battle.
"If he truly doesn't want to sell, I'm going to guess he could tie this up for the rest of his life," Richard Sheehan, author of "Keeping Score: The Economics of Big-Time Sports" told The Times. "It would be an absolute disaster."
As it appeared more likely the team would be put up for sale, talk show host turned media businesswoman Oprah Winfrey emerged among potential buyers who have expressed interest. She said she was in discussions with producer and film studio executive David Geffen and Oracle Corp computer technology Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison to bid for the team if it becomes available.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who also announced a $2.5 million fine on Sterling on Tuesday, asked the league's governing board of fellow owners to act immediately to force Sterling to sell the club he bought 33 years ago.
Although no firm date for the vote was given by the NBA, early indications were that owners would overwhelmingly support the unprecedented move.
"We run a color blind league and this should not be tolerated," Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive told ESPN Radio. "The only thing we care about is do you have game.
"I would be surprised if this was not a unanimous vote. The owners are amazing people, they are color blind and I fully expect a unanimous vote."
Under the NBA's own bylaws, it is up to the league's owners to decide whether to force the sale of the Clippers franchise.
At least three-quarters of the owners would have to support the move but sports business experts said Sterling's peers might be leery of action they felt could jeopardize their own property rights in the future.
According to NBA bylaws, Silver must provide a written copy of any charges within three days to Sterling, who has five days to answer. A special hearing of the Board of Governors then will be held on a date no more than 10 days after Sterling's reply.
The board's advisory finance committee has a meeting scheduled on Thursday to go over the next steps in removing Sterling as owner of the Clippers, a spokesman for the NBA said.
Glen Taylor, the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and interim chair of the NBA Board of Governors, said the ideal course of action would be if Sterling just agreed to a sale.
"The problems would occur if he decides that he doesn't want to sell the team and we think that it should be sold," Taylor told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Then we have to make sure that we got the votes and then enforce that."
Taylor said he had not spoken to all of the owners, but said he was "reasonably sure" there was enough support for a forced sale and he expected there would be potential buyers.
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the former basketball star who is a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and who once had a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, has been mentioned as a possible suitor for the Clippers. On Monday, the day before commissioner Silver's announcement, Johnson had tweeted that "I want to put a stop to a rumor. I am not trying to buy the Clippers, they already have an owner."
One of boxing' s biggest names, five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., expressed interest in comments to reporters in Las Vegas.
Clippers owner Sterling was forced out of basketball on Tuesday after two websites released audio recordings of him criticizing a woman friend for "associating with black people." The woman heard on the recordings at the heart of the scandal is said to be a 31-year-old Los Angeles model who goes by the name V. Stiviano.
The recordings drew outrage from players, fans, politicians and commercial sponsors, several of whom said they were cutting ties with the team, even after the NBA moved to expel Sterling.
The scandal quickly grew into a national discussion of race relations transcending basketball.
Sterling has not yet commented on the sanctions against him and it was not immediately clear whether he would seek to challenge the ban in court. Sterling did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
But lawyers with expertise in sports law gave him little chance of successfully suing the NBA, citing league governance rules that all owners must accept.
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lol
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Translation... start the bidding process.
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The profit between $12 million he paid, and today's market value of perhaps 1 billion, triggers an immense amount of taxable capital gain.
If instead he died, and the property went to his heirs, there would be no tax for that transfer.
Maybe his heirs should sue the league and owners for the taxes, for depriving them of their inheritance, since that is what in effect they are doing.
Or maybe Sterling can "sell" the asset to a trust, for the remainder of his lifetime, to avoid the tax on disposition.
Or maybe biz wiz Magic has a way to just make the tax go away. Or maybe our first black President can issue an Executive Order to his IRS, to waive the taxes on such a taxable event.
Pull out all the stops. OTOH upon careful consideration, perhaps other owners will consider the ramifications, and oppose forcing a sale. It only takes 26% of owner votes to block it.
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The profit between $12 million he paid, and today's market value of perhaps 1 billion, triggers an immense amount of taxable capital gain.
If instead he died, and the property went to his heirs, there would be no tax for that transfer.
Maybe his heirs should sue the league and owners for the taxes, for depriving them of their inheritance, since that is what in effect they are doing.
Or maybe Sterling can "sell" the asset to a trust, for the remainder of his lifetime, to avoid the tax on disposition.
Or maybe biz wiz Magic has a way to just make the tax go away. Or maybe our first black President can issue an Executive Order to his IRS, to waive the taxes on such a taxable event.
Pull out all the stops. OTOH upon careful consideration, perhaps other owners will consider the ramifications, and oppose forcing a sale. It only takes 26% of owner votes to block it.
(http://www.tpnn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Donald.Sterling.Girlfriend.jpeg)
From the look of that picture, his heirs may include two Filipino trannies.
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I think that he should stand his ground. Tie up the entire situation for years in court. He has the money to do this. By the way, he should investigate the other owners for any racist statements they have made in the past and sue his mistress for illegally taping him court.
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, newly banned from basketball over racist comments attributed to him, has been battling prostate cancer, sports network ESPN and other media reported on Thursday.
The reports come after the National Basketball Association launched a bid on Thursday to oust the 80-year-old as owner of the franchise, as urged by league Commissioner Adam Silver.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported that Sterling has cancer. The New York Post, which first reported the news, also cited unnamed sources as saying Sterling has been battling prostate cancer for an extended period of time.
Reuters could not independently confirm these reports. Officials for the Clippers and the NBA did not immediately return requests for comment.
Silver on Tuesday declared Sterling banned from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million - the league maximum - and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.
The scandal has angered fans and players, and numerous commercial sponsors have pulled their support from the team, before and after the NBA moved to expel Sterling.
Sterling was banned from any further ties with his team or professional basketball, and stripped of his seat on the NBA governing board, days after two websites released audio recordings in which a voice said to be Sterling's is heard criticizing a female friend for "associating with black people".
Silver said Tuesday that Sterling has acknowledged to the NBA that the recording was authentic but did not apologize.
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I wonder if he also had the good sense to dump that girlfriend who set him up? I have to admit I kind of feel sorry for the guy. He's a pathetic, racist extremely insecure dinosaur who was easy pickings for the race-exploitation industrial complex.
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, newly banned from basketball over racist comments attributed to him, has been battling prostate cancer, sports network ESPN and other media reported on Thursday.
The reports come after the National Basketball Association launched a bid on Thursday to oust the 80-year-old as owner of the franchise, as urged by league Commissioner Adam Silver.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported that Sterling has cancer. The New York Post, which first reported the news, also cited unnamed sources as saying Sterling has been battling prostate cancer for an extended period of time.
Reuters could not independently confirm these reports. Officials for the Clippers and the NBA did not immediately return requests for comment.
Silver on Tuesday declared Sterling banned from the NBA for life, fined him $2.5 million - the league maximum - and called on the 29 other club owners who make up the governing board to exercise their authority to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.
The scandal has angered fans and players, and numerous commercial sponsors have pulled their support from the team, before and after the NBA moved to expel Sterling.
Sterling was banned from any further ties with his team or professional basketball, and stripped of his seat on the NBA governing board, days after two websites released audio recordings in which a voice said to be Sterling's is heard criticizing a female friend for "associating with black people".
Silver said Tuesday that Sterling has acknowledged to the NBA that the recording was authentic but did not apologize.
link?
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, newly banned from basketball over racist comments attributed to him, has been battling prostate cancer, sports network ESPN and other media reported on Thursday.
There's an old saying: you don't die of prostate cancer in most cases. You die with prostate cancer.
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I wonder if he also had the good sense to dump that girlfriend who set him up? I have to admit I kind of feel sorry for the guy. He's a pathetic, racist extremely insecure dinosaur who was easy pickings for the race-exploitation industrial complex.
I would take his lover sent her to court and sue the living day lights. I would also ask the District Attorney for proceedings against her.
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There's an old saying: you don't die of prostate cancer in most cases. You die with prostate cancer.
Unless you are 81. He has probably had it for many years and now it is late stage and metastasized.
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link?
Sorry I overlooked the link. I got it off Yahoo News, but it's a Reuters story.
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Sorry I overlooked the link. I got it off Yahoo News, but it's a Reuters story.
:patriot:
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/05/04/L-A-Mayor-Says-Sterling-Will-Not-Relinquish-Team-Easily-Doesn-t-Rule-Out-Boycotts (http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/05/04/L-A-Mayor-Says-Sterling-Will-Not-Relinquish-Team-Easily-Doesn-t-Rule-Out-Boycotts)
by Breitbart California 4 May 2014, 9:25 AM PDT
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that after speaking to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, he believes that Sterling will not give up his team easily even if the NBA attempts to force him to sell his team.
"I think that he thinks that he's going to be the owner for a long time, that he wants to stay the owner. And I said, 'This will be a long, protracted fight and a painful thing for our city that is a great city, great American city,'" Garcetti said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
He also said that he would not rule out calling for a boycott of Clippers games if Sterling is still the owner.
"I would certainly keep that arrow in the quiver," he said.
Sterling spoke to Jim Gray before NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned him for life from the league after an audio recording of Sterling was released in which he said he did not want V. Stiviano to bring "black people" to his games. Sterling reportedly told him he would never sell the team. He also spoke to Jason Binn of DuJour magazine and said, purportedly V. Stiviano, I wish I had just paid her off."
Garcetti said he urged Sterling to apologize for his comments but indicated that Sterling "believes in his heart" that he is a "very good person."
The NBA announced that it would appoint a CEO to supervise the Clippers and NBA players have suggested that they may boycott games at the start of next season if Sterling still owns the Clippers.
"We're a great sports town. I mean, we have two basketball teams, but we're certainly feeling like one team these days, all behind the Clippers. And we want to see a representation of our city in the best light, not one individual who would besmirch who we are," he said.
The Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of their first-round series on Saturday to advance in the playoffs to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Donald, you should have paid the Obama vig.
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I really was hoping the Warriors would win game 7.
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I really was hoping the Warriors would win game 7.
Me too. Let's hope the Thunder sweep them now!
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I really was hoping the Warriors would win game 7.
did the lakers win that series? yeah i could google it. but i ask you all
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http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-sterling-scandal-tommy-lasorda-says-he-hopes-v-stiviano-gets-hit-with-a-car/
The former Dodgers manager tells West Palm Beach station WPBF after 30 years of friendship with Sterling, "It doesn't surprise me that he said those things. And he shouldn't have said it."
Lasorda also offered his thoughts on the woman Sterling was talking to on the tape, V. Stiviano, saying: "I don't wish that girl any bad luck, but I hope she gets hit with a car."
Last week, the NBA fined Sterling $2.5 million and banned him from any association with the Clippers and the league over racist remarks he made during a recorded conversation with Stiviano.
Lasorda was in South Florida to receive an honorary doctorate Tuesday at Northwood University.
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Sure. Blame the girl, not the 81 year old sugar daddy.
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Sure. Blame the girl, not the 81 year old sugar daddy.
The real war on women!!!! :whistle:..................... :smokin:
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Hey, Tommy Italian [I'm half]. We don't like rats on principle. And rats that 'wear a wire'/ Please! :2gunz: :2gunz: :2gunz:
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http://msn.foxsports.com/west/story/shelly-sterling-s-desire-to-retain-clippers-ownership-a-wild-card-050714 (http://msn.foxsports.com/west/story/shelly-sterling-s-desire-to-retain-clippers-ownership-a-wild-card-050714)
Shelly Sterling's desire to retain Clippers ownership a 'wild card'
LA TIMES
FOX Sports West
MAY 07, 2014 9:20p ET
Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling said Wednesday that she believes she is legally entitled to maintain ownership of the NBA team and will attempt to do so, even as the pro basketball league pushes to remove her husband from the team he has owned for 33 years.
Sterling described her more than three-decade tenure as a "die-hard" fan of the Clippers and said she believes that the sanctions against Donald Sterling -- which included a lifetime ban and $2.5-million fine -- do not apply to "me or my family."
Shelly Sterling's position presents a "wild card" for the pro basketball league as it faces its biggest crisis in memory, said a league official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Her intention to hold onto the team is a wrinkle apparently not contemplated by NBA officials when they moved 12 days ago to strip her estranged husband of ownership.
Players, fans and other owners have signaled they would like to see a fresh start for the Los Angeles franchise, which is in the midst of a playoff run in what could be its most successful season after decades of futility. Ownership by any of the Sterlings could mean a continued flight of sponsors and a potential boycott from players and fans.
The NBA had no immediate comment on Shelly Sterling's desire to keep the team. On Wednesday, she said in an email to The Times that she has retained a law firm to represent her in her ownership quest.
The league moved against Donald Sterling after the website TMZ released a recording in which Sterling made racially charged comments, telling a frequent courtside companion that he did not want to see her at Clippers games with black people. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver responded with the fine, lifetime ban and a call for the league's 29 other owners to vote to force Sterling to sell the team.
When Silver announced Donald Sterling's punishment last week, he said there had been "no decisions about other members of the Sterling family," adding: "This ruling applies specifically to Donald Sterling and Donald Sterling's conduct only."
But Silver also said that when it comes to a vote on future ownership, fellow NBA board members would consider Sterling's "overall fitness to be an owner in the NBA," which would "take into account a lifetime of behavior."
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From what I understand, Mr. Sterling might be in a very good position to sue the crap out of the NBA.
I'm hoping that he does just that.
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From what I understand, Mr. Sterling might be in a very good position to sue the crap out of the NBA.
I'm hoping that he does just that.
Sue them for what?
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Sue them for what?
How about interferring with HIS civil liberties? Banning him from being around HIS OWN team?
Come on, man.
What crime did Sterling commit? Who did he harm?
Or, are you telling me that the Thought Police are an acceptable fact of life?
Damn...I can't believe that this is even a topic for debate.
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I suppose that it's quite fortuitous that Tommy Lasorda doesn't own a sports franchise.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/11/us/donald-sterling-interview/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/11/us/donald-sterling-interview/index.html)
Donald Sterling tells Anderson Cooper: 'I'm asking for forgiveness'
AC360
By Ismael Estrada and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
updated 7:17 PM EDT, Sun May 11, 2014
Watch Anderson Cooper's interview with Donald Sterling at 8 p.m. ET Monday on "AC360" on CNN.
(CNN) -- Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling says he's sorry, nearly two weeks after the NBA banned him for life and slammed him with a $2.5 million fine for making racist comments.
"I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview set to air on Monday. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again."
Sterling, an 80-year-old married lawyer and billionaire real-estate investor, hasn't spoken publicly about the accusations since celebrity gossip website TMZ posted a 10-minute audio recording of him that drew widespread condemnation from fans, players and the league.
In that audio clip, Sterling chastised a woman for posting pictures online of her posing with African-Americans, including basketball Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
The recording triggered a firestorm that led to Sterling's lifetime ban from the NBA and a $2.5 million fine. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has asked the other 29 owners to force Sterling, the longest-tenured owner in the league, to sell the Clippers.
"I'm not a racist," Sterling told Cooper. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize."
Asked by Cooper why he took so long to say he's sorry, Sterling said he was "emotionally distraught."
"The reason it's hard for me, very hard for me, is that I'm wrong. I caused the problem. I don't know how to correct it," he said.
Sterling told CNN that his fate is in the NBA's hands.
"If the owners feel I have another chance, then they'll give it to me," he said.
Should Sterling's wife sell the Clippers?
Last week, another audio recording surfaced online, allegedly showing Sterling trying to add context to the racist comments that got him banned from the league.
In that recording, Sterling purportedly explained that his comments were driven by jealousy.
"The girl is black. I like her. I'm jealous that she's with other black guys. I want her. So what the hell, can I in private tell her, you know, 'I don't want you to be with anybody'?" the man purported to be Sterling said in that recording, according to RadarOnline.
The matter of the team's sale is with the NBA's Advisory/Finance Committee, which met Wednesday in a conference call. Members discussed the "termination of Mr. Sterling's ownership of the team," the NBA said in a news release. The committee will meet again next week, the statement said.
NBA's strategy to force a sale hinges on 1981 document
If the case proceeds to a full vote, 75% of the owners would have to approve the forced sale.
However, an attorney for Donald Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly, told CNN Friday that she wants to keep her 50% stake in the team.
"She wants to remain a passive owner," said attorney Pierce O'Donnell. "She's not going to want to manage the team. She's going to want a very skilled, professional, well-heeled new owner to come in and replace Donald," O'Donnell said. "She only wants to own the team in her lifetime. She's 79 years old. At this point, she's earned it. She's been an owner for 33 years, and she's an avid fan."
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LeBron James says players don’t want any member of Sterling family to own L.A. Clippers
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LeBron James says players don’t want any member of Sterling family to own L.A. Clippers
:nometalk:
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Donald Sterling in new tirade against Magic Johnson and African Americans
Rory Carroll
Clippers basketball team owner, in interview billed as apology for racist remarks, slings insults at HIV-positive former NBA star
(http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/5/13/1399959844579/bc2f07bf-7aa2-486c-90d6-f669ca17ee35-460x276.jpeg)
It was billed as an apology for racist comments that created a firestorm – but the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has unleashed a new row by launching a searing attack on Magic Johnson and wealthy African Americans.
The tycoon used an interview aired on Monday to apologise for the tirade against black people caught on tape last month but then depicted Johnson, who has HIV, of being a womanising disease-carrier.
In what may become a case study in how not to defuse a crisis, Sterling, a national pariah who is battling to keep his basketball team, also accused wealthy black people of being stingy philanthropists in contrast to Jews such as himself.
The 80-year-old, speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper in his first television interview since the crisis broke, insisted he was no racist and asked forgiveness for making derogatory comments about black people in the leaked tape, saying he had been “baited” into doing so.
But then the attempt at damage control self-destructed. Sterling accused Johnson, a basketball legend turned investor and one of the US's most beloved African Americans, of deceitfulness and promiscuity.
"Big Magic Johnson, what has he done? He's got Aids ... what kind of a guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV?”
The former Lakers star was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 and through the Magic Johnson Foundation is a leading campaigner for awareness and treatment. His infection has not led to Aids.
Sterling conflated the virus with the full-blown disease and referred to it in the plural. “When he had those Aids I went to my synagogue and I prayed for him.”
Sterling said he admired Johnson, 53, as a “good” man, then contradicted himself. “Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go into the background. But what does he do for the black people? He doesn't do anything."
In the original leaked conversation, which was posted on the celebrity news site TMZ, Sterling complained to a female friend, V Stiviano, that she had posed for photographs with Johnson and asked her to not bring black people to Clippers games.
President Barack Obama led a wave of condemnation and the National Basketball Association banned Sterling for life, saying he would have to sell the team.
The real estate magnate replied that he wished to keep it, signalling a possibly protracted legal battle, and blamed his delay in publicly responding on Johnson, who is part of a consortium that wants to buy the Clippers.
Sterling said the retired athlete called him when the furore broke and told him to remain silent in apparent hope of negotiating a quick sale. "He just said 'Wait, be patient, I'll help you, we'll work it out' ... I think he wanted me to do nothing so he could buy the team.”
Sterling also contrasted Jewish philanthropy with that of African Americans. “Jews when they get successful, they will help their people, and some of the African Americans – maybe I'll get in trouble again – they don't want to help anybody," he said.
continued at link: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/13/donald-sterling-in-new-tirade-against-magic-johnson-and-african-americans (http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/13/donald-sterling-in-new-tirade-against-magic-johnson-and-african-americans)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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I watched some of that interview. What a idiot. If he had a chance to keep the team, it flew out the window at the speed of a SR-71.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2627675/EXCLUSIVE-Donald-Sterling-vows-fight-LA-Clippers-Supreme-Court-calls-Obama-flippant-attacking-racist-views.html
Donald Sterling told friend in recorded conversation that 'I've done nothing wrong' and that in America 'you can't force somebody to sell property
He claimed his lawyers have told him that it would take '20 years of litigation' to force him to sell the team
Sterling said the $2.5m fine imposed on him by the NBA is 'far excessive'
He said: ‘$2.5m for what? For telling a girl I wanted to have sex with her and why it would be so beneficial for her?’
Sterling called his mistress Stiviano 'nuts' and fears that she will 'take me down'
Hit out at President Obama for condemning him publicly calling him 'flippant' for speaking without 'getting all the full facts first'
Sterling also claimed that he had the backing of some black groups
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From the article:
[Sterling] says he won't pay a $2.5million fine imposed upon him by the NBA. The game's governing body also placed a life ban on Sterling from ever attending an NBA basketball game.
The NBA should waive the fine and the life ban if Sterling sells the team. The life ban is ridiculous and should be dropped anyway.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/05/15/donald-sterling-letter-to-nba/9151207/ (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/05/15/donald-sterling-letter-to-nba/9151207/)
Donald Sterling tells NBA he doesn't plan to pay fine
Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports 10:09 p.m. EDT May 15, 2014
Banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not plan to pay the $2.5 million fine levied by the NBA, Sterling's attorney wrote in a letter to the NBA, a person with first-hand knowledge of the letter told USA TODAY Sports.
The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the letter, which was sent on Thursday.
The attorney, Maxwell M. Blecher, also wrote that Sterling doesn't warrant "any punishment at all" for his racist comments that were recorded in a conversation with a female friend and made public.
Blecher, a well-known antitrust attorney, also contends that the fine violates Sterling's due process rights.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on April 29 fined Sterling $2.5 million and issued him a lifetime ban. Silver also said he will urge other owners to force a sale of the Clippers and do everything in his power to ensure that.
Sterling has already missed the deadline for paying fine, which earlier this week.
The letter was in direct response to the fine and the lifetime ban. The NBA's advisory-finance committee was also notified of the letter.
It is not a surprise Sterling's attorney threatened a legal battle. Sterling is well-known for litigious tactics, and the league had been expecting Sterling to fight.
Blecher is one of Sterling's longtime lawyers and represented Sterling in 1982 when the Clippers were planning to move from San Diego to Los Angeles. Sterling moved the Clippers from in 1984, and the NBA fined him $25 million. He sued the league for $100 million and dropped it when the NBA reduced his fine to $6 million.
Silver banned Sterling for life from any association with the league or the Clippers, and fined $2.5 million — the maximum allowable under the NBA constitution. If three-fourths of the other 29 owners agree to Silver's recommendation, Sterling will be forced to sell the team he has owned since 1981.
After the ruling, players, fellow owners and civil rights leaders applauded Silver. Union representatives had discussed a boycott of playoff games had Silver not delivered such a strong ruling.
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This may turn out popcorn worthy before it's over!
Can you imagine the lawsuits if he refuses to sell and the players refuse to play?
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Topic: Donald Sterling tells NBA he doesn't plan to pay fine
Don't blame him one bit.
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This might be fun to watch.
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Meanwhile the DA should be pursuing charges against his ex-lover for illegally wiretapping their conversation.
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It will be interesting to see what the appeals process judge(s) think.
Is it possible for somebody to waive their own Freedom of Speech just because the NBA charter says so?
This is sanctioned extortion and blackmail, IMHO.
I hope he lives to successfully give the league and all those athletes...er, 'carjackers in shorts' the big finger.
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It will be interesting to see what the appeals process judge(s) think.
Is it possible for somebody to waive their own Freedom of Speech just because the NBA charter says so?
This is sanctioned extortion and blackmail, IMHO.
I hope he lives to successfully give the league and all those athletes...er, 'carjackers in shorts' the big finger.
This will be in court for years.
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This will be in court for years.
No way.....it's not the defendant's attorneys that will be calling for delays/stays, etc..
And the league has no excuse to delay it. It only makes them look more complicit.
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No way.....it's not the defendant's attorneys that will be calling for delays/stays, etc..
And the league has no excuse to delay it. It only makes them look more complicit.
Sterling has already hired the best anti-trust lawyer in town. He has already taken steps against the NBA
http://www.lakersnation.com/nba-news-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-hires-antitrust-lawyer-threatens-to-sue/2014/05/15/
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Sterling has already hired the best anti-trust lawyer in town. He has already taken steps against the NBA
http://www.lakersnation.com/nba-news-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-hires-antitrust-lawyer-threatens-to-sue/2014/05/15/
Not my point.
It's that it's virtually 100% of the time that the defendant's attorneys would be the ones to try and let a case "season" in order to dull the publicity surrounding it. Case in point, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect's trial.
If his attorney's have already take steps...it's because they want this ruled upon 'yesterday'.
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Not my point.
It's that it's virtually 100% of the time that the defendant's attorneys would be the ones to try and let a case "season" in order to dull the publicity surrounding it. Case in point, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect's trial.
If his attorney's have already take steps...it's because they want this ruled upon 'yesterday'.
It still will be tied up in court. There are still too many issues to that need to be resolved according to the experts. Sterling can drag this case when he is 6 feet underground. He has the money to do it.
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It still will be tied up in court. There are too many issues to be resolved
What are the "issues"?
Do they have the right to strip away ownership of an asset based upon a supposed 'private' conversation?
They banned the SOB for life in less than 72 hours, for chrissakes. And fined him $2.5 Million.
To me, those are the ONLY issues.
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What are the "issues"?
Do they have the right to strip away ownership of an asset based upon a supposed 'private' conversation?
They banned the SOB for life in less than 72 hours, for chrissakes. And fined him $2.5 Million.
To me, those are the ONLY issues.
His wife. Who has ownership. Divorce proceedings. Right now its the ownership part.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2014/05/15/embattled-los-angeles-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-threatens-to-sue-nba-over-sanctions/
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His wife. Who has ownership. Divorce proceedings
:shrug: Okay....I guess we'll see. :beer:
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:shrug: Okay....I guess we'll see. :beer:
Remember she is co-owner of the Clippers.
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It will be interesting to see what the appeals process judge(s) think.
Is it possible for somebody to waive their own Freedom of Speech just because the NBA charter says so?
This is sanctioned extortion and blackmail, IMHO.
I hope he lives to successfully give the league and all those athletes...er, 'carjackers in shorts' the big finger.
:amen: I agree!
But I also agree with SPQR that this will not be settled anytime soon!
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:shrug: Okay....I guess we'll see. :beer:
Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly, has said she wants to keep her 50% ownership in the team, which is through a family trust.The NBA last week tapped Dick Parsons, a former chairman of Citigroup and Time Warner, to be the team's interim chief executive
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/15/us/donald-sterling-nba/
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What are the "issues"?
Do they have the right to strip away ownership of an asset based upon a supposed 'private' conversation?
They banned the SOB for life in less than 72 hours, for chrissakes. And fined him $2.5 Million.
To me, those are the ONLY issues.
I agree, DC. In so many ways this stinks to high heaven. Just don't like the "tone" it sets..... and I am sure that this isn't going to be the end of this march, Eich, Sterling, who's_next?? I'm listening carefully to the conversation about Phil Jackson considering Mark Jackson for the Knicks' coaching slot.... waiting to hear if Mark Jackson's "offensive Christian views" come up....
ETA: forgot about the Benham Brothers....
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I agree, DC. In so many ways this stinks to high heaven. Just don't like the "tone" it sets..... and I am sure that this isn't going to be the end of this march, Eich, Sterling, who's_next?? I'm listening carefully to the conversation about Phil Jackson considering Mark Jackson for the Knicks' coaching slot.... waiting to hear if Mark Jackson's "offensive Christian views" come up....
ETA: forgot about the Benham Brothers....
This will not be settled anytime soon. He has the right to contest it in court because he believes the NBA violated its constitution.
It is believed that Sterling is boycotting the payment at present because he contests the idea that he has violated the NBA constitution - the charge brought against Sterling last month
http://www.givemesport.com/466538-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-refusing-to-pay-25-million-fine
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Remember when the Dixie Chicks went off on the US when said they were ashamed of the this country while on a tour in Germany? I told my brother that I would never buy any of their music. He responded that it was "freedom of speech". I responded that they were free to say whatever the hell they wanted while I was free to reject their product.
This is kind of what Sterling is facing. He was free to say what he did, and he is free to say it again. But there are consequences nonetheless. Consumers are free to reject buying game tickets, sponsors are free to walk, and the league must protect its brand. I am sure there are stipulations in his agreement with the league. There will be consequences.
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Remember when the Dixie Chicks went off on the US when said they were ashamed of the this country while on a tour in Germany? I told my brother that I would never buy any of their music. He responded that it was "freedom of speech". I responded that they were free to say whatever the hell they wanted while I was free to reject their product.
This is kind of what Sterling is facing. He was free to say what he did, and he is free to say it again. But there are consequences nonetheless. Consumers are free to reject buying game tickets, sponsors are free to walk, and the league must protect its brand. I am sure there are stipulations in his agreement with the league. There will be consequences.
And I agree. There will be penalties. But if he wants to take it to court and drag the entire organization through the mud for years let him. These sort of things will not go away. The legal process is slow and painful.
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Dixie Chix
yeah, whatever happened to that no-talent hag?
Also, in the end it will be whatever the courts say it is.
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Also, in the end it will be whatever the courts say it is.
I agree. They should duke it out in court. Someone will capitulate.
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This will not be settled anytime soon. He has the right to contest it in court because he believes the NBA violated its constitution.
http://www.givemesport.com/466538-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-refusing-to-pay-25-million-fine
I agree, I hope it gets tied up for years.
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I agree, I hope it gets tied up for years.
:beer:
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Remember when the Dixie Chicks went off on the US when said they were ashamed of the this country while on a tour in Germany? I told my brother that I would never buy any of their music. He responded that it was "freedom of speech". I responded that they were free to say whatever the hell they wanted while I was free to reject their product.
This is kind of what Sterling is facing. He was free to say what he did, and he is free to say it again. But there are consequences nonetheless. Consumers are free to reject buying game tickets, sponsors are free to walk, and the league must protect its brand. I am sure there are stipulations in his agreement with the league. There will be consequences.
Sterling owns an NBA franchise, the brand is the NBA.
Like any other franchise, anything that the franchisee does which reflects badly or hurts the franchisor's brand, can result in the franchisee losing their right to the use of the brand. McDonald's is incredibly zealous about their brand image, and franchisees have to walk a very rigid line to hold on to those franchise rights that they paid for.
I haven't seen what the specifics of the agreements between the NBA and it;s franchisees is, but I I'm willing to bet you that they can in fact force him out if they want to.
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Sterling owns an NBA franchise, the brand is the NBA.
Like any other franchise, anything that the franchisee does which reflects badly or hurts the franchisor's brand, can result in the franchisee losing their right to the use of the brand. McDonald's is incredibly zealous about their brand image, and franchisees have to walk a very rigid line to hold on to those franchise rights that they paid for.
I haven't seen what the specifics of the agreements between the NBA and it;s franchisees is, but I I'm willing to bet you that they can in fact force him out if they want to.
But he does have the right to sue them in court, and tie it down for years right? And his wife is 50 percent of the ownership so she can sue the NBA too, right?Which they both going to do.
http://www.givemesport.com/466538-clippers-owner-donald-sterling-refusing-to-pay-25-million-fine
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But he does have the right to sue them in court, and tie it down for years right? And his wife is 50 percent of the ownership so she can sue the NBA too, right?Which they both going to do.
Anyone can sue anyone for anything.
I don't now the specifics of the NBA franchise agreement, but people who own multi-billion dollar franchise like the NBA probably lawyered up pretty good before drawing up the terms of a franchise contract.
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Anyone can sue anyone for anything.
I don't now the specifics of the NBA franchise agreement, but people who own multi-billion dollar franchise like the NBA probably lawyered up pretty good before drawing up the terms of a franchise contract.
So this is ending up in court and we will not see resolved for a very long time.
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What are the "issues"?
Do they have the right to strip away ownership of an asset based upon a supposed 'private' conversation?
They banned the SOB for life in less than 72 hours, for chrissakes. And fined him $2.5 Million.
To me, those are the ONLY issues.
But he signed a contract with those terms.
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But he signed a contract with those terms.
But he is only 50% of the team. We need to consider the wife what was in her contract and the trust that was created.
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But he is only 50% of the team. We need to consider the wife what was in her contract.
The ownership terms that were initially agreed to by him (or perhaps by her too, if she also signed) remain valid.
But the owners haven't voted yet, and that takes 75% of them. Upon sober reflection, maybe they will fall short of 75.
I predict a negotiated settlement. Or his death, since he is 80 or so. Plus there are threats by players to take actions.
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The ownership terms that were initially agreed to by him (or perhaps by her too, if she also signed) remain valid.
But the owners haven't voted yet, and that takes 75% of them. Upon sober reflection, maybe they will fall short of 75.
I predict a negotiated settlement. Or his death, since he is 80 or so. Plus there are threats by players to take actions.
I can agree to that.
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So this is ending up in court and we will not see resolved for a very long time.
I don't know.
I can tell you that I am close to someone deeply involved in the negotiations between Miami-Dade County and the Heat/Marlins/Dolphins franchises. These negotiations and agreements are not the same as the franchise agreements between the NBA/MBL/NFL, but I can tell you that nearly every adverse circumstance and possible situation that all the lawyers involved can think could possibly come up is considered and an outcome predetermined.
Then, just for those things that they didn't think of, there is a broad clause that covers them.
I think that the NBA fined him because they can legally do it under the terms of their contract with Sterling, and that they have the power to make him sell the franchise because otherwise they wouldn't have told him to.
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It will be interesting to see what the appeals process judge(s) think.
Is it possible for somebody to waive their own Freedom of Speech just because the NBA charter says so?
This is sanctioned extortion and blackmail, IMHO.
I hope he lives to successfully give the league and all those athletes...er, 'carjackers in shorts' the big finger.
People wave away their freedoms all the time.
Every time anyone waves away their Miranda Rights they are waving away their freedoms.
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I don't know.
I can tell you that I am close to someone deeply involved in the negotiations between Miami-Dade County and the Heat/Marlins/Dolphins franchises. These negotiations and agreements are not the same as the franchise agreements between the NBA/MBL/NFL, but I can tell you that nearly every adverse circumstance and possible situation that all the lawyers involved can think could possibly come up is considered and an outcome predetermined.
Then, just for those things that they didn't think of, there is a broad clause that covers them.
I think that the NBA fined him because they can legally do it under the terms of their contract with Sterling, and that they have the power to make him sell the franchise because otherwise they wouldn't have told him to.
I think that Sterling will give it a try and will probably ending up on the losing end of the stick
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(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/50/5045c40b02494357b1cb7372cf03dcb090a3ab2cc2ffc79267e6d40732480c5a.jpg)
Just had to post this somewhere! :laugh:
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http://www.tmz.com/2014/05/23/donald-sterling-shelly-sterling-clippers-sale-adam-silver-nba
Donald Sterling is no longer the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Clippers ... TMZ Sports has learned he just surrendered control to his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, and she is now secretly negotiating with the NBA to sell the team ... ON HER TERMS.
Sources close to the Clippers organization tell us ... Donald made the decision because he saw the handwriting on the wall -- as long as he remained in control, the NBA would order an involuntary sale of the team.
Our sources say Shelly and her lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, have been secretly meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA lawyers to "resolve the dispute amicably." We're told Shelly realizes the NBA wants the team sold, but she has significantly more leverage and credibility with the league than Donald. Her end game is simple -- she won't object to the sale, but SHE wants to call the shots.
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/MagicJ3GRBHous-25apr13.jpg/204px-MagicJ3GRBHous-25apr13.jpg)
"Mission accomplished! Now, let's place those bids..."
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They should file bankruptcy and lay all the players off.
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They should file bankruptcy and lay all the players off.
why? do they have debts in excess of their assets? if not then they cannot file bankruptcy.
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why? do they have debts in excess of their assets? if not then they cannot file bankruptcy.
They are being forced to sell, where is the rationalization/justification there?
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http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/05/27/Shelly-Sterling-Accepting-Offers-for-Clippers-Sale (http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2014/05/27/Shelly-Sterling-Accepting-Offers-for-Clippers-Sale)
by Warner Todd Huston 27 May 2014, 4:17 PM PDT
The wife of embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has officially announced that she is selling the basketball team and is fielding bids for that purpose.
In fact, Shelly Sterling has already scheduled a meeting with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the sale of the NBA team. Others seeking to purchase the team include a group headed by former player Grant Hill, another group fronted by Magic Johnson, and a third featuring Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and entertainment mogul David Geffen.
Since NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life from the NBA, the sports world has been waiting for Sterling's decision as to whether or not he was going to sell the team.
Even as he tried apologizing for comments that angered thousands of Americans, it finally came clear that Sterling would have to sell the team. By May 23, Sterling had surrendered control of the team to his estranged wife, Shelly. Three days later, Shelly was reported to have been fielding up to six different offers for the team.
In January of 2014, Forbes magazine estimated the Clippers worth as $575 million, but some are claiming that Sterling may be looking for as much as $1.5 billion.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sn-clippers-sale-ballmer-20140529-story.html (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sn-clippers-sale-ballmer-20140529-story.html)
James Rainey
National Basketball AssociationProfessional BasketballBasketballLos Angeles ClippersDonald SterlingMutual Funds
Sterlings to sell Clippers to former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer for $2 billion
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.
Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Steve Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.
The sale price is almost four times the highest previous NBA franchise sale price -- the $550 million paid earlier this month for the Milwaukee Bucks. It is second only to the Dodgers' 2012 sale for $2.1 billion as the highest price for any sports team in North America.
The prospective sale by Clippers co-owner Shelly Sterling comes five days ahead of an NBA hearing to oust her family from ownership following a controversy in which Donald Sterling insulted African-Americans in a secret audio recording.
The tentative deal still must receive the blessing of her husband, Donald Sterling, who has waxed and waned on the question of whether he would allow his wife to sell the team he has controlled for more than three decades.
The deal also needs the eventual approval of 29 other NBA owners, but is expected to clear that hurdle as long as Ballmer reaffirms his pledge to keep the team in Los Angeles and not move it to Seattle, where he lives.
Ballmer, 58, left the software giant in February and has an estimated net worth of $20 billion. Unlike other bidders, he did not immediately seek out partners for the purchase of the Clippers.
Ballmer last year joined a group, led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen, to bid on the Sacramento Kings, intending to move the team to Seattle. NBA owners voted to reject the proposed move.
The businessman said in a recent interview that he had no intention of moving the Clippers. He said that the high valuations for the team only made sense in Los Angeles -- the second biggest media market in the country.
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UPDATE: We have a winner…an astounding US$2,000,000,000 (that two BILLION, or two to three times the value of an NFL franchise) from Steve Ballmer.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sn-clippers-sale-ballmer-20140529-story.html
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion
by James Rainey
May 29, 2014
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.
Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to three individuals familiar with the negotiations.
One of the individuals with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.
(excerpt)
Side note: Guggenheim is the group that Magic Johnson is a part of... and the Geffen group was the one that involved Oprah.
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UPDATE: We have a winner…an astounding US$2,000,000,000 (that two BILLION, or two to three times the value of an NFL franchise) from Steve Ballmer.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-sn-clippers-sale-ballmer-20140529-story.html
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion
by James Rainey
May 29, 2014
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.
Ballmer, who was chief executive of Microsoft for 14 years, was chosen over competitors that included Los Angeles-based investors Tony Ressler and Bruce Karsh and a group that included David Geffen and executives from the Guggenheim Group, the Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to three individuals familiar with the negotiations.
One of the individuals with knowledge of the negotiations said the Geffen group bid $1.6 billion and Ressler at $1.2 billion.
(excerpt)
Side note: Guggenheim is the group that Magic Johnson is a part of... and the Geffen group was the one that involved Oprah.
And they are ALL crazy if you ask me! No way is that franchise worth that amount of money!
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And they are ALL crazy if you ask me! No way is that franchise worth that amount of money!
Just a toy to Ballmer. I doubt he has any intention to turn a profit.
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Just a toy to Ballmer. I doubt he has any intention to turn a profit.
Or build a winning team. I hope they go straight to the bottom of the standings (maybe even displace the Portland Jail-Blazers) and stay there....
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Holey Moses! That's almost four times the low-end valuation made by Forbes this January.
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Or build a winning team. I hope they go straight to the bottom of the standings (maybe even displace the Portland Jail-Blazers) and stay there....
It wouldn't be unfamiliar for the Clippers. After all, the only reason the team is successful now is because David Stern wouldn't let Chris Paul sign with the Lakers. The NBA is not a particularly transparent league.
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I was hoping the new owner would move the Clippers to Anaheim. Now it looks like they're going to Seattle.
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The plot thickens...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/05/30/donald-sterling-mental-health-shelly-los-angeles-sale-steve-ballmer/9754549/
Donald Sterling ruled mentally unfit, can't prevent Clippers sale
by Brent Schrotenberger
May 30, 2014
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The Sterling Family Trust owns the team, with Donald and his wife Shelly each owning a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the mental capacity of the trustees, and Donald Sterling did not meet the standard in a determination by experts, giving his wife sole decision-making power for the trust, the person said.
(excerpt)
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The plot thickens...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/05/30/donald-sterling-mental-health-shelly-los-angeles-sale-steve-ballmer/9754549/
Donald Sterling ruled mentally unfit, can't prevent Clippers sale
by Brent Schrotenberger
May 30, 2014
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The Sterling Family Trust owns the team, with Donald and his wife Shelly each owning a 50% share. The trust spells out provisions and procedures related to the mental capacity of the trustees, and Donald Sterling did not meet the standard in a determination by experts, giving his wife sole decision-making power for the trust, the person said.
(excerpt)
As a trustee though, his wife still has to act in the best interests of the trust's beneficiaries and presumably that includes Mr. Sterling. In particular, she cannot aggrandize herself at the expense of the trust or any of its beneficiaries.
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Still no closer to getting Seattle our Sonics team back.
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http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/05/30/donald-sterling-clippers-mentally-incapacitated?sr=fb053014sterlingmentallyincapacitated6pstorylink (http://www.hlntv.com/article/2014/05/30/donald-sterling-clippers-mentally-incapacitated?sr=fb053014sterlingmentallyincapacitated6pstorylink)
Report: Donald Sterling 'mentally incapacitated'
By Jonathan Anker
updated5:29 PM EDT, Fri May 30, 2014
Determination made after two doctor visits, say sources
Sterling's attorney: He's 'far from being incapacitated'
Team sale negotiated by wife Shelly as a result of diagnosis
Two neurologists have determined that Los Angeles Clippers' co-owner Donald Sterling is mentally incapacitated, following separate observations made by each of the physicians in the last several weeks, according to two sources that have spoken to CNN.
It is for this reason that the sale of the Clippers is currently being negotiated by Sterling's wife, co-owner Shelly Sterling. One of the sources with detailed knowledge of the situation tells CNN that the terms of the Sterling Family Trust dictate that if either co-owner becomes mentally incapacitated, the other co-owner becomes the team's sole trustee.
Friday, Shelly Sterling confirmed that she reached an agreement to sell the team to ex-Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. The sale still needs to be approved by the NBA's Board of Governors.
Donald Sterling's attorney disputes the description of his client's health. Maxwell Belcher tells CNN Sterling has a "modest mental impairment" and that while he is "slowing down," Belcher says the 80-year-old is "far from being incapacitated."
Asked about the sale of team, Belcher said Sterling "is looking at the whole situation and evaluating where to go from here."
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"Your honor, if you are going to call me crazy for paying $12.5 million for the team and selling for $2 billion, so be it. Call me crazy. I've instructed my legal representatives to put up a brief, weak token objection, but then drop it almost immediately."
Signed, Donald Sterling, Esq.
Attorney at Law
* Many people are "slowing down" at age 80
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Yeah....he's delirious that somebody would pay $2 BILLION on an original investment of 'only' $12 Million.
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If he is 'mentally incapacitated', then shouldn't he be able to go after the NBA for a violation of the ADA with their punishment of him?
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By Zach Harper | NBA writer
Shelly Sterling has come to an agreement with billionaire Steve Ballmer to sell ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers and potentially avoid the NBA having to vote for terminating the ownership of the franchise by the Sterling family. While the NBA's Board of Governors is still expecting to hold the vote just to make sure there isn't any stalling by the Sterlings and to make sure Adam Silver's punishment get executed if needed, a voluntary sale of the team was an admitted preferred outcome by the commissioner. That should just about wrap this situation up, right?
Incorrect. Max Blecher, Donald Sterling's attorney, confirmed in an email to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports that Sterling plans to file a $1 billion lawsuit against the NBA. After being banned for life from the NBA and having the process of removal of ownership set in motion, Sterling will not go quietly into the night. He's opting to create further litigation on the matter.
This lawsuit would be seeking damages for the punishment levied by Silver.
Considering the NBA's constitution and by-laws that Sterling has agreed to, it seems unlikely he has much ground to stand on. He received this punishment after leaked audio tapes of racist comments were made public and sent a shockwave throughout the NBA during the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Silver acted swiftly and bluntly in immediately attempting to separate Sterling from the league.
Sterling also may be looking to file a separate lawsuit to attempt to block the sale of ownership from Shelly Sterling to Steve Ballmer
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24577152/donald-sterling-to-file-1-billion-lawsuit-against-the-nba
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If he is 'mentally incapacitated', then shouldn't he be able to go after the NBA for a violation of the ADA with their punishment of him?
People don't get the Sterlings' kind of wealth by being dumb.
She had an interest in getting him out of the problem, and I'd say she did very well. Each (wife, heirs, himself) probably have lawyers, accountants and business brokers/agents.
He says "....call me crazy...I don't mind."
Whether or not he is lacking capacity could be questioned, but apparently nobody has done so.
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crazy like a fox
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http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/06/donald-sterling-gal-pal-v-stiviano-brutally-beaten-up/
The woman at the center of the Donald Sterling racism scandal, the ex-Los Angeles Clippers owner’s gal pal V Stiviano, was badly beaten up by two white men in New York City on Sunday night, her lawyer has confirmed exclusively to RadarOnline.
Around 7pm, as Stiviano was leaving the Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, “two white men descended on her,” attorney Mac Nehorary said.
“They were about 5’7 and they knew exactly who she was. They began to hit her and called her the N word.
“Other disgusting slurs were made against her. She was able to run away and several onlookers then began attempting to apprehend the two men.”
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V. Stiviano 'Assaulted' Near New York City Hotel
V. Stiviano, the woman at the center of the Donald Sterling controversy, was assaulted by two men in New York City Sunday, her lawyer told ABC News. But no police reports have been filed, and New York Police Department officials said officers did not respond to any incidents involving Stiviano.
News of the incident was first reported by RadarOnline. The situation happened at about 7 p.m. near the Gansevoort Hotel in Manhattan, said Mac Nehoray, Stiviano’s lawyer.
Nehoray said Stiviano was examined by a doctor after the incident and found to be “banged up but OK."
New York City police officials said they do not expect any charges to emerge.
“As of now this has no legs,” NYPD officials said.
Stiviano, 31, entered the public spotlight in March, after recordings between her and Sterling emerged online featuring the since-ousted Los Angeles Clippers owner’s racist rants.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/stiviano-assaulted-york-city-hotel/story?id=23952053
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She's strange.
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(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/544189/LEBRON-JAMES-TWITTER-TRAYVON-MARTIN.jpg)
Karma is a bitch, ain't it, Luis?
Go SPURS!
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Maybe they just wanted to steal her magic sunglasses..........
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(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/544189/LEBRON-JAMES-TWITTER-TRAYVON-MARTIN.jpg)
Karma is a bitch, ain't it, Luis?
Go SPURS!
Yes.
It's a bitch that we may not be able to win our third championship in a row.
BTW... we won the Championship after that picture was taken.
Karma must be in time delay mode.
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Maybe they just wanted to steal her magic sunglasses..........
Charges were dropped (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2655080/V-Stiviano-goes-LA-unusual-make-and.html)
"'Simply put, a credible victim of a crime does not have her attorney call the press before she calls the police,' said Diorio's attorney, David Scott Smith.
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Yes.
It's a bitch that we may not be able to win our third championship in a row.
BTW... we won the Championship after that picture was taken.
Karma must be in time delay mode.
BAH! HUMBUG!!
The Miami Heat are nothing but carjackers in shorts!
Their fans emptied the arena before the middle of the 4th quarter last night....
Fairweather fans, those HEAT fans. LOL!
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(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/544189/LEBRON-JAMES-TWITTER-TRAYVON-MARTIN.jpg)
I'm trying to forget the Saint Skittles affair.
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BAH! HUMBUG!!
The Miami Heat are nothing but carjackers in shorts!
Their fans emptied the arena before the middle of the 4th quarter last night....
Fairweather fans, those HEAT fans. LOL!
I agree on the fans.
They could learn a lot on team loyalty from the long-suffering Wizards fan base.
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I agree on the fans.
They could learn a lot on team loyalty from the long-suffering Wizards fan base.
Having lived in northeast Ohio and being friends with many Cleveland fans... nothing else compares.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWGx_P9KPZg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8boPbIfG0M