Doesn't sound like Cuban agrees with kicking sterling out presently

[Billz401]

It's not like he went all Kanye West and jacked the mic during the all star game to scream racist profanities. This was in the privacy of his own home and he got set up. And if what he said on that 10 minute tape was racist, he's probably the nicest racist around.

[LooseCannon]

My whole issue with this is what exactly did he say that warrants the lifetime ban and forced sale of team.

This should be understood as a sort of lifetime achievement award for racism, where he's not being punished for a single thing but for a cumulative record.  No one else is going to be tossed out for a single comment, but might get forced out following a pattern of behavior for which they have been punished by an escalating series of fines and suspensions.

This is a  make-up call for sweeping Sterling's previous behavior under the rug and hoping he would just die before doing anything else embarrassing.

[Ogaju]

My whole issue with this is what exactly did he say that warrants the lifetime ban and forced sale of team. Idk how many of you actually listened to the 10 minute "tirade" he had but he honestly didn't even use any racial slurs or specifically say he doesn't want blacks in the nba. He said he doesn't want HER going to the game with magic Johnson and "them". So now we assume he means all blacks but what can we go off of assumptions? Obviously the guys a bigot and proved it over the years but listening to this woman poke and prod at him in an attempt to get him to outburst is sickening. The guy sounds like he's on the verge of tears begging her to let it go and leave him alone but nope she keeps pecking. Honestly probably the biggest troll in history. So now we have a nationwide which hunt for a guy who mightve said something racist behind closed doors. And let me make it clear I'm not defending this guy, he's scum, but I can't help but feel like he's getting shafted.

What I wanna know is what are they gonna do if it comes out that a black owner, let's say Jordan for example, says some racist remarks about whites/hispanics/gay/lesbian etc behind closed doors and it comes to light. Are they going to be as strict in that situation? Or will they sweep it under the rug because they are the minority in the nba. I just feel like there's a double standard here

Of course he got shafted... and no Anderson Cooper did not give him a way out. Anderson goaded him into saying some other silly stuff against Magic. The Anderson Cooper interview was particularly heinous because even Anderson admits that Sterling was apologetic in the first hour, then kind of trailed off in the second hour. If you have any experience at all in questioning a witness you know that fatigue leads to very poor testimony for the witness. That is why interrogators try to get their subjects weak as possible for the interrogations.

[fairweatherfan]

Why do so many people keep treating this as a moral decision by the NBA?  It's a business decision with a moral pretext.  No slippery slope is necessary - if someone threatens the financial well-being of the league by drawing the degree of negative response that Sterling's comments got, they'll be out too.  "But what about this other thing somebody said 10 years ago?"  Didn't get the attention, didn't threaten the business, so no response.

It just happens that racist, sexist, and, increasingly, homophobic statements are a very quick way of drawing that kind of negative response in today's market, far more so than in the past.

So it's not a slippery slope, gravity is just pulling us down this remarkably slick, downward-curved surface at increasing velocity!

Even if the NBA didn't view it as a moral decision (and they've done everything to frame it as a moral decision), it doesn't mean it isn't one.  Whether the sheriff gives over his prisoner to the mob because he sympathizes with their case or because he's afraid for himself, the effect is the same: the mob is validated and empowered.

So this private business organization has a duty to ignore the opinions of its customers and employees and their impact on their bottom line and publicly stand by Sterling, or it's like they're enabling a lynching?  And those same customers and employees are a "mob"?  We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Billz401]

I just feel like it's petty. He's been a bigot forever but now they're banning him for this.. if it were something like a crazy outburst laced with every slur u could think of I'd be like wow that's wild get him out of here. But they're doing a lifetime ban for this? Too harsh imo.

[Ogaju]

I just feel like it's petty. He's been a bigot forever but now they're banning him for this.. if it were something like a crazy outburst laced with every slur u could think of I'd be like wow that's wild get him out of here. But they're doing a lifetime ban for this? Too harsh imo.

Its called a power grab, notice how every prospective owner speculated so far is black or affiliated with a black investor group. The owners probably know they will soon be charged with not having enough minority representation in ownership so they are trying to gift a franchise to black ownership.

Too bad the NFL does not have enough native American players -- that Redskins name would be history and Dan Snyder would be banned for life by now. We could use a new owner for the Skins.

Hail to the hmmm cant use that name anymore.

[LooseCannon]

Its called a power grab, notice how every prospective owner speculated so far is black or affiliated with a black investor group. The owners probably know they will soon be charged with not having enough minority representation in ownership so they are trying to gift a franchise to black ownership.

I don't think Rick Caruso has been lined to any black investor groups.  Larry Ellison and David Geffen have been linked to Oprah, but I think they would move forward without her if she decides not to invest.  Lakers minority owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is a minority but definitely not black.  Some have speculated that Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer might try to buy the team if they can find a way to relocate the franchise to Seattle.

No one is going to be handed the Clippers as a gift.

[snively]

Why do so many people keep treating this as a moral decision by the NBA?  It's a business decision with a moral pretext.  No slippery slope is necessary - if someone threatens the financial well-being of the league by drawing the degree of negative response that Sterling's comments got, they'll be out too.  "But what about this other thing somebody said 10 years ago?"  Didn't get the attention, didn't threaten the business, so no response.

It just happens that racist, sexist, and, increasingly, homophobic statements are a very quick way of drawing that kind of negative response in today's market, far more so than in the past.

So it's not a slippery slope, gravity is just pulling us down this remarkably slick, downward-curved surface at increasing velocity!

Even if the NBA didn't view it as a moral decision (and they've done everything to frame it as a moral decision), it doesn't mean it isn't one.  Whether the sheriff gives over his prisoner to the mob because he sympathizes with their case or because he's afraid for himself, the effect is the same: the mob is validated and empowered.

Whatever you think about Sterling the man, the way his team is being taken from him stinks of Orwell.  A private phone conversation recorded and leaked and a tabloid media holding him up for endless 2-minute hates. The endless piling on and self-righteous denunciations. The thrill of ganging up on a dying old ogre and trampling him. The suspicious glares trained on those who express misgivings - like Cuban.

The ends may have been a long time coming for Sterling, but the means are exposing something far more sinister.

Have you read Orwell?  Because he's pretty concerned about government control, when here we have a collection of 29 rich business owners hanging a 30th out to dry (in that selling an asset for a billion dollars can possibly seen as such) for their own personal benefit.

It is nothing like Orwell.  We have private entities acting in their own self-interest.  Does it suck for Sterling that his bigotry was exposed to the point where others could no longer pretend it didn't exist?  Sure.  That's life.  He's free to say what he wants, and others are free to react how they want, and the NBA is free to favor the reaction of the majority of its sponsors, employees, and customers over Donald Sterling's wishes.  And Cuban is free to vote whichever way he wants.  If he doesn't want to vote Sterling out on freedom of speech grounds, either due to moral conviction or personal protection as an outspoken person, that's his prerogative.  If he thinks that the possible loss of sponsorship is going to hurt his own business, and wants Sterling out for that, even if he feels uncomfortable, that's his prerogative too.

This issue is not complicated.  Donald Sterling said some very offensive things.  The NBA is in danger of losing tens, maybe hundreds, of millions of dollars because of those things.  They are taking an action to prevent the loss of money.  No more, no less.  Certainly some owners were truly offended.  I'd bet Michael Jordan was.  Probably some other owners weren't as much, but don't want to lose the money, because they're not idiots.  There's no persecution of Donald Sterling.  There are fans who say "I don't want my money going there."  There are companies that don't want to be associated with it, so as not to lose those fans as customers.  And there are players who don't want to help a man who's so willing to denigrate them.  It is simply that most people find him revolting, and their dollars are talking.  No laws are being passed.  No one's rounding up the racists.  Orwellian this is not.

Orwell's dystopian governments emerged from cultures of hysteria and propaganda.  Just because this is the private sector doesn't mean his insights as to totalitarian impulses in society don't apply. 

You say that this is just private entities acting in their own self-interest, but when self-interest leads to such wild over-reactions the assumption that we're dealing with a rational market/business as usual has to come into question.  The idea that a leaked tape of an 80 year old man's mostly nonsensical pleadings with his half-black mistress should trigger the most draconian of the league's emergency powers is absurd.  Ron Artest got less for directly assaulting the NBA's consumers.  Ditto Sprewell for choking his coach.


 

 

[cb8883]

NBA should force Cuban to sell. Honestly feel like Sterling isn't the only owner that felt this way. Shame on Sterling and Cuban. If Cuban doesn't vote to eject Sterling he should lose his team and his Shark Tank deal. Racism is the worst thing that anyone can have in their heart. If you cannot get past this while having one of the greatest presidents of all time in office, that just happens to be African American then society as a whole has truly not evolved. Any owner that does not vote Sterling out is a racist and should lose their team as a result.

[cb8883]

Its called a power grab, notice how every prospective owner speculated so far is black or affiliated with a black investor group. The owners probably know they will soon be charged with not having enough minority representation in ownership so they are trying to gift a franchise to black ownership.

I don't think Rick Caruso has been lined to any black investor groups.  Larry Ellison and David Geffen have been linked to Oprah, but I think they would move forward without her if she decides not to invest.  Lakers minority owner Patrick Soon-Shiong is a minority but definitely not black.  Some have speculated that Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer might try to buy the team if they can find a way to relocate the franchise to Seattle.

No one is going to be handed the Clippers as a gift.

I think it's already Magic Johnson's team they just need to get the Racist out of LA first. It's going to be a great day when Magic guides the team in the right direction unlike the penny pinching racist

[Roy H.]

NBA should force Cuban to sell. Honestly feel like Sterling isn't the only owner that felt this way. Shame on Sterling and Cuban. If Cuban doesn't vote to eject Sterling he should lose his team and his Shark Tank deal. Racism is the worst thing that anyone can have in their heart. If you cannot get past this while having one of the greatest presidents of all time in office, that just happens to be African American then society as a whole has truly not evolved. Any owner that does not vote Sterling out is a racist and should lose their team as a result.

Sterling was racist, Cuban was honest.  Anybody who says that they treat every person the exact same way, regardless of how they look, is lying.

Also, in terms of your last sentence, it just strikes me as strange that you're arguing for tolerance, while at the same time being completely intolerant of anybody else's opposing viewpoint.  While nobody should defend racism, reasonable minds can disagree on whether Sterling's offense rises to one where he should lose his team.  I think the NBA is justified in its actions due to the contracts Sterling signed, and more importantly for the potential damage to the NBA brand.  However, people who disagree with me aren't necessarily, or even likely, racists.

[cb8883]

NBA should force Cuban to sell. Honestly feel like Sterling isn't the only owner that felt this way. Shame on Sterling and Cuban. If Cuban doesn't vote to eject Sterling he should lose his team and his Shark Tank deal. Racism is the worst thing that anyone can have in their heart. If you cannot get past this while having one of the greatest presidents of all time in office, that just happens to be African American then society as a whole has truly not evolved. Any owner that does not vote Sterling out is a racist and should lose their team as a result.

Sterling was racist, Cuban was honest.  Anybody who says that they treat every person the exact same way, regardless of how they look, is lying.

Also, in terms of your last sentence, it just strikes me as strange that you're arguing for tolerance, while at the same time being completely intolerant of anybody else's opposing viewpoint.  While nobody should defend racism, reasonable minds can disagree on whether Sterling's offense rises to one where he should lose his team.  I think the NBA is justified in its actions due to the contracts Sterling signed, and more importantly for the potential damage to the NBA brand.  However, people who disagree with me aren't necessarily, or even likely, racists.

My view point is that no one should defend ignorance. Racism is a pure form of ignorance. Cuban making the comment about Travon should be enough to lose his team in my opinion but he won't. You cannot have tolerance for racists. Discrimination is in this country and people like Sterling and Cuban are the reason it exists still. I also feel that on a social level that anyone who didn't vote for Obama is deep down someone who might not be an open racist but someone who holds tendencies. There is no reason the guy shouldn't at the very least get a third term to clean up Bush and implement health care. There will be books written on him being one of the greatest. I stand behind what I said about Sterling and a lesser extent Cuban.

[Roy H.]

NBA should force Cuban to sell. Honestly feel like Sterling isn't the only owner that felt this way. Shame on Sterling and Cuban. If Cuban doesn't vote to eject Sterling he should lose his team and his Shark Tank deal. Racism is the worst thing that anyone can have in their heart. If you cannot get past this while having one of the greatest presidents of all time in office, that just happens to be African American then society as a whole has truly not evolved. Any owner that does not vote Sterling out is a racist and should lose their team as a result.

Sterling was racist, Cuban was honest.  Anybody who says that they treat every person the exact same way, regardless of how they look, is lying.

Also, in terms of your last sentence, it just strikes me as strange that you're arguing for tolerance, while at the same time being completely intolerant of anybody else's opposing viewpoint.  While nobody should defend racism, reasonable minds can disagree on whether Sterling's offense rises to one where he should lose his team.  I think the NBA is justified in its actions due to the contracts Sterling signed, and more importantly for the potential damage to the NBA brand.  However, people who disagree with me aren't necessarily, or even likely, racists.

I also feel that on a social level that anyone who didn't vote for Obama is deep down someone who might not be an open racist but someone who holds tendencies.

Wow.  You decry ignorance, and then make this statement?

I think you might want to examine whether you're as tolerant and free from prejudice as you think you are.  Rather than engage in a full-blown debate here, though, I'll just note that statements like the above aren't allowed on CelticsBlog.

[BballTim]

I also feel that on a social level that anyone who didn't vote for Obama is deep down someone who might not be an open racist but someone who holds tendencies.

  No offense, but that's a pretty idiotic comment. It's like saying that anyone who doesn't think Kevin Love is the best player in the nba is a racist. I don't see how anyone could realistically rate Obama's performance any higher than mediocre.

[pokeKingCurtis]

NBA should force Cuban to sell. Honestly feel like Sterling isn't the only owner that felt this way. Shame on Sterling and Cuban. If Cuban doesn't vote to eject Sterling he should lose his team and his Shark Tank deal. Racism is the worst thing that anyone can have in their heart. If you cannot get past this while having one of the greatest presidents of all time in office, that just happens to be African American then society as a whole has truly not evolved. Any owner that does not vote Sterling out is a racist and should lose their team as a result.

Sterling was racist, Cuban was honest.  Anybody who says that they treat every person the exact same way, regardless of how they look, is lying.

Also, in terms of your last sentence, it just strikes me as strange that you're arguing for tolerance, while at the same time being completely intolerant of anybody else's opposing viewpoint.  While nobody should defend racism, reasonable minds can disagree on whether Sterling's offense rises to one where he should lose his team.  I think the NBA is justified in its actions due to the contracts Sterling signed, and more importantly for the potential damage to the NBA brand.  However, people who disagree with me aren't necessarily, or even likely, racists.

My view point is that no one should defend ignorance. Racism is a pure form of ignorance. Cuban making the comment about Travon should be enough to lose his team in my opinion but he won't. You cannot have tolerance for racists. Discrimination is in this country and people like Sterling and Cuban are the reason it exists still. I also feel that on a social level that anyone who didn't vote for Obama is deep down someone who might not be an open racist but someone who holds tendencies. There is no reason the guy shouldn't at the very least get a third term to clean up Bush and implement health care. There will be books written on him being one of the greatest. I stand behind what I said about Sterling and a lesser extent Cuban.

I think this exemplifies the point Cuban was trying to make.

To those who see everyone the say...good on you.

But the reality is there's a very good chance one or more of your family has opinions that probably aren't right. There is also the fact that minorities are less economically endowed and inclined to commit crimes. The media also reinforces stereotypes.

So while consciously you want to treat everyone the same, most everyone, even the most well educated and respectable, are conditioned a certain way.