He banished Sterling to the point of NBA irrelevance and simultaneously put every other owner on notice. Not only is it up to them to vote Sterling out, but they're also now aware that anything they say, even in private, can and will be held against them.
In the process, Silver let everyone off the hook for this episode. Deep inside, that's what everyone wanted, as much as or even more than punishment for Sterling. The other owners won't have to explain why they kept him in their midst -- or, in some cases, why Sterling had a better record of hiring African-American head coaches and executives than they did. The Clippers players don't have to explain why they're still playing for him ... or why they ever signed on to do so in the first place. Fans won't have to rationalize subsidizing Sterling by paying for tickets.
The fairest of all questions -- even for the small corners of society that want to defend Sterling -- is why now? Why this moment, when many people were offended but no one was actually wronged? Why not when Sterling was facing sexual harassment lawsuits or housing-discrimination lawsuits or wrongful-termination lawsuits?
Silver has maintained: "I can't speak to past actions." He also said that because Sterling either won or settled lawsuits without admitting liability, the NBA didn't have grounds to act. That falls short on two grounds: Silver has worked in the NBA office since 1992 with ample opportunity for input; testimony and depositions should carry as much weight as recorded conversations, even without legal verdicts.
But as of Tuesday, Silver no longer has to account for the inaction by predecessor David Stern and the club of NBA owners in the past. He took bold strides down his own path, showed an unwillingness to allow the sore of Sterling to fester. It's a new era. It makes you wonder how much credibility Silver just bought and how this will play out in the next round of collective bargaining. For example, will players be more apt to acquiesce to Silver's desire to raise the minimum age for entry into the league?
The players wanted to see whether the NBA had their collective backs. Silver can look them in the eye and say he did everything he could to show that a league that's populated by an African-American majority won't tolerate an owner who disparages people based on the color of their skin.
Not only is Silver willing to take a stand, he's also willing to take up a fight. For years there was a desire within the league to oust Sterling for financial and competitive reasons. His team played in the outdated Los Angeles Sports Arena before small crowds while a newer arena and untapped fan base were available just down the highway in Anaheim. Then the Clippers squeezed into the giant ATM that is Staples Center and eventually turned into a highly profitable, destination franchise that has even fared better than the league's glamour team, the Lakers, the past two seasons.
There still were the embarrassing episodes, some of which came from Sterling's own testimony. During one deposition, filled with salacious details of Sterling recounting his encounters with a woman whom he paid to have sex, Sterling said something that seems to encompass his philosophy: "And when you are paying for it, you feel you have a right to say everything."
That would account for Sterling's degradation of women -- so evident in the way he speaks to the woman on the recording that led to his downfall -- and his attitude about players and other subordinates, at the very least as detailed in the wrongful-termination lawsuit brought by former general manager Elgin Baylor. At no previous point did the fans call for player boycotts, nor did other owners fill media email inboxes with statements of outrage over Sterling's comments, nor did coaches question whether they wanted to continue to work for him.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is absolutely right to express his concern about a slippery slope now that words can be grounds for revocation of a franchise. What happens when it's not so easy for everyone to jump up and point and yell, "Look at the racist!"? What happens if the discrimination is more subtle and nuanced?
What happens when we're forced to examine our own motives and willingness to sacrifice, when the solution isn't to get rid of someone else but to change our own behavior?
If Silver had not taken such a dramatic step, would you have protested by changing the TV channel in the midst of these incredible playoffs? Would you stop buying NBA jerseys? Would other owners commit to providing truly equal opportunity workplaces for their teams and other businesses?
Silver did the dirty work. It's up to everyone else to clean up after him.
Listen, if I'm Donald Sterling, I'm just beating my head against a wall knowing that V. Stiviano is the chick who brought me to my knees. All those allegations from his past regarding misogyny and racism and he was able to remain a player in the game, and this chick happens to be the straw that broke the camel's back. There's zippy chance that V. Stiviano was worth it looking in the rearview.
For one thing, you don't get to do the whole one initial deal with your name unless you're legitimately important to society: F. Scott Fitzgerlad, J. Edgar Hoover, R. Kelly... Not sure that last one fits, but fuck it, I ran out of gas on that example quicker than I expected. Seriously, with a name like V. Stiviano, you at least have to have your own line of shampoo or perfume or something, you can't just be a So. Cal club rat and gold digger with a name like V. Stiviano.
Another topic no one has put on the table yet is that there's like a 90% chance this chick has a penis. Maybe it's gone undiscussed because Don's into some real fetish shit that he's trying to keep on the DL, but if your tranny alarm isn't going bananas after looking at this chick, it might be time to change the batteries. Adam's apple city. Ol' Don was obviously desperate for some pussy in his old age, the warning signs that this broad is certifiable are written all over the walls. Just the amount of times she (or he) said "honey" during that tape is enough to make you realize she's super fake. Between the tranny-ness and the fact that her whole aura is just oozing gold digger, Don just flat-fuck dropped the ball on this one.
Look, I'm not trying to advocate the views of Donald Sterling in any way shape or form and I'm not trying to defend what he said, but like Mark Cuban brought up, this is a slippery slope. This man owns and operates an almost billion dollar business and he's getting literally crucified because of some off hand comments that, what he thought, were private. Are his personal views really legal grounds to take away a business that he was part of building? I'm not exactly sure where all these talking heads get off thinking it's their job to be the morality police here either, like they've never made some off-color comments when they thought nobody was listening. You really think Stephen A. Smith or Charles Barkley has never made an off the record comment of poor taste that might've been equally, if not more offensive than what Donald Sterling said? You really think Donald Sterling is the only million-billion-trillion-aire that's an asshole? You don't become someone that powerful by being the fucking Dalai Lama. Those dudes are sharks; cut-throat, capitalistic-minded lions that only care about one thing, the bottom line.
In this situation, what's done is done, water under the bridge. The court of public opinion has spoken and Adam Silver and his creepy ass bald head have laid down the NBA's hammer of justice on Donald Sterling. The bottom line here is that there might not be legal precedent to take his business away from him but if 75% of the owners vote to force him to sell, he's got no choice, and if you don't think that's going to happen, you're living under a rock. He would be really, really stupid to not sell sooner rather than later. He bought the franchise for like $13 million and has the potential to sell that thing for upwards of $800-900 million. He already made the dumbest decision of his life when he let V. Stiviano wiggle her money-grubbing hands down his pants. At 80 years old, this is an absolute no brainer, Don. Take the money and run.
PS - Whatever happened to the sticks and stones saying? This has been the subject of national news for a week and this guy didn't even use a racial slur. If someone has evidence of Donald Sterling legitimately trying to prevent a black person from attending a Clipper's game, please enlighten me. Otherwise, please tell me why, as a nation, we're getting our panties in a wad over this? Why is this such a big deal? The only thing this tape is really doing is making Donald Sterling look like a clown because in 2014 old white dudes with this type of prejudice just aren't taken seriously.
If off the record comments about personal views are now precedent to essentially fire someone, just wait until internet histories start becoming easily accessible, whole new ball game.
For one thing, you don't get to do the whole one initial deal with your name unless you're legitimately important to society: F. Scott Fitzgerlad, J. Edgar Hoover, R. Kelly... Not sure that last one fits, but fuck it, I ran out of gas on that example quicker than I expected. Seriously, with a name like V. Stiviano, you at least have to have your own line of shampoo or perfume or something, you can't just be a So. Cal club rat and gold digger with a name like V. Stiviano.
Another topic no one has put on the table yet is that there's like a 90% chance this chick has a penis. Maybe it's gone undiscussed because Don's into some real fetish shit that he's trying to keep on the DL, but if your tranny alarm isn't going bananas after looking at this chick, it might be time to change the batteries. Adam's apple city. Ol' Don was obviously desperate for some pussy in his old age, the warning signs that this broad is certifiable are written all over the walls. Just the amount of times she (or he) said "honey" during that tape is enough to make you realize she's super fake. Between the tranny-ness and the fact that her whole aura is just oozing gold digger, Don just flat-fuck dropped the ball on this one.
Look, I'm not trying to advocate the views of Donald Sterling in any way shape or form and I'm not trying to defend what he said, but like Mark Cuban brought up, this is a slippery slope. This man owns and operates an almost billion dollar business and he's getting literally crucified because of some off hand comments that, what he thought, were private. Are his personal views really legal grounds to take away a business that he was part of building? I'm not exactly sure where all these talking heads get off thinking it's their job to be the morality police here either, like they've never made some off-color comments when they thought nobody was listening. You really think Stephen A. Smith or Charles Barkley has never made an off the record comment of poor taste that might've been equally, if not more offensive than what Donald Sterling said? You really think Donald Sterling is the only million-billion-trillion-aire that's an asshole? You don't become someone that powerful by being the fucking Dalai Lama. Those dudes are sharks; cut-throat, capitalistic-minded lions that only care about one thing, the bottom line.
In this situation, what's done is done, water under the bridge. The court of public opinion has spoken and Adam Silver and his creepy ass bald head have laid down the NBA's hammer of justice on Donald Sterling. The bottom line here is that there might not be legal precedent to take his business away from him but if 75% of the owners vote to force him to sell, he's got no choice, and if you don't think that's going to happen, you're living under a rock. He would be really, really stupid to not sell sooner rather than later. He bought the franchise for like $13 million and has the potential to sell that thing for upwards of $800-900 million. He already made the dumbest decision of his life when he let V. Stiviano wiggle her money-grubbing hands down his pants. At 80 years old, this is an absolute no brainer, Don. Take the money and run.
PS - Whatever happened to the sticks and stones saying? This has been the subject of national news for a week and this guy didn't even use a racial slur. If someone has evidence of Donald Sterling legitimately trying to prevent a black person from attending a Clipper's game, please enlighten me. Otherwise, please tell me why, as a nation, we're getting our panties in a wad over this? Why is this such a big deal? The only thing this tape is really doing is making Donald Sterling look like a clown because in 2014 old white dudes with this type of prejudice just aren't taken seriously.
If off the record comments about personal views are now precedent to essentially fire someone, just wait until internet histories start becoming easily accessible, whole new ball game.
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