We first became aware of the allegations of racism against LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Monday. And NBA Commissioner Aaron Silver has wasted no time in taking the most punitive action available to him; Reuters reports:
The National Basketball Association banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the game for life and fined him $2.5 million for racist comments made public over the weekend, the league's commissioner said on Tuesday.
Sterling, the longest-tenured owner of any of the 30 NBA teams, will not be allowed any role in the operations of his team or be able to serve as one of the league's governors, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced at a news conference in New York.
The controversy began over the weekend when the celebrity website TMZ.com released an audio recording with a voice said to be Sterling's criticizing a friend for associating with "black people."
An investigation into the recording concluded the voice was Sterling's Silver told reporters.
"The man whose voice is heard on the recording and on a second recording from the same conversation that was released on Sunday is Mr. Sterling," said Silver, who is confronting his first major crisis since he was named commissioner in February. "The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful."
Sterling's comments caused a wave of outrage from fans, players and coaches of the league, which was on the forefront of racial integration in U.S. professional sports, all the way to Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, who blasted the "incredibly offensive racist statements."
Regular readers ought be aware of where we stand on racism; it is never OK. Sterling seems to be a fairly unpleasant, intolerant, very wealthy specimen of humanity.
But what does a woman of 31 see in a man of 80? Does this matter have anything to do with V. Stiviano being sued by Sterling's wife? And although Ms Stiviano denies leaking the tape of Sterling to the media, who recorded it, and who leaked it?
Donald Sterling may be an intolerant old goat, but there certainly seems more to this case than meets the eye. We suspect that today's decision by Aaron Silver is by no means the end of this matter.
