The Donald Sterling Situation

I'm sure you are well aware of the TMZ report that came out late last week that purportedly had Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making some very disturbing, and racist remarks.

Here is one of Sterling's notorious quotes from the conversation, "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people... Do you have to?"

TMZ first broke the story late last week about an audio recording they obtained that has what is believed to be Donald Sterling having a conversation with his former girlfriend V. Stiviano. 

The conversation was regarding Stiviano posting a picture to her Instagram account with NBA legend Magic Johnson. Sterling was upset that Stiviano would publicize her friendship with Magic Johnson on Instagram because he was a black man. 

I am not sure if Sterling is aware of most of his employees but a majority of them happen to have the same skin color as the man he abolished his girlfriend from taking pictures with.

DeadSpin.com was able to get a hold of an extended version of the conversation, almost 15 minutes long. In the extended version, what is believed to be Sterling, is making comments about how he "supports" these players.

Here is an excerpt from the recording, "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? 

The two went back and forth in the audio with Sterling digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole with every word that come from his mouth.

Shelly Sterling, Donald's estranged wife that he had been separated from for years, has stood up against Donald Sterling. She said, "Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband.  My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudices."

This isn't the first time Donald Sterling has come under fire for racist remarks.

In 2009 an article in ESPN: The Magazine had a former property supervisor saying that Donald Sterling would not rent to Blacks, Latinos and people with children.

Here is a quick excerpt from that article:

When Sterling first bought the Ardmore, he remarked on its odor to Davenport. "That's because of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean," he said, according to Davenport's testimony. "And it's because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day." He added: "So we have to get them out of here." Shortly after, construction work caused a serious leak at the complex. When Davenport surveyed the damage, she found an elderly woman, Kandynce Jones, wading through several inches of water in Apartment 121. Jones was paralyzed on the right side and legally blind. She took medication for high blood pressure and to thin a clot in her leg. Still, she was remarkably cheerful, showing Davenport pictures of her children, even as some of her belongings floated around her.

Elgin Baylor, a former Clippers general manager and NBA legend, has had some problems with Sterling as well. In 2009 a wrongful-termination lawsuit was filed by Baylor who said that Sterling had a "plantation mentality." The reason why Baylor was filing the lawsuit was regarding an instance where Sterling said, "Personally, I would like to have a white Southern coach coaching poor black players." Baylor said he was shocked at what he was hearing when Sterling replied, "Do you think that's a racist statement?" and that's when Baylor told him, "Absolutely. That's plantation mentality."

The news has been referenced by everybody in the NBA universe, from the Los Angeles Clippers and their coach Doc Rivers, to the greatest player of all time and owner of the Charlotte Bobcats Michael Jordan. Even our commander and chief Barack Obama has responded to this issue when he was asked during a trip to Malaysia over the weekend.

As of right now the options on the table that I am hearing are he can sell the team to someone, say Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners. 

Another option would be to suspend the owner. The repercussions that would come from that could be tremendous seeing as how the entire nation believes this man to be an abomination to everything in the NBA and what it stands for.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who hasn't even been on the job for six months, has to make a decision that will impact his entire career as the commissioner.

Now we must wait on Silver's decision which should come by Tuesday. The decision is an easy one and has been echoed throughout the NBA. That message is that Donald Sterling has no business in the NBA and should be forced out immediately.

Only Adam Silver knows exactly what will come next in this process I just hope he understands that allowing a man like Donald Sterling to continue his business in the NBA is a very, very bad look.


*UPDATE:
Adam Silver has made his decision and the punishment for Donald 
Sterling is a lifetime ban from the Clippers Organization, a $2.5 million fine that is the highest allowed in the NBA constitution, and Silver will be urging every owner in the NBA to force Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers.

It shouldn't be hard to convince the rest of the owners in the NBA since most of them have already came out condemning Sterling's remarks.

How do you feel about his penalties? Do they fit? I would love to hear your take on this whole situation so drop a comment!