How will NBA's Adam Silver punish Donald Sterling?

I'm surprised that Sterling hasn't been fired already.

hard to fire him … he owns the team, he's also the longest tenured owner in the NBA … has had multiple issues (race related, going back as far as 2006, including a DOJ lawsuit [IIRC, the largest ever fine, again race discrimination in housing) …

NBA doesn't have the "power" that MLB has (the anti-trust exemption), so the commissioner can't "just force him to sell" like MLB did to Marge Schott (Cincinnati Reds owner) …

and considering that Silver is a lawyer, I'm betting it will take a while before he comes up with a decision of what to do …

and it probably won't be done without the consensus of the other owners … and they will all be looking out for themselves … i.e. do we give the Commissioner this much "power", that might come back to haunt us individually some time in the future …

so whatever is eventually done … I'm betting it will take a long time to come about, and probably won't be quite as severe as we might hope

Why does something "need to be done"?

The guy holds an opinion that is considered abhorrent to many, myself included. Fine. Okay... it's not a crime to have hateful thoughts even in Amerika (yet). If we stripped the business and livelyhood away from every twat with a hateful opinion of a whole group of people based on some preconceived ideas - I'm sure this would be a better place, right?

FWIW, What I heard in that tape was an old white jewish guy with a fat wallet attempting to persuade his hot young girlfriend who likes fat wallets but possibly not old jewish white guys to quit hanging out with hot black dudes. These are the issues you face when you don't want to date old ladies.

OTOH... What I thought was actually a crime... is secretly taping a private conversation.

actually hate speech is against the law … in certain cases

the conundrum is on the NBA itself … the vast majority of the players, almost a majority of the management, and a huge % of the fan base is AA … if this were to become divisive issue at these levels, it could be a huge problem for the business going forward, and the NBA has to protect the brand

and as far as recording "private conversation" … if it's not protected conversation (medical, lawyer …etc … ) there's no such thing as private anymore … (this doesn't mean that I disagree with you … it's just the way things are now) .. and yeah … get off my lawn

wbjones wrote: hard to fire him … he owns the team

Ah, you see now how little I know about the NBA.
My knowledge base can be summed up as follows:
Dunks are cool, insulting the Black population sounds like a bad idea, and no-one outside of Seattle wants Seattle to have a team.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Why does something "need to be done"? The guy holds an opinion that is considered abhorrent to many, myself included. Fine. Okay... it's not a crime to have hateful thoughts even in Amerika (yet). If we stripped the business and livelyhood away from every twat with a hateful opinion of a whole group of people based on some preconceived ideas - I'm sure this would be a better place, right? FWIW, What I heard in that tape was an old white jewish guy with a fat wallet attempting to persuade his hot young girlfriend who likes fat wallets but possibly not old jewish white guys to quit hanging out with hot black dudes. These are the issues you face when you don't want to date old ladies. OTOH... What I thought was actually a crime... is secretly taping a private conversation.

^^ This

is bigoted speech now hate speech?

wbjones wrote: and as far as recording "private conversation" … if it's not protected conversation (medical, lawyer …etc … ) there's no such thing as private anymore … (this doesn't mean that I disagree with you … it's just the way things are now) .. and yeah … get off my lawn

Actually recording a conversation without both parties knowledge is illegal in most states. Recordings obtained without both parties knowledge are not admissible in criminal cases and can set up the party doing the recording up for a civil case.

Sounds to me like the girlfriend lost her old white guy wallet and is looking for payback. The fact she had the supposed recording means she was setting him up for a fall. His wife is actually suing the girlfriend for "swindling" him out of a Ferrari and a large sum of cash.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sterlings-wife-describes-girlfriend-as-gold-digger-in-lawsuit-20140426,0,4883913.story

moparman76_69 wrote: Actually recording a conversation without both parties knowledge is illegal in most states. Recordings obtained without both parties knowledge are not admissible in criminal cases and can set up the party doing the recording up for a civil case.

There are plenty of things that aren't technically illegal that occur all the time. Sometimes even the police exploit this grey area.

Hell, you can say anything you want. Just be ready to pay the consequences for it. Also - don't put your dick in crazy or let crazy dick into you.

SnowMongoose wrote:

wbjones wrote: hard to fire him … he owns the team

Ah, you see now how little I know about the NBA. My knowledge base can be summed up as follows: Dunks are cool, insulting the Black population sounds like a bad idea, and no-one outside of Seattle wants Seattle to have a team.

though the other owners can (per the NBA constitution) force him to sell … or they can dis-enfranchise the franchise … in other words if the 3/4 of the other owners find this bad enough, they can, without it going to court (where the legality of the recording can be ruled upon) strip him of his team … of course he'd be smart and sell and take the 1/2 billion + in profit

oldtin wrote:

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Why does something "need to be done"? The guy holds an opinion that is considered abhorrent to many, myself included. Fine. Okay... it's not a crime to have hateful thoughts even in Amerika (yet). If we stripped the business and livelyhood away from every twat with a hateful opinion of a whole group of people based on some preconceived ideas - I'm sure this would be a better place, right? FWIW, What I heard in that tape was an old white jewish guy with a fat wallet attempting to persuade his hot young girlfriend who likes fat wallets but possibly not old jewish white guys to quit hanging out with hot black dudes. These are the issues you face when you don't want to date old ladies. OTOH... What I thought was actually a crime... is secretly taping a private conversation.

^^ This is bigoted speech now hate speech?

in some cases, I think it is … not sure, not going to follow up and hunt for the appropriate laws

moparman76_69 wrote:

wbjones wrote: and as far as recording "private conversation" … if it's not protected conversation (medical, lawyer …etc … ) there's no such thing as private anymore … (this doesn't mean that I disagree with you … it's just the way things are now) .. and yeah … get off my lawn

Actually recording a conversation without both parties knowledge is illegal in most states. Recordings obtained without both parties knowledge are not admissible in criminal cases and can set up the party doing the recording up for a civil case. Sounds to me like the girlfriend lost her old white guy wallet and is looking for payback. The fact she had the supposed recording means she was setting him up for a fall. His wife is actually suing the girlfriend for "swindling" him out of a Ferrari and a large sum of cash. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sterlings-wife-describes-girlfriend-as-gold-digger-in-lawsuit-20140426,0,4883913.story

don't think it will matter if the "punishment" is meted out by the NBA within their by-laws and constitution … won't be a court thing

If only recorders, cameras, and cellphones were around to incriminate our founding fathers. Why are people so intent on incriminating other people, I have the same situation in my office, where people are more inspired on calling people out rather then focus on work. Needless to say I am looking for another job.

Banned for life and $2.5 million fine

"Sterling is immediately barred from attending 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. He also cannot participate in any league business going forward."

johndej wrote: Banned for life and $2.5 million fine "Sterling is immediately barred from attending 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. He also cannot participate in any league business going forward."

Damn. They really dropped the hammer on him. Ouch.

johndej wrote: Banned for life and $2.5 million fine "Sterling is immediately barred from attending 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. He also cannot participate in any league business going forward."

my question about all that …. if he says screw you and shows up anyway … what are they going to do … is that when the owners get together and take away his franchise ?

From what I can gather, this old rich dude was telling his much younger 'girlfriend' if she is going to berkeley black guys, then don't flaunt it and pose for photos with them and don't take them to his team's games. Unless she was also sleeping around with a bunch of white guys and similarly flaunting it, and he doesn't mind that, then it seems he used the term 'black' because the men in question were 'black'.

I'm at a loss on this one. The penalty for having bad taste in girlfriends is a lifetime ban and a forced selling of the team. I'm glad I gave up watching the NBA years ago. Maybe to be really fair, they will demand that he sells the team to a person of color. This is one of the dumbest 'news' stories in a while.

I'm going to go get another Brawndo - it's the only way.

I'm not sure this is really about having bad tastes in girlfriends … he's been in so much trouble in the past, race related law suits in his renting practices, (re. the DoJ lawsuit he lost … at the time the largest fine ever given for this type of offense) … multiple suits settled out of court … same issues … he seems to be a dyed-in-the-wool bigot and racist … and the hurt that this recording could do to the "brand" (the NBA itself) is why this is coming down so hard … the other owners can't order him to sell … no one can … but what they can do (3/4 of the owners have to agree) is tell him that the franchise will be taken away (the team will cease to exist) … then it's up to him to do what's in his best interests

he bought the franchise for ~ $18 Million … the expected selling price would be in excess of $500 Million … closer to $1 Billion …

Wow, 15 replies to a canoe.

On topic - who gives a berkeley?

All of those former players ready to boycott the games - isn't that what he wanted in the first place?

Now he can capitalize on the outrage, sell the team at a huge premium and laugh all the way to the bank.

he could have sold at any time … all this does is potentially cause a fire sale … with a resulting lower price …

it's said that being an owner, going to the games (i.e. being seen at the games), being involved with the practices … etc … is what he REALLY enjoys … not having the team would be a huge ego blow

What he said is disgusting. But what the NBA is doing is horrible as well. If his players and personell protest, and demand he sell or they're out, fine, wonderful--I am in full support of that. I wouldn't work for a boss like that. But from what I have gathered, this was a private conversation that was recorded without his knowledge. He wouldn't have said any of that if he knew that someone would be listening.

wbjones wrote: my question about all that …. if he says screw you and shows up anyway … what are they going to do … is that when the owners get together and take away his franchise ?

Basically yes.

His team is nothing without the inclusion of the NBA, being a part of their schedule, their TV contracts, their games, etc. They hold the cards.

If he does not follow the rules, they boot the team from the league.

Remember, the NBA isn't a public entity. While it does have to follow public laws, the sanctioning of people is entirely up to them. Be it nothing or this.

mtn wrote: What he said is disgusting. But what the NBA is doing is horrible as well. If his players and personell protest, and demand he sell or they're out, fine, wonderful--I am in full support of that. I wouldn't work for a boss like that. But from what I have gathered, this was a private conversation that was recorded without his knowledge. He wouldn't have said any of that if he knew that someone would be listening.

all correct … except this is a pattern … he's been convicted (well found liable … sorta the same thing) for this exact same attitude in the past …

now do I think that the NBA should maybe have looked at him more closely in the past ? yep …

but it's not just the players and employees of the Clippers that are being affected here …which is why the commissioner was able to take the action he did .. (since he's hired by the owners, he could only take this action with their consent and approval)

the other owners are trying to protect their investments … and keep in mind that the NBA constitution is something that they all have agreed to abide by

and as to the leaking of the private conversation (is anything private anymore ?) that's a matter for the courts to consider … the NBA couldn't care less …it's out there (and you can't put the genie back in the bottle) and they're afraid it will severely affect their bottom lines

alfadriver wrote: Remember, the NBA isn't a public entity. While it does have to follow public laws, the sanctioning of people is entirely up to them. Be it nothing or this.

Good point. I forgot that. I guess I just have a hard time accepting the fact that it was a private conversation made public. Although I guess when you are in his position, there is no such thing as a private conversation and he should have expected as much.

wbjones wrote: he bought the franchise for ~ $18 Million … the expected selling price would be in excess of $500 Million … closer to $1 Billion …

Yea, that will really punish him.

I have a problem with this whole scenario of several levels.

mtn wrote:

alfadriver wrote: Remember, the NBA isn't a public entity. While it does have to follow public laws, the sanctioning of people is entirely up to them. Be it nothing or this.

Good point. I forgot that. I guess I just have a hard time accepting the fact that it was a private conversation made public. Although I guess when you are in his position, there is no such thing as a private conversation and he should have expected as much.

and like I said (though I agree with you) …. once it's out there, it has to be dealt with … the legality of it doesn't matter … the "damage" it can/is doing is what the NBA concerns itself with

I know this isn't the first case of someone with a racist mouth and an equal opportunity johnson, but still - if ever somebody deserved a $2.5 million fine for pure stupidity, it's Sterling. Seriously, how does anyone who's remotely a public figure think he can deliver a bunch of racist rants to a girl who's part black and not have it occur to him that something like this might happen?