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Was Sterling's punishment too much? [W:359]

Was the punishment too harsh?

  • Yes

    Votes: 56 60.2%
  • No

    Votes: 37 39.8%

  • Total voters
    93
For his racist comments caught on tape, Clippers owner Donald Sterling recently had this ruling put on him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver:

$2.5M fine (maximum allowed in by-laws)
Lifetime ban from NBA games
Lifetime ban from NBA function
Zero access to facilities during Clippers games and practices
Urging by the BoD to owners for forced divestiture of ownership



Was the hammer too great, or spot on?

Also to take into consideration:

He spoke these words on his private property
He broke no actual laws
His girlfriend broke the law by recording him without his knowledge

Yes.

It was a public relations action to pacify the NBA fans, players and - since he chimed in while overseas, the President.
 
I posted that on another thread here earlier. I loved it. He was spot on.

Moral outrage is exhausting. And dangerous. The whole country has gotten a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome from the newest popular sport of Extreme Finger Wagging. Not to mention the neck strain from Olympic tryouts for Morally Superior Head Shaking.

I give him tons of props for this. Clever, and sadly, so true.

My girlfriend pointed it out to me; she is a big sports fan and reads lots of sports blogs/tweets. ;)
 
That is up to (75% of?) the other NBA team owners and beyond the power of the NBA commissioner. Sterling has no reason to expect that his Clipper's ownership interest will appreciate so he should try (but may not be able) to sell it for its current value.

I'm not sure that 75% of them will vote him out. Of course, he should want to sell anyway. When you're prevented from ever having anything to do with the NBA or your team, what's the point? He's essentially excommunicated from the league, so the only reason he wouldn't sell is to be the proverbial thorn.
 
I thought it would be this Sterling.

Sterling_Archer_8057.jpeg


Any other sterling is inconsequential. :)
 
I'm not sure that 75% of them will vote him out. Of course, he should want to sell anyway. When you're prevented from ever having anything to do with the NBA or your team, what's the point? He's essentially excommunicated from the league, so the only reason he wouldn't sell is to be the proverbial thorn.

Who would dare to publicly support a RACIST? That old toad has plenty of other way$ to meet and impre$$ chick$. ;)
 
It's not punishment. It's the necessary outcome of a douchebag being discovered. He did harm to the NBA, I don't blame the organization for pushing back as hard as possible.
 
Who would dare to publicly support a RACIST? That old toad has plenty of other way$ to meet and impre$$ chick$. ;)

They're billionaires. They don't lack the means to find chicks.

However, they know that invoking morals clauses means that they can never be caught with a 16 year old girl or doing coke off a hooker's tit.
 
I don't like his racist remarks, but it looks like the leftwing thought-nazis won out again. Sieg Heil!!! Sieg Heil!! Let's round up the haters and shoot them all, throw them in gas chambers and them cook them in ovens. What's next, loyality oaths? Let's just become the USSR we destroyed and turn each other in to the Fatherland. Stupid ****s.
 
I agree but, would not expect much reaction from this new commissioner if the NBA "image" infraction was committed by a player - even if it was actually criminal in nature like assault, domestic violence or DWI.

Growing a pair is holding all in the NBA to this squeaky clean "image" standard - even those that the fans may still like to see play.

I don't know. Should there be difference in how a player is punished and how an owner is punished? Are there different dynamics at play?

I don't know actually how I feel about it at the moment, other than the fact that I think Sterling is a racist, POS.
 
I don't like his racist remarks, but it looks like the leftwing thought-nazis won out again. Sieg Heil!!! Sieg Heil!! Let's round up the haters and shoot them all, throw them in gas chambers and them cook them in ovens. What's next, loyality oaths? Let's just become the USSR we destroyed and turn each other in to the Fatherland. Stupid ****s.

The NBA can do what they want. They have a brand to protect, and that brand is popular in the black community. If there's the idea that the owners are racist, that really doesn't help them in that respect. They have the right not to associate themselves with that.

Maybe in your "AHHHHH...Lefties" panic you forgot about that. I do think it was a bit harsh, but they had to impose some consequences.
 
I don't like his racist remarks, but it looks like the leftwing thought-nazis won out again. Sieg Heil!!! Sieg Heil!! Let's round up the haters and shoot them all, throw them in gas chambers and them cook them in ovens. What's next, loyality oaths? Let's just become the USSR we destroyed and turn each other in to the Fatherland. Stupid ****s.

Oh, come on. People aren't suggesting that legal action be taken against him. He can say whatever the hell he wants, but the First Amendment never sheltered someone from consequences, outside of legal action.
 
The NBA can do what they want. They have a brand to protect, and that brand is popular in the black community. If there's the idea that the owners are racist, that really doesn't help them in that respect. They have the right not to associate themselves with that.

Exactly. It's a goddamn PR nightmare.
 
Sterling's punishment is over the top. And those who judged him are the biggest hypocrites of all for they all knew the guy had a problem with racism from previous issues. So if everyone knew why didn't the black players on his team go someplace else? The other day Larry Johnson made a public statement just as racist as those Sterling made in private. Johnson is calling for an all black team. He claims black players are the slaves to white owners. The last contract Johnson signed was for 84 million over 10 years. Not to forget all the millions in selling shoes etc. So when can we expect Johnson to be punished for his over the top racist remarks? This story is a gold nugget for race baiters who like to claim we are still living in the Jim Crow era and for all the Larry Johnson's who see their white owners as slave masters while providing them with multi-million dollar contracts living the life of a celebrity.
 
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How do you get fined over WORDS? Words said in private.
 
How did he hide his racism for so long?
 
Our country is doomed if the words of a man made in private to his girlfriend caused a PR nightmare.

I get your point, but at the same time you have to realize that just because you have the right to say whatever you want, doesn't mean that field shields you from consequences, especially when it deals with your business.
 
If he sells I hope the Seattle group buys them.
 
I disagree with the lifetime ban and forced sale of this team. I think the only time something that harsh should happen is if the owner did something outrageous such as committing a crime. A conversation said in private shouldn't be something that should warrant that. This is a very slippery slop. Also sterling hasn't really discriminated against blacks in hiring. He has a black coach. Majority of his players are black. He also had a black gm. I remember tim hardaway saying he hated gays when jason collins came out. Does he deserve a lifetime ban? That is also discrimination.
 
I get your point, but at the same time you have to realize that just because you have the right to say whatever you want, doesn't mean that field shields you from consequences, especially when it deals with your business.

I agree. So you agree that nobody from here on in is not entitled to the words of vitriol expressed by others who disagree with something done legally and in private. And the days of using disparaging words like "Redneck", "Bible thumping wing nut", "gun toting asshole" and all of that are over, since we've now attached the PC bar to anything anyone says in private, and anyone who uses words who could hurt anyone else now has to suffer the consequences.
 
I agree. So you agree that nobody from here on in is not entitled to the words of vitriol expressed by others who disagree with something done legally and in private. And the days of using disparaging words like "Redneck", "Bible thumping wing nut", "gun toting asshole" and all of that are over, since we've now attached the PC bar to anything anyone says in private, and anyone who uses words who could hurt anyone else now has to suffer the consequences.

Sterling was someone in a position of power, in a profession that is dominated by African-Americans.
 
The funny thing is that everyone cares what blacks think, but you have a franchise with a blatant pejorative to Native Americans in the name and it's generally glazed over.

Apparently blacks have better PR people than Indians. Seems the Cherokee nation needs a Sharpton.

Don't anger Chief Bitches About Crap.
 
While Sterling is an asshole and I do think he deserved some sanction from the NBA, I think this is overdoing it. A suspension (a la Marge Schott) would have been fairer.
 
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