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Would you vote to take the Clippers from Donald Sterling?

Donald Sterling must sell his NBA team

  • Total voters
    56
  • Poll closed .
Grim17

Grim17

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The NBA Owners are going to vote on whether to force Donald Sterling to sell the LA Clippers because of the racist comments he made on that tape that was secretly recorded by his wife.

If you had a vote in that situation, would you vote "Yes" to force him to sell the team, or do you think he shouldn't be forced to see his team and vote "no".


After you vote, please explain your position.
 
Grim17 said:
The NBA Owners are going to vote on whether to force Donald Sterling to sell the LA Clippers because of the racist comments he made on that tape that was secretly recorded by his wife.

If you had a vote in that situation, would you vote "Yes" to force him to sell the team, or do you think he shouldn't be forced to see his team and vote "no".


After you vote, please explain your position.
Click to expand...

Its simple for me its his team.
 
I am almost completely indifferent to the whole mess.
 
I am not going to vote. My tenancy would be to say no, however he has an agreement with the NBA, perhaps if I knew more I could make a decision. I believe in redemption and I think he has learned something from this whole affair. He should be able to keep his team and pay a hefty fine.
 
Grim17 said:
The NBA Owners are going to vote on whether to force Donald Sterling to sell the LA Clippers because of the racist comments he made on that tape that was secretly recorded by his wife.

If you had a vote in that situation, would you vote "Yes" to force him to sell the team, or do you think he shouldn't be forced to see his team and vote "no".


After you vote, please explain your position.
Click to expand...

I'll open by saying that it was his girlfriend, Stiviano, that taped him and had it released. It wasn't his wife.

Having said that, I absolutely would not. Cuban wasn't half right when he talked about a "slippery slope" involved with the forced seizure of his team. It boils down to this: what he said was 1) completely legal, 2) obtained illegally, and 3) spoken privately on his own property. If you can lose a business over that, what's next? What if an owner cheats on his wife with a 14 year old girl (in a state where 14 is age of consent)?

The only difference is that the NBA isn't comprised of 80% teenaged girls with a persecution complex.
 
Yes, because as a fellow team owner his racism is bad for the NBA which is bad for my team.
 
Yes for one simple reason: he's a racist who is not combating his racism.

The vast majority of Americans are racists so I don't think it's feasible or even moral to fire people just for being racist. If someone is caught expressing or implementing their racism, then one must determine if they will sincerely combat that racism actively and aggressively. If they will, then they may be able to have another chance.
 
Lets say Lebron James gets into a fight with his wife and is arrested for assault. Would we expect the league to ban him for life? Of course not. When words become a greater crime than physical violence you know your moral code is upside down.
So of course Sterling shouldn't lose his team.
 
Yes. His continued presence would do a great disservice to the league's image and players. Symbolic stances such as these are important.
 
ThePlayDrive said:
I suspect our definitions of "good" are quite different.
Click to expand...



It wouldn't surprise me, as our definitions of "racist" are clearly light-years apart...
 
ThePlayDrive said:
Yes for one simple reason: he's a racist who is not combating his racism.

The vast majority of Americans are racists so I don't think it's feasible or even moral to fire people just for being racist. If someone is caught expressing or implementing their racism, then one must determine if they will sincerely combat that racism actively and aggressively. If they will, then they may be able to have another chance.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? I would agree that if he "implemented" racism that may, in fact, be an issue, but to simply request that his black girlfriend not bring another black man to his team's games is hardly the pinnacle of racism "implementation". I would imagine that if her main man on the side man was white, asian or hispanic that he may have used that description to limit her companions. How the **** can person be racist and choose to date a person of the same race that they supposedly hate?
 
I voted no. Sterling may be a racist. He may be a thoroughly despicable human being. He may have nothing of merit to show to commend him. I might choose to have nothing whatsoever to do with him.

But he is an American and, like all Americans, was intended to have the unalienable right to be who and what he is without fear that the government or some angry mob or group would descend upon him to punish him for being who and what he is.

Had he made those remarks publicly, he very well may have violated any agreement he made with the NBA and if that requires him to sell his team so be it. But so long as his intention is not to violate the rights of any other and/or he violates no rights of any other, nobody, not the government, not society, not the NBA should have any power to control what he says in private and intended to remain private or punish him for saying it. Without such protection, none of us have any rights whatsoever.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Are you kidding me? I would agree that if he "implemented" racism that may, in fact, be an issue, but to simply request that his black girlfriend not bring another black man to his team's games is hardly the pinnacle of racism "implementation". I would imagine that if her main man on the side man was white, asian or hispanic that he may have used that description to limit her companions.
Click to expand...
No, I'm not kidding and no, I don't care you disagree.

How the **** can person be racist and choose to date a person of the same race that they supposedly hate?
Click to expand...
That's like asking, "How can a man be sexist and choose to date women?" Weak.
 
29A said:
Sterling violated Article 13(d) of the NBA's constitution.
Click to expand...

Heya 29A. :2wave: Yeah......but what do the Athletes do now. Since people are out to catch them now making racial remarks. Anywhere and with Any Sport? NBA specifically and then the NFL.

Just think how many Black athletes will be forced to go out and get real jobs since they will no longer be allowed to play in the NBA, once caught on Cell Phones and video coverage.

Wonder what the MS media will do then.....since it wont be able to turn back the PC clock's hands of time. Won't be able to save their careers. Wont be able to help them get new jobs.

Wonder how long it will take before the Athletes start going after the Media Personnel and start roughin them up so they can feel what it is like. :lol:
 
Absolutely not... I vote "no". This is America and people have the right to express their thoughts and beliefs in the privacy of their own home, no matter how ignorant, stupid or hateful they are. Nobody has the right to tell a private citizen who has broken no laws, that they are no longer allowed to own a business that they legally purchaced... Nobody!

I understand that the NBA, like other sports leagues, media and entertainment businesses have perfectly legal standards and conduct rules that the people in those industries sign a contract to legally abide by, but from my understanding Sterling did not violate any of those terms. If sterling had said those things publicly, or while he was acting on behalf of the team in his capacity as Clippers owner, that would violate the NBA's code of conduct and I would vote to strip him of his franchise. But this is different...

I don't care how racist, ignorant, hateful or moronic Donald Sterling is, this is America and as long as you aren't breaking the law, trampling on the rights of others, or causing harm to others (offending someone is not a crime) nobody has the right to take your personal property or deny you the right to conduct business at a company that you legally paid for and own. Everyone in America has the right to think, feel and believe anything they want to privately, and to express those beliefs (whatever they may be) in the privacy of their own home, without fear of government or entrepreneurial reprisal... It's our constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... aka our "Freedom" and that's the issue here.

For you race hustlers out there who are chomping at the bit to pounce on me, play the race card and accuse me wanting a racist to get a free pass, you couldn't be farther from the truth. Allowing Sterling to keep his team is anything but a free pass. If he is allowed to keep the team, the free market will punish him to a far greater degree financially, than forcing him to sell the team now would, and assure that the public backlash doesn't fade away anytime soon.

If you force him to sell the team now, he will get a good price because the true financial backlash from his comments have not diminished the teams value as of yet. Allowing him to keep the team and to continue to manage it, will result in every decent, marketable player on the team to flee after the season ends and contracts expire, and no player of any quality will ever sign a contract to play with the Clippers. Meaning they are guaranteed to be losing, last place team for as long as he is owner, and season tickets, which is a huge revenue stream for NBA teams, would virtually vanish next season. Then there's the issue of TV revenue, sponsors and endorsements. No company in their right mind would want to associate, much less sponsor the Clippers, meaning that local TV will not be able to sell advertising for games and the clippers games will not be televised. The same would likely happen with radio also and would in effect, cut off every major revenue stream and in a very short amount of time, totally bankrupt the organisation... Sterling will then be stuck with a worthless franchise that's costing him millions, that nobody will be interested in buying, and even if he did manage to find a buyer, would only get a small fraction of what he would get if he is forced to sell the team now, while it's still marketable.

There is one more bright spot in letting him keep the team... If he is forced out now, this whole issue disappears in a few years and Sterling's life on a personal level, a comfort level, will return to normal and he won't suffer any more grief publicly over his words. Keeping the team however, will keep him in the spotlight, keep his name in the newspapers, keep him in the publics eye, and guarantee that this issue will not go away so easily. He'll have to deal with the public backlash for many years and possibly, for the rest of his life.

Stripping a persons of their rights and freedoms just because you disagree with their words, thoughts and beliefs, is flat out wrong. That's not the American way and not how we're supposed to do things in this country. Stand true to the constitution and the principals that have made this country great, and believe me Donald Sterling will suffer in more ways than one at the hands of the free market.
 
ThePlayDrive said:
Yes for one simple reason: he's a racist who is not combating his racism.

The vast majority of Americans are racists so I don't think it's feasible or even moral to fire people just for being racist. If someone is caught expressing or implementing their racism, then one must determine if they will sincerely combat that racism actively and aggressively. If they will, then they may be able to have another chance.
Click to expand...

The vast majority of the NBA players are racist.

1. Dennis Rodman -> Made racist comments against Larry Bird and got away with it. If a white player were have made the same comments about black players, there would have been outrage and demanding that he sell all of his persoanal assesses..

2. Kobe Bryant -> Committing flagrant fouls only to foreigners and minorities.

3. Shaq -> Racist against Asians.

4. Isiah Thomas -> Made racist comments against Larry Bird, making stupid statements about white people in court during his legal troubles.

5. KG -> Sucker punching white people.
 
Grim17 said:
The NBA Owners are going to vote on whether to force Donald Sterling to sell the LA Clippers because of the racist comments he made on that tape that was secretly recorded by his wife.

If you had a vote in that situation, would you vote "Yes" to force him to sell the team, or do you think he shouldn't be forced to see his team and vote "no".


After you vote, please explain your position.
Click to expand...

As me, no, because it doesn't affect me in the slightest. If I was an NBA owner, and his behavior was threatening to cost me money, I'd probably vote yes.
 
No. While the man may be a total douchebag, forcing one to sell a team is the ultimate punishment and should be reserved for legal issues... after conviction.
 
Grim17 said:
Absolutely not... I vote "no". This is America and people have the right to express their thoughts and beliefs in the privacy of their own home, no matter how ignorant, stupid or hateful they are. Nobody has the right to tell a private citizen who has broken no laws, that they are no longer allowed to own a business that they legally purchaced... Nobody!

I understand that the NBA, like other sports leagues, media and entertainment businesses have perfectly legal standards and conduct rules that the people in those industries sign a contract to legally abide by, but from my understanding Sterling did not violate any of those terms. If sterling had said those things publicly, or while he was acting on behalf of the team in his capacity as Clippers owner, that would violate the NBA's code of conduct and I would vote to strip him of his franchise. But this is different...

I don't care how racist, ignorant, hateful or moronic Donald Sterling is, this is America and as long as you aren't breaking the law, trampling on the rights of others, or causing harm to others (offending someone is not a crime) nobody has the right to take your personal property or deny you the right to conduct business at a company that you legally paid for and own. Everyone in America has the right to think, feel and believe anything they want to privately, and to express those beliefs (whatever they may be) in the privacy of their own home, without fear of government or entrepreneurial reprisal... It's our constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... aka our "Freedom" and that's the issue here.

For you race hustlers out there who are chomping at the bit to pounce on me, play the race card and accuse me wanting a racist to get a free pass, you couldn't be farther from the truth. Allowing Sterling to keep his team is anything but a free pass. If he is allowed to keep the team, the free market will punish him to a far greater degree financially, than forcing him to sell the team now would, and assure that the public backlash doesn't fade away anytime soon.

If you force him to sell the team now, he will get a good price because the true financial backlash from his comments have not diminished the teams value as of yet. Allowing him to keep the team and to continue to manage it, will result in every decent, marketable player on the team to flee after the season ends and contracts expire, and no player of any quality will ever sign a contract to play with the Clippers. Meaning they are guaranteed to be losing, last place team for as long as he is owner, and season tickets, which is a huge revenue stream for NBA teams, would virtually vanish next season. Then there's the issue of TV revenue, sponsors and endorsements. No company in their right mind would want to associate, much less sponsor the Clippers, meaning that local TV will not be able to sell advertising for games and the clippers games will not be televised. The same would likely happen with radio also and would in effect, cut off every major revenue stream and in a very short amount of time, totally bankrupt the organisation... Sterling will then be stuck with a worthless franchise that's costing him millions, that nobody will be interested in buying, and even if he did manage to find a buyer, would only get a small fraction of what he would get if he is forced to sell the team now, while it's still marketable.

There is one more bright spot in letting him keep the team... If he is forced out now, this whole issue disappears in a few years and Sterling's life on a personal level, a comfort level, will return to normal and he won't suffer any more grief publicly over his words. Keeping the team however, will keep him in the spotlight, keep his name in the newspapers, keep him in the publics eye, and guarantee that this issue will not go away so easily. He'll have to deal with the public backlash for many years and possibly, for the rest of his life.

Stripping a persons of their rights and freedoms just because you disagree with their words, thoughts and beliefs, is flat out wrong. That's not the American way and not how we're supposed to do things in this country. Stand true to the constitution and the principals that have made this country great, and believe me Donald Sterling will suffer in more ways than one at the hands of the free market.
Click to expand...

Sterling was stripped by the government from his rights and freedoms? No? Then he wasn't stripped of his rights and freedoms.
 
No. He said what he did in the privacy of his own home. If he had said something publically I'd be on the fence. As is he shouldn't have even gotten punished to begin with.
 
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