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.