[Houston Chronicle] Les Alexander wants all Clippers made Free Agents

I heard that sponsor incomes amounted to 10-15% of a team's revenue. If that's the case, sponsorship doesn't have that much of an impact to Sterling. Am I right?

 

As long as the league responds within the scope of what they are allowed to do, then I'm all good. People want them to basically find a way to kick him out, take his franchise from him, give him nothing, etc. because they don't like what he believes. That is scary to me, particularly if the league bends and just changes the rules to kick him out.

This isn't a business partnership Max that can dissolved. It doesn't operate under normal business law that you are familiar with. This isn't like the guy who owns a McDonald's franchise. There are very specific rules about what can be done about an owner and the precedent that if an owner has controversial/hateful beliefs you are going to take away his team is one that will send shivers down the spine of the smart owners in the league. That's why I really doubt we'll see them do anything like that.

The market forcing him out would be sponsors, fans, players, coaches, etc. boycotting him and bring real financial pressure on him to get out. Not demanding the NBA just kick him out.

I don't agree with this. A racist is a bigger POS than a rapist? A murderer? A pedophile? A man who beats his wife? A man who beats several women? A man who neglects his children? There's a play for all of those guys in the NBA, but not a racist. Sterling should have been smart and just raped this girl and beat her until she destroyed the tapes. If that got out nobody would bat an eye, heck, they'd call him a hero for showing up to a game the same day as his trial!

No, I'm afraid of a mob getting a business owner's property taken from him for his beliefs, however wrong they may be. Particularly when his beliefs were known before this and that all the self righteous "protesters" in the NBA were happy to take their checks from him before this. You don't think Chris Paul and Doc Rivers knew what NBA legend Elgin Baylor said about Donald Sterling? They didn't care. They wanted to win, make a ton of money and be in a big media market.

He has every right to feel that way and unless he has broken the law or violated some NBA regulation, the punishment has to follow the guidelines laid out in the NBA charter. I'm sure there are NBA owners who oppose gay marriage. Are we going to throw them out next? What if they support Sarah Palin? Can we throw them out? It's a dangerous road to go down and Mark Cuban knows it.

 

Seems like this will inevitabely turn into a very nasty, muddy situation that will end up in court. I see a lot of people saying that it should have been known for years (by players, coaches, etc) that he was racist. Well, was there ever concrete evidence like this? The man has employed black players and paid them millions of dollars for years.

I'm sure his reputation was known, and shame on anyone that went to work for him that had a strong suspicion of it and are now protesting against him, but it's not always easy to be sure of these things. This phone call was the proof that was needed.

I have a feeling that it's going to be a long time before this is resolved. Perhaps the only quick way to end it would be for the fans to stop coming to the games.

 

This isn't even close to as bad as the other things he's been involved in, and yes, it's been known and proven. Articles all over the internet have long called him the disgrace of the NBA. The papers in California have talked about him for years. He's been a trash owner. This little conversation barely even begins to rise to the level of other things he has said and done in the past.

 

Some great insight going on here. I have to say it's a refreshingly intelligent discussion. I heard this morning that pretty much all the sponsors have bailed. And if verification of the authenticity of the recording pans out, as well as proof that he knew he was being recorded... Well, things could get mighty uncomfortable for Mr. Sterling pretty quickly.

And I love the troll job Les threw out there. He must be getting lessons from Morey.

 

This is a straw man argument. I was talking about types of racists: plain stupid unsystematic racists versus systematic racists.

Oh, you got me: Sterling is better than a murderer! You really think this tactic helps your credibility?

First of all, no one has a constitutional right to be a member of the NBA. Second, his property would be purchased, not taken. Maybe approx. $575 million would soften the blow a little. Third, I don't see any "mob." Who are you referring to? "Mob" almost sounds like a code for something.

I'm fine with following NBA regulations and guidelines.

More straw man arguments from you. Sarah Palin! Wow. OK, if most of Sterling's team were gay, including the coach, and Sterling told his gf "Don't publish pictures with gays and don't bring gays to my ball games," the gays on his team might feel like they are being disrespected at the same time that they are being paid to perform. This would put them into a servant-type position. In the case of blacks, America has a particular history in which blacks were not merely servants but slaves. Black people rightly do not want to be considered servants by their employers.

If you do not understand how Sterling's comments might hurt the Clippers' performance, I can't help you there. But hurting the Clippers' performance would hurt the NBA's performance, and this is independent reason for the NBA to be concerned.

 

Misunderstood you. That's cool, I can agree with you there.

My credibility?

I'm commenting on the fact that many of the pundits calling for him to be ousted have said there is no place in the NBA for a racist. My point is, why was there a place for him when he was doing actual discrimination? Why is there a place for all the other offenses that are committed by people who are in the NBA?

I'm outraged by Donald Sterling as a human being and I hope the market pressures him to get the heck out of the NBA. But I agree with KAJ.

Who said anything about his Constitutional rights? First, people have talked about terminating his franchise rights as an option which would not get him any money. Second, forcing him to sell against his will is taking the team from him. If the NBA has a contractual right to do that, great, if not, I hope he sues them and wins.

Third, mob. Grow up. Mob was referring to a mass of people making a fuss and trying to pressure the NBA to do something they may not be legally allowed to do.

Me too.

Oh I understand all that. I never said I didn't. Nothing I have said has anything to do with defending what Sterling said or saying it isn't a big deal.

 

First of all, this is the first tape of the guy in his own voice going viral on the internet. Doc Rivers et al. can say "I know that's his voice saying that."

Second, when someone says "Don't bring Magic Johnson to my NBA games" it is pretty impossible for NBA players to ignore, because Magic was an NBA player himself, a Hall of Fame player.

OK. You're very concerned about NBA owners' rights. Fortunately for you, there are 29 other NBA owners who are probably even more concerned than you are. Let them handle it.

You said "mob," not me. Now it's "mass"? "Making a fuss" are they?

Don't be so nervous: the legal system is there to determine what is "legally allowed." You're real sensitive about the possibility of Donald Sterling being treated illegally with the entire world watching. . . .

 

I really dont know what truly impacts Sterling. This is a guy that truly did everything he could do for decades to sabotage his own team.

IMO it seems like Sterling's main concern with owning an NBA team is simply looking cool with his rich LA elitist friends. Just look at his lifestyle, and listen to that ridiculous conversation with his mistress or whatever. I think this guy cares more about the perception of money than actually looking at the checks and balances on his spreadsheet at the end of the day.

The sponsorship's could leave, CP3 could leave, Blake could leave, Doc, draft picks, etc. and make the teams best player be Lamar Odom, and the Clippers would be right back to where they were in the 80's and 90's when Sterling was sitting on the front row with his model girlfriends on his left and right side with a big a@# smile on his face.

I dont know if there is a great response by Adam Silver that truly does justice to Sterling. The best thing they could do is make this a reminder of all the bad S$%# this guy has done in the past, and make this decision based on both his past history as an offender and the most recent offense leading to this guy being pushed out of the league ASAP. Get this guy out of the league in whatever way you can. Dont assume that taking players, and sponsorship's $ away from him will make any sort of difference.

 

grab CP3, Reddick and Coach Rivers

 

Warmly welcome Chris Paul

 

Just because you and other NBA fans knew about him doesn't mean others outside the league's fanbase do. My wife had never heard of him before this, and most of the others(a dozen of so people) I have talked to about this didn't either...I had to educate them on his past.

I don't understand why this matters to you, is it not as bad because he has been accused of racism previously?

The general public will have their say on this, and to the NBA and the sponsors of the NBA that is all that matters.

 

You and your wife aren't involved in the NBA. NBA players, owners, commentators, etc. knew about it, at least some of them. I promise you that Doc Rivers knew that he had a bad past. Elgin Baylor made a fuss when he was ousted as GM. You don't think the other GMs knew that?

I didn't say it wasn't as bad. Ask Kareem Abdul Jabar why it matters to him that they are making the fuss now when it was fine before. He claims that everyone in the league knew and echos most of my sentiments. Write him a letter and ask him why it matters to him.

Agreed, the public will have their say. No problem with that. I'm part of the public and I'm having my say on this message board.

 

As great as it sounds to rid the league of Sterling, it seems like there is no realistic way to oust him. And really, private speech shouldn't be punishable unless it is discriminatory. That also leads to a much more fitting exit IMO. I think the people and the players have the power to make it the best option for Sterling to sell. This really wouldn't be an issue based on evidence of poor business practices but the people and players making a decision on what business they want to support or play for. It sends a very different message when customers just don't want to purchase products from a racist than an oppressive governing body dictating what happens.

I also want to say, and it's been discussed by others publicly, that the issue here has less to do with his private belief system and more to do with how what he believes has or will affect other people's lives. Hopefully, no one is naive enough to believe that a racist can own large businesses and not discriminate in any way. I think those who feel racism itself is no big deal allow it to live and are by association hurting other people's lives in the future.

 

I agree with this post 100%!

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Silver on Alexander suggestion that Clip players be permitted to leave LAC: &quot;That is not something we are considering.&quot; Kind of moot now.</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/statuses/461231387433918464">April 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

I am more interested in getting their coach to replace our current coach due to this case. What would be done for him if this old dude says something like hating Mexican American people or white people from Texas? I am guessing that this dude hates black as well as others too.

 

According to limited information I got, that Sterling guy seems to be a bad guy for sure, and a racist too. On a side note, you can still be a racist even if you date a minority (in the future, posters should never ever use this line to claim he/she doesn't have a racial bias, because he/she is or is married to a minority).

He's been like that forever, right? Didn't state government sued him for being a racist? So, it should not be a surprise to NBA, the league office, and his players. What he said, fully recorded, and then published to the open, was absolutely wrong and offensive. It drew wide outrage, rightfully so. But what's happening now - huge fine, ban, pressure on sponsors and other owners etc, to force him out. Where is the limit of Stern's power? Didn't they have long time conflicts? Why now, all of the sudden, everyone is on the "same page"? Magic had interest in the franchise, and his name popped up in that recording. Now Les felt he could get Clippers' players.

I get it, it's supposed to punish Sterling for being a racist. But what about that all the people in that organization? They are punished hard, for being employed by a racist. What about those Clippers fans?

David Stern is so powerful that he can force a billionaire owner to lose a team. I wonder whether there is anything else coming close to this kind of dictatorship in the society. For argument's sake, if Zuckerberg, as the majority owner of Facebook, said something very wrong of blacks, whites, Asian, Latinos, or any minority/majority groups, can SEC force him to sell all the stocks he owns in FB, for cheap? If he did something like that, despite ALL Facebook employees being outraged, but should they all lose their jobs?

A recorded conversation between a dirty old racist and a gold-digger makes one lose a NBA team. The whole event looks like an organized movement - everyone has to take a stance, shouting out loud the right slogan, to show that they hate a guy did/said something very wrong. Otherwise, you are a sympathizer or accomplice, need to be punished as well.

I am no legal expert, but my guess is there will be long legal battle around this case. On the end, Sterling is surely going to be a loser, but will Stern end up as a Victor? Maybe his power will be limited in the process, which I am sure will be welcomed by NBA fans and players. Check and balance, as powerful as the President of United States, he/she has no way around that. But I have always been wondering, where is the check and balance for Stern?

 

If Mark made a comment like that, there are board of directors that often times force out the owner to sell his stake in the company. If not, facebook stocks tumble naturally...

 

How so, if he owns the majority of the stocks?

BTW, are you saying there is no business owners, no CEOs out there are racists?