[NBA Gossip] Donald Sterling Hates the Blacks, Including Magic

No, it won't. Everyone is thrilled with the NBA's response. Most people understand private property rights and the complexity of forcing an owner out. Look at the Marge Schott situation for a direct comparison.

 

It's also void in regard to rulings by the Board of Governors. You seriously don't think they would give the right of final arbitration to the Commissioner and NOT to the Owners? :grin:

These are billionaires. They're not THAT stupid.

Now, he could try to argue that it's outside of the scope of the franchise agreement, but once again there would be broad language in the by-laws that would allow room for interpretation by... guess who, the Board of Governors.

 

Destroying the NBA brand is arbitrarily deciding to compromise the competitive balance of the league and turning it into the WWE.

 

Yes, but the NBA is still in the business of making money by selling tickets, sponsorship, TV rights and merchandise and Donald Sterling isn't helping any of these things to say the least.

 

Here is list of sponsorship quickly exiting:

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-clippers-sponsors-were-so-quick-to-exit/

 

It isn't that cut and dry. The agreement does not give the commish or the board authority to carte blanc do as they wish. Further, there is a strong argument that they have exceeded their authority.

He will get his day in court. I am sure the NBA will file a Summary Judgment motion and it may be a success.... but even that will take time to play out.

Further, it is quite possible he gets an emergency injunction prior to the court deciding whether it has jurisdiction.

The NBA isn't going to grant Clippers players free agency. It would strongly call into question the integrity of a league that quite frankly already has serious issues.

I suspect there may be an attempt at mediation so that Sterling is offered a more than fair amount of money, but he doesn't strike me as the type of person that will compromise his views to appease the NBA.

 

The "make all Clippers free agents" situation is gonna be a mess. Will, say, JJ Redick make as much money on a new deal as he is guaranteed now? He is a good player but who knows how free agency plays out. What if one of them suffers a serious injury next game and becomes unmarketable?

Besides, under that scenario, if nobody signs with the Clippers, how does next season work? If a player does sign with the Clips, will he be stigmatized? If the Clippers roster spots essentially become a place nobody can go to, will the player's union like what will be essentially eliminating 13-15 jobs?

 

The NBA will survive and make more money than letting Sterling hang around. Miami's superteam didn't kill NBA revenues. Another super team to compete with the Heat wouldn't kill the revenues either.

They stand far more to lose from sponsors and public backlash than allowing a short term imbalance in the teams.

And it's not arbitrary. It's only arbitrary if there's no cause or due process. The Franchise agreement outlays the definition of due process for the NBA Owners. As long as that's met, it's not arbitrary at all.

Personally I think Sterling will be forced to sell once the NBA lays out all the ways they can cripple and destroy the Clippers if he doesn't agree to taking his money and enjoying the profits.

It's one thing to eat a fine of a few million dollars. Losing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars is another story.

 

It's not going to be a mess because it's not going to happen. It's a stupid, terribly-thought out idea that neither the players or the owners are going to support.

 

That's why I don't think it will happen. It's a slippery slope and any players who decide to remain with the Clippers with be chastised. Atleast for the time being, the Clippers organization should continue to run independently, without Donald Sterling.

 

No, there will always be minimum salary players and D-league that will go there just to get a spot in the NBA. And there will be drafted players that have no choice. Nobody will fault a player that needs to feed their family if one of the other 29 teams won't take them.

Playing for the Clippers will basically be the NBA equivalent of playing in Siberia.

As for JJ Redick, that's a choice he'll need to make. Maybe someone pays him, maybe someone doesn't. That's up to him. Stay and keep the money, or walk and take a pay cut. However at least he'll have the choice.

 

This seems like an elaborate scheme to get the Clippers to Seattle. Hansen-Ballmer paid Sterling to do this and record the conversation.

To me it's a paradox same people who pursue themselves as tolerant want to punish racists for their opinion.

 

I guess some people will argue just for the sake of it even if its a tad educational...

The man got ethered, and if he tries to take it further then the humiliation will be even greater.

He's gone... he can scratch and claw but when its said and done he'll be out. I guess he can force a path if he tries really hard but far too many powerful people want him gone from City officials and politicians to the smallest fan.

 

Slippery slope
Imagine a very plausable situation where....

Nikola Vucevic has asked Adam Silver to be granted free agency because he is disgusted that the owner of the team he plays for, the Orlando Magic, Richard De Voss has spent large amounts of money to prevent the passing of marriage equality legislation....


"I cannot play for a man that spends money to limit the civil rights of another group of Americans. I am sure Mr. Silver will grant my free agency, he granted free agency to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. I am sure Mr. Silver does not want to be viewed as anti-gay."It is expected that Nicola Vucevic will receive a 5 year 50 million dollar deal once the last 2 years of his deal are voided. He is currently playing for three million dollars a year.

 

It isn't about being another super team. For better or worse, the Heat followed the same rules as every other team. You are talking about a situation where you take an existing elite team and gut it.

Also it is arbitrary. Will you also gut the Magic next? They are owned by a man that has fought long and hard against marriage equality.

 

No one buying the Clippers will to move that team out of LA. They'd be losing half a billion with that kind of maneuver.

 

Kroger's is a fair example.

It's not as simple as people make it... First, this is a pro league team. Although, it's privately owned... it's far from being privately supported or operated.

1. Company sponsors: There's no way a pro team survive without corporate funding in 2014. It would be quite difficult, especially TV dollars.

2. Players' Unions: Sterling's behavior affects the status of his players. Can he treat them, fairly, as well as other employees? Will his actions effect their ability to acquire certain endorsements?

3. The Clippers are a part of a league of teams: Each team is subject to rules and a code of conduct with all its employees. Which tries to manage it's image. There's a reason for suspensions, lifetime bans, and fine. Some aren't realizing an sport's team owner is held to a greater standard than the players or even other business owners.

4. Public trust and funding: All pro teams receive benefits and public funding in some form or fashion. Most owners do not pay for stadiums, when they do it's never the full amount. Some teams, especially NFL and NHL , use non-profit exemptions.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/10/16/1023441/gop-senator-pro-sports-non-profit/
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/

5. Consumers: The NBA's popularity is universal consuming many identities and groups of people...people aren't realizing that... it extends to younger people, minorities, as well as international communities. You could say many of their fans, moreso than NFL or MLB are non-American and/or non-white.

 

Silver has set a precedent, if a (white or nonwhite) player is heard saying something racist, they must also get a lifetime ban.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Have been told Clippers president Andy Roeser will handle day-to-day business operatons for now: <a href="http://t.co/F16GR3REH3">http://t.co/F16GR3REH3</a></p>&mdash; Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffZillgitt/statuses/461241725231845376">April 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Guy couldn't ID Sterling voice RT <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffZillgitt">@JeffZillgitt</a> Have been told Clippers president Andy Roeser will handle day-to-day business operations</p>&mdash; Diamond Leung (@diamond83) <a href="https://twitter.com/diamond83/statuses/461243609845874689">April 29, 2014</a></blockquote>
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No, he hasn't.