I would like to hear the board's opinion on the Sterling situation

I don't agree with Donald, but ...

I don't believe anyone on this board agrees with Donald's view. And I strongly disagree with his view. But I believe there's a bigger issue at stake here. First off, his GF or ex GF violated his right by secretly recording their PRIVATE conversation. Second, she violated his right by selling this PRIVATE conversation to TMZ.

California's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. California makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on any confidential communication, including a private conversation or telephone call, without the consent of all parties to the conversation. See Cal. Penal Code § 632
(from: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3150010/posts?page=6)

I feel everything happening to Mr. Donald under mind the very Due Process we hold dear. He's penalized for illegal evidence. Worst, evidence his gf made money off of. Listening to the tape, you can clearly tell, she's baiting him.

Donald can go on the offensive, and Donald will win with the above premise. And I hope he does.

 

Apparently, the language is flexible enough to allow for the owners to use their judgement and vote accordingly based on actions that are vile but not specifically mentioned in the NBA constitution.

 

A lot of people in this thread seem unable or ignorant of the definitions, differences and application of the First Amendment, Due Process, Business vs government entities and the rules of which govern most multi-billion doallar corporations.

 

What he said was downright racist. BUT not only that, it's how he said it that leaves no other options but for him to be not part of the league.

Saying that:
"if you don’t feel—don’t come to my games. Don’t bring black people, and don’t come."

Then following up after being pointed out by his mistress that his whole team is mostly black....
"I support them and give them food, and clothes, and cars, and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have—Who makes the game? Do I make the game, or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners, that created the league?"

As a player and even fans, that would put you in a very uncomfortable sticky situation.

In a league that is predominantly African-America players and considering the history of the country, it's a no-brainer that he has to be ousted from the league.

 

BTW people that seem to defend Sterling has a bit of misunderstanding. He didn't break any law, YES,...BUT no one is saying he should go to prison.
This is business. If he stayed on as an OWNER, it will hurt the Clippers franchise to a point where it will become insolvent (i.e. No fans would come to the games, no sponsorship, no players would want to play) and also damage the reputation of the whole NBA.

If Sterling was a smart business man, even if he wasn't forced to sell the franchise, he SHOULD STILL SELL AND SELL QUICK! The longer he continues to remain the OWNER of this franchise, the more value will drop.

 

I have heard people on TV saying there is the freedom of speech and we have to respect that. I think that's wrong. Freedom of speech is somewhat limited, and certainly does not include racist stuff said by Sterling. To me it's not freedom of speech that is on the other end of equation. It's rather right of privacy. If you think about it, this whole thing was taped possibly without his permission and made to public certainly without his permission. A given person (not that I worry about Sterling) can be caught saying all kinds of stuff behind the door, so is it ok to air it on the Internet?

 

You are right. That gold digger should be put to justice. In a perfect world, Sterling should no longer own an NBA team and that gold digging w**** should be in jail.

 

Freedom of speech can be limited, however it can't limit someones opinion. Sterling does have a right to believe whatever he wants, including being racist. Freedom of speech has nothing to do with this. If the NBA has a right to oust him, then good riddance. He's a terrible owner and brings nothing to the NBA.

I don't have a problem with what the NBA is doing. I do however have a problem when people suggest people's property,titles, jobs, ect... should be stripped away when they disagree with them.

 

Clippers black players are weak. Their boss is a racist against them and they just suck it up and continue to work for him.

 

What can they do? Not show up in the game? What benefits does that bring? Wouldn't that just make matters worse and damage the league even further?

Their are processes that has to be followed and the players trust that the league is doing the best they can to rectify the situation.

Worse thing they can do for their fans (who are feeling betrayed and disappointed at this point) is to not show up to the games.

They play for themselves, their own legacy, for their fans and for the future Clipper owners (which is inevitable)

 

People harping on freedumbs and privacy don't understand that Sterling's story is now bad for business for the NBA and the Clippers franchise.

NBA couldn't give a shet about Sterling before because most casuals didn't know who he was, and they weren't losing money because of it. Now that this story has blown up and all the sponsors are pulling out, the NBA is losing its precious shekels. The happy Merchants of the NBA does not like their shekels being taken away.

Basically it's all about the money, it doesn't really matter how the tape was obtained or whether Sterling's privacy was violated.

 

Win....what? Is this tape somehow going to disappear and we're going to magically forget that Sterling did say it? Or you know, his entire history of being a racist ****? You think Doc Rivers or Magic Johnson is just going to go "Okay, we cool?"

This isn't a trial, this isn't the government. So yes, kick the b*stard out. If this was any other owner, I would be willing to give him a second chance. But this is Donald Sterling. He literally needs to just go die already.

 

My thoughts are this. Everyone has known this guy was a racist, the fact the NBA only acted after thie tape came out is quiet humerous.

Why couldn't this have happened 10 months ago? Paul ends up in the red and white.

 

It does seem like the people who complain loudest about 1st Amendment violations often lack an actual understanding of the 1st Amendment.

 

Why would that set a dangerous precedent? Maybe players who say scathingly racist (or otherwise offensive) things should get fired. I'm sure any well-known executive or CEO who got exposed saying similar things would probably get fired too. Separate from any moral objections, it is also just the smart business move to cut ties with someone who makes your company look bad. Look what happened to Tim Hardaway. John Rocker wasn't exactly fired, but his career went way down after his racism became public.

 

NAACP gave him not 1 but almost 2 lifetime achievement awards! $$$$$$ buys u everything.... shame on you NAACP you knew this P.O.S.'s history but still took his $$$$$$$....and gave him awards????

 

People in here bring up good points,this only happened cause of the money the Clips and NBA lost and could lose if they did nothing about the situation cause it went public. Is he racist yes,so he does deserves the consequences.

IMO the NBA next to FIFA are one of the dirtiest sport organizations out there. Just the NBA does a pretty good job of closing loose ends.

 

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I think Sterling got what was coming to him, but too many people on this board are clamoring for revenge and retaliation, as if it would solve something. Whatever vindication anyone feels is going to be short-lived. What really matters is that the various players in the NBA continue to stick up for each other and respect each other in spite of this incident.

 

I'm not aware of Sterling asking for forgiveness. He probably doesn't think he's done anything that requires forgiveness.