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

The Clippers make enough money on tv deals that they aren't worried about corporate sponsors.

At first. That would eventually force him to sell I would think.

 

Which is why I think they'll find ways to make him very uncomfortable.

Honestly, he needs to be concerned about his own safety walking into any NBA arena at this point.

 

I'm sure they will and I have no problem with that. Make it miserable for him and force him out.

I doubt he will ever step foot in an NBA arena again. I'm sure he will be suspended from the game like George Steinbrenner was.

Don't mistake me for wanting Sterling to stay in the league. I think it is scary though that people are ready to go nuclear on him for his belief system.

 

http://www.tmz.com/2014/04/29/donald-sterling-recording-real-racist-authenticated-nba-lawyer/

So he Knew that she was taping him. And the NBA is convinced that it's authentic.

Tough spot for Sterling.

 

Come on, now. How many of the long-term owners did not already know what type of guy Sterling is?

 

Why does that scare you? It's a private interest, not the government. It's a private interest with dollars at stake. Their product is on the line. It's the NBA's franchise.

 

No, what scares me is the people, not the NBA.

 

I'm not sure they knew that he "didn't want to associate with black people." Now it's costing them money, though. This isn't a quest for justice by the NBA...it's about protecting their product.

 

The people are the consumers of this product. Their reaction is what's driving NBA action.

 

It will be worth way more than the $12.5M he paid for it. I have no idea what the revenues are either, but I'm "assuming" they are more than enough for an owner with a history of cutting costs and not caring about a inferior product to make money, especially in a stadium where he gets to split the costs with another NBA team.

 

You're absolutely right...the value of the franchise is well in excess of $12.5 million...even with this mess.

 

Making the Clippers free agents hurts the Rockets. We don't have any cap room this summer. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will end up on the Mavericks or something. Unless the plan is to allow the status quo for a whole other season, and then cancel all the contracts.

But, it seems like a terrible plan because you end up glutting the free agent market and punishing the players. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin can still get max money. But, can DeAndre Jordan get the same contract? Can Matt Barnes find that much money again? And what about the other free agents? Maybe Nowitzki can sign another max deal for a couple more years. But, maybe Cuban grabs Griffin instead and Nowitzki has to sign a non-Bird deal elsewhere. And maybe Zach Randolph could have bounced to a new team with a big contract and contention hopes, but no the ex-Clippers have sopped up all the extra money. And what about teams like the Rockets who have studied the landscape and planned for cap space in 2015 and get the rug pulled out from under them by a sudden flux of free agency in 2014? Releasing all those players has the potential to create a superteam elsewhere that will dominate the league for the next decade.

Besides which, I'd think the last thing owners want to do is devalue the asset and create a distressed sale. Not letting someone play with them is one thing, but killing asset value is even worse. They want whatever new owner who comes in to pay full market value and keep the valuations of their own teams high. They need to make sure Sterling sells, but do it by giving him the space to make an orderly exit. Putting the team in some kind of league receivership to run operations while Sterling finds a buyer would give that process the space it needs.

Of course,releasing free agents is supposed to be a bluff to force Sterling to sell the team, and won't actually happen, right? As a bluff, it may or may not work. But, there's a more straight-forward way, if what I read is true, to simply disallow the team from league play. If you pull the trigger on that bluff, it's less disruptive for everyone else. Paul and Griffin just go into suspended animation until the dispute is resolved.

 

"His belief system"???? What is that?

From http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/13/sports/sp-plaschke-clippers13

"Sterling is accused of telling [Elgin] Baylor he wanted to fill his team with 'poor black boys from the South and a white head coach.'

During negotiations with former star Danny Manning, Sterling is also charged with saying, 'I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid.'

......

The suit alleges Sterling once said he did not like to rent to 'Hispanics' because, 'Hispanics smoke, drink and just hang around the building.'

Sterling also allegedly said, 'Black tenants smell and attract vermin.'"

He was sued by the Justice Department, yes, the federal government itself, and settled out of court.

"In addition, Sterling was also ordered to pay attorneys' fees and costs in that action of $4,923,554.75. In granting the attorney's fees and costs Judge Dale S. Fischer noted 'Sterling's' scorched earth' litigation tactics, some of which are described by the Plaintiffs' counsel and some of which were observed by the Court. The Court has no difficulty accepting Plaintiffs' counsel's representations that the time required to be spent on this case was increased by defendant's counsel's often unacceptable, and sometimes outrageous conduct.'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling

See above.

 

http://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-clippers/

Says clippers were valued at 575 million in January. Not sure how much now but it should still be in the same ballpark.

 

Wait. Doc Rivers is on strike.

If Portland beats us tomorrow, I'd fire McHale and bring in Doc.

Get it done Maury!

 

Racism is a belief system. Whatever he believes about black people, it's a belief. It's ignorant, hateful, wrong, all that. But it's still a belief system.

 

Let them cause the market to make an impact, not just snatch it from him.

 

Considering what the Bucks just sold for, without a new stadium (although they will build one now), I'm gonna assume the Clippers are worth way more than that being in LA in a brand new stadium that allows them to split costs with the Lakers.

 

They're doing that, right? That's why sponsors are running...and it makes the league look awful...so now the league is responding. Right? What am I missing?

 

Guess it depends on your definition of "system." Guess I give most racists a break by assuming they are just stupid and they don't even have systematic thought, just disconnected thoughts based on feelings, which do not form a system.

A systematic racist is the biggest POS of all. You're afraid for the guy?

A systematic racist either does not believe in universal rights or honestly believes that some races are subhuman. Stop being scared for the POS.