Does Donald Sterling deserve a second chance?

[Deepster]

His comments from the weekend:

"I'm not a racist," Sterling told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview that will air Monday. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize."

"I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness," Sterling told Cooper. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again."

The obvious rebuttal is this isn't his first mistake. And, on top of that, it's not just a terrible one...it crosses a certain very touchy line. But, he's admitted fault. He's apologized and fallen on his sword.

Does he deserve to be forgiven and given another chance? What else could he possibly do to make up for his mistake (which, again...was said in the privacy of his own home).

 

[upstater]

His comments from the weekend:

"I'm not a racist," Sterling told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview that will air Monday. "I made a terrible mistake. I'm here to apologize."

"I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness," Sterling told Cooper. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake, and I'll never do it again."

The obvious rebuttal is this isn't his first mistake. And, on top of that, it's not just a terrible one...it crosses a certain very touchy line. But, he's admitted fault. He's apologized and fallen on his sword.

Does he deserve to be forgiven and given another chance? What else could he possibly do to make up for his mistake (which, again...was said in the privacy of his own home).

People get fired for mistakes every day. It's a business, his brotherhood of owners has decided to "fire" him for it.

 

[aceboon]

lol @ 1 mistake, as Dan Leba*ard put it, his ousting was a lifetime achievement award

 

[superjohn]

lol @ 1 mistake, as Dan Leba*ard put it, his ousting was a lifetime achievement award

Exactly, every time this guy opens his mouth it's a disaster. Being racist isn't a mistake, it's how he feels. It has nothing to do with a mistake, dementia or any other excuse he and his wife come up with, the guy has been a racist his entire time as an owner.

 

[Rocktheworld]

You can't mistakenly have a racist mindset. His only mistake here was trusting that chick. I deeply pity anyone who takes this guy seriously.

 

[nomar]

Exactly, every time this guy opens his mouth it's a disaster. Being racist isn't a mistake, it's how he feels. It has nothing to do with a mistake, dementia or any other excuse he and his wife come up with, the guy has been a racist his entire time as an owner.

It's more than that. It's not what he said. Anyone can make an ignorant comment.

It's the fact that he (a) systematically discriminated against minorities in his business, twice resulting in prosecution, and (b) has exhibited a pattern of ignorant comments and conduct.

What's amazing is that it took him this long to get ousted.

He also happens to be a cancer in the NBA, irrespective of any racial issues. He is literally one of the 5 worst owners in the modern history of professional sports. The fact that David Stern pushed Chris Paul there and the fact that for once, a lottery pick (Griffin) worked out for them, shouldn't blind anyone to the fact that the Clippers have been for over 30 years, the biggest laughingstock in sports. That team is worth over $1B in spite of Sterling. Query how much it would be worth had someone like Mark Cuban been owning it for the last few decades.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. I'm all for second chances. He blew his second chance in the 80s.

 

[sdhusky]

Of course he deserves a second chance.

And in his case, he used it up about 20 years ago.

The OP should have said "Does he deserve a 849th chance?"

 

[superjohn]

http://deadspin.com/5263277/the-sordid-life-of-clippers-owner-donald-sterling Anyone who thinks this guy deserves a second chance should read this story from 2009. It's amazing Sterling lasted this long in the NBA, his disgusting behavior has been well documented. For years he's been settling and paying off people to hide most of his dirt. This miserable bastard has been making life miserable for minorities in the LA area for years, his wife is also no better.

 

[Deepster]

So, interestingly enough, all the comments to this point have been leaning heavily towards "No, he doesn't deserve a 2nd chance", however the vote is 6-3 right now.

 

[stickyrice]

Only matters on what Lebron thinks.

 

[EricLA]

So, interestingly enough, all the comments to this point have been leaning heavily towards "No, he doesn't deserve a 2nd chance", however the vote is 6-3 right now.

Probably the people who are voting "yes" aren't making any comments.

Side note - if one were "new" to the whole story and ONLY knew what his latest comments were, and looked at his apology, I can see why they'd want to "give him a 2nd chance". But his latest comments were only the tip of the iceberg. He has a rather long and disturbing history of racism and idiocy when it comes to his actions - and it goes back many years.

 

[Deepster]

Probably the people who are voting "yes" aren't making any comments.

Side note - if one were "new" to the whole story and ONLY knew what his latest comments were, and looked at his apology, I can see why they'd want to "give him a 2nd chance". But his latest comments were only the tip of the iceberg. He has a rather long and disturbing history of racism and idiocy when it comes to his actions - and it goes back many years.

I understand that. I just thought it was interesting that for the overwhelming negative comments, there were 3 (of 9) people that still felt okay giving him another shot. You'd think these results would end up in a landslide of No's....but I guess we'll see.

 

[EricLA]

I understand that. I just thought it was interesting that for the overwhelming negative comments, there were 3 (of 9) people that still felt okay giving him another shot. You'd think these results would end up in a landslide of No's....but I guess we'll see.

Good point. Well it's 18-5 now, so it looks like the logical people have woken up!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I am still looking for comments by Doc Rivers and any of the black players who knew about Sterling PRIOR to joining the team and STILL played for him and the Clippers. How can they possibly be shocked? What Sterling has done in the past has been well documented.

They are all phonies and hypocrites and in the end throw all the racism crap out the door and all that matters is the GREEN.
Someone tell me differently.

It's fitting that the single biggest dipsh_t on the board has taken up for Donald Sterling.

 

[SWHuskyFan]

If he had admitted to being a racist and said he was getting help and trying to change his mindset, I would of probably leaned forward a second chance.

If he really believes a person who isn't racist could of said those things, I hate to think what a real racist might look like to him.

 

[UCHuskies08]

I understand that. I just thought it was interesting that for the overwhelming negative comments, there were 3 (of 9) people that still felt okay giving him another shot. You'd think these results would end up in a landslide of No's....but I guess we'll see.

Let's call a spade a spade: There is still a percentage of (usually older, white) folks who don't have too big of a problem with people saying terrible things about black people.

Even if we did ignore his past and passed judgment on the tape alone - he was advocating a plantation owner mentality. That he is the reason they have anything, that you shouldn't associate with black people in public, he asked her "What does she have to gain by being around black people?" This goes so far above and beyond a heated racist comment or an N-bomb being dropped. He owns a franchise in a private organization that has a constitutional provision to oust owners who tarnish the league's image.

Would a Subway owner be "given a second chance" if he said he didn't want black folks to eat at his restaurant? Or would Subway corporate snatch that franchise from him as fast as they could?

 

[champs99and04]

I am still looking for comments by Doc Rivers and any of the black players who knew about Sterling PRIOR to joining the team and STILL played for him and the Clippers. How can they possibly be shocked? What Sterling has done in the past has been well documented.

They are all phonies and hypocrites and in the end throw all the racism crap out the door and all that matters is the GREEN.
Someone tell me differently.

Your ability to deflect the blame to everybody besides the person responsible really is uncanny.

Aside from that truth, I've heard this same reasoning trotted out - that the Clippers players are somehow hypocrites for playing for the guy - by several people, and it just completely misses the point. God forbid somebody bite the bullet and work for somebody they don't like in order to better their family financially. This happens literally every single day in this country, and whatever discriminatory basis an employer may have - whether it be religious, racial, sexist, whatever - is ultimately irrelevant. The fact that people like you are always willing to find somebody to blame who isn't a white straight man is what enables institutionalized racism like this to persist in America, Sterling's housing discrimination law suits being exhibit A.

 

[Kitaman]

People say anything when they get caught and don't want to get fined.

Hell I once asked a cop if they give AARP discounts for speeding tickets.

 

[uconNYC]

What he said was so outrageous that he does not deserve a second chance in being involved in running or being around the club in a day to day basis. He should be pressured to sell the Clippers, but I do not feel he should be forced to do so.

 

[UconnU]

You don't take something away from someone for hurting peoples feelings, as wrong as their opinion may be. You can protest, boycott, etc all you want. And lets be honest there's a portion of the black community that are racist, sexist, homophobic... There's also a large portion of older white people in our country with those same types of feelings. I have an 85 year old uncle, probably the most racist person I know I guess he went through some things with the black community post depression or w/e but he literally believes it is socially acceptable to be as racist as his is when speaking to people. Is he a bad guy or is this a generational thing?

 

[J187Money]

It was way worse when he said he wanted a white coach to coach a bunch of black guys. I'm not supporting him but this is a bunch of CYA for the league in the age of twitter.

Silver said it was just about this incident. If that's true he probably should get a second chance. Not if I was in charge. But there are so many things wrong with all of it.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

You don't take something away from someone for hurting peoples feelings, as wrong as their opinion may be. You can protest, boycott, etc all you want. And lets be honest there's a portion of the black community that are racist, s e xist, homophobic... There's also a large portion of older white people in our country with those same types of feelings. I have an 85 year old uncle, probably the most racist person I know I guess he went through some things with the black community post depression or w/e but he literally believes it is socially acceptable to be as racist as his is when speaking to people. Is he a bad guy or is this a generational thing?

It's a generational thing and he's a bad guy.

I can't even begin to relate to someone who looks at this Sterling thing and thinks it's about "hurting people's feelings."

 

[Deepster]

Your ability to deflect the blame to everybody besides the person responsible really is uncanny.

Aside from that truth, I've heard this same reasoning trotted out - that the Clippers players are somehow hypocrites for playing for the guy - by several people, and it just completely misses the point. God forbid somebody bite the bullet and work for somebody they don't like in order to better their family financially. This happens literally every single day in this country, and whatever discriminatory basis an employer may have - whether it be religious, racial, s e xist, whatever - is ultimately irrelevant. The fact that people like you are always willing to find somebody to blame who isn't a white straight man is what enables institutionalized racism like this to persist in America, Sterling's housing discrimination law suits being exhibit A.

I do think tucked away in the stupidity, there is some truth in there. I mean, look...Michael Jordan came out and admitted he was racist "as a kid". If I read that and I'm white and I go to play for him, I have to assume there's still some seed of that racism hidden in there behind the corporate wrapping, right?

 

[superjohn]

You don't take something away from someone for hurting peoples feelings, as wrong as their opinion may be. You can protest, boycott, etc all you want. And lets be honest there's a portion of the black community that are racist, s e xist, homophobic... There's also a large portion of older white people in our country with those same types of feelings. I have an 85 year old uncle, probably the most racist person I know I guess he went through some things with the black community post depression or w/e but he literally believes it is socially acceptable to be as racist as his is when speaking to people. Is he a bad guy or is this a generational thing?

You probably don't realize it but your posts on this issue are almost as offensive as B. Vogel's.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It was way worse when he said he wanted a white coach to coach a bunch of black guys. I'm not supporting him but this is a bunch of CYA for the league in the age of twitter.

Silver said it was just about this incident. If that's true he probably should get a second chance. Not if I was in charge. But there are so many things wrong with all of it.

This is probably the 4th or 5th worst thing Sterling has said in the last 20 years.

"Blacks smell and attract vermin."

"Hispanics smoke, drink, and just hang around the buildings."

"I want to fill the team with a bunch of poor black boys from the south and a white head coach."

"I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid." (reanny Manning)

This is not to disparage those who were not aware of these previous comments (presumably most who post here), but rather is a scathing endictment on the NBA and David Stern in particular, who didn't have the morale compass that seemingly everyone has today.

It's amazing what the interwebs can do.