Does Donald Sterling deserve a second chance?

[David 76]

Some folks here don't really get how racism and bigotry are different. Yes there are black people who are biased/ don't trust white people. that continues to be a survival skill.
But if little kid Michael Jordan doesn't like white kids, it doesn't affect what you earn, where you live, the type of public education you receive. I know some of you think this is all over and don't want to hear it anymore. But it is not over. People still get killed for their color, go to jail for their color, and don't get jobs because of their color. So, I believe you know blacks that hate whites and that is too bad. But it is NOT the same thing.

I voted to give Nelson a second chance. Not as the owner of the Clippers, but as a human we all need a lot of chances. People, even this guy, are not disposable.

 

[David 76]

I have learned to be wary of people who say "I am not a racist"

 

[Adios]

Only matters on what Lebron thinks.

"As players, we want what's right and we don't feel like no one in his family should be able to own the team," James said.....

He doesn't feel like no one in his family should be able to own the team.

 

[mauconnfan]

This is wrong.

Donald Sterling is the owner of a public facing franchise in a private organization that has a constitution with stipulations for what can cause an owner to be forced to sell.

He clearly broke those stipulations. It tarnishes the image of the league for one of the owners of a 75% black league to tell his girlfriend that he doesn't want blacks at his game. Game over. It's not a philosophical question.

If he's too old and senile to not put his dumb foot in his stupid mouth, then pass ownership control to someone else and move on.

Stop making excuses for the guy.

This has nothing to do with your uncle, or whether or not black people are racist, too. Because they don't own a professional sports franchise. You see the difference, there, right?

Al Sharpton isn't an owner but he is a highly pubicized figure is he not? He's had a zillion 2nd chances…...

 

[aceboon]

when all else fails, you can always count on someone to shoehorn Al Sharpton into the convo, its the automatic crutch when whites play the "Blame A Negro" game. How Al Sharpton factors into a debate over a documented racist losing his NBA team is beyond me, but you can always count on some dopes to try to make it fit, mauconnfan is always up to the challenge.

 

[Fishy]

I don't know how Al Sharpton figures in, but he shouldn't be on any network's payroll - he's a pox.

Sterling is entitled to earn a second chance, but that second chance doesn't involve owning an NBA team. He's free to put his efforts, energy and fortune into trying to make amends for his misdeeds and then let the court of public opinion judge him. But again, his fitness for owning an NBA team is a ship that has sailed.

And then, tonight, Sterling went on CNN and set fire to that ship. I think this is an old dog that's incapable of new tricks.

 

[noeynox]

I find B Vogel to be particularly stupid. But it was out there that Sterling once said "black people smell and attract vermin". I don't know how you get more explicit or ridiculous?

The notion that Doc and the players are victims in all of this is laughable. The real victims were the people he didn't rent property to because he thought they smelled and attracted vermin.

This may have been out there, but I'm a casual NBA fan and had never heard of any of Sterling's past comments. I recently did hear and read some of the Bomani Jones stuff from the past, but the mainstream media certainly didn't report on this. Now if your saying that everybody in the NBA knew what Sterling was about, that is a different story, and I dont know if Doc should have known about. I doubt any of the current players knew much if anything at all about it. Mostly cause they're young.

 

[UconnU]

Did anybody watch the interview he did with Anderson cooper??? He just rambled on on and saying a bunch of nonse..at one point he says magic johnson has done nothing but catch aids, then takes shots at the black community saying they dont help their own. He dug himself an even deeper hole. Clearly very senile.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

And then, tonight, Sterling went on CNN and set fire to that ship.

Set fire to it, shot a cannonball through the hull, sunk it, dug it up and shot it into space. He sounded out of his mind.

 

[Fishy]

It was an outstanding interview - I like how a guy who essentially said he pays for sex wants to lecture Magic Johnson for having too much sex.

And then the guy with a history of announcing charitable causes that he never actually follows through with also lectures Magic about his charitable failings. The Magic Johnson Foundation is by no means a huge outfit, but it's not chump change either. (I'm no math genius, but I'm guessing four stars out of a possible four stars is a good thing.)

 

[champs99and04]

Set fire to it, shot a cannonball through the hull, sunk it, dug it up and shot it into space. He sounded out of his mind.

The guy seems past the point of senile at this point. Beyond being completely all over the map, his tone of voice more resembled somebody rambling on his death bed than somebody trying to gain traction from a PR standpoint. He's clearly not in a sane state of mind and I'm guessing hasn't been for some time now.

 

[Deepster]

All I could think of during that interview is that he sounded like my grandfather. And, in case you're wondering, that's the grandfather who said thousands of times "how come they can tell Polish jokes, but I can't use the word n***ger?"

There's no rehabbing Sterling or hoping he's seen the light. Time to go bye bye.

 

[noeynox]

The guy seems past the point of senile at this point. Beyond being completely all over the map, his tone of voice more resembled somebody rambling on his death bed than somebody trying to gain traction from a PR standpoint. He's clearly not in a sane state of mind and I'm guessing hasn't been for some time now.

He still be banging young beeotches though. Viagra is a helluva drug I guess. Seriously, how do you lay up with that if your younger than 70.

 

[mauconnfan]

Wow Sterling is a dope………..

Does anyone watch the "Good Wife"? Tom Skerrit may have played him Sunday night in a similar role

 

[itgoeslike]

Wow Sterling is a dope………..

Does anyone watch the "Good Wife"? Tom Skerrit may have played him Sunday night in a similar role

I wouldn't have guessed it, but Skerrit and Sterling are the same age (80 years old). . .

 

[dogfan96]

2nd chance implies that was his first offense.. Stern just chose to look the other way on his shenanigans over the years

 

[Dogdeacon]

Bottom line is Sterling was such a jacka$$ for so long that no one was around to shield him when his senility trumped his ability to hide his racist agenda and practices. Sterling had this coming for years and deserves no sympathy or 2nd -10th chances. He is paying for all the sins of his life and I'm certain the bill is staggering

 

[Rocktheworld]

Set fire to it, shot a cannonball through the hull, sunk it, dug it up and shot it into space. He sounded out of his mind.

Cocaine is a helluva drug and I'm sure this dude has done plenty in his time.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

At this point, Sterling should hold press conferences every day, because demented geezer is the only card he has left to play.

 

[Husky25]

At this point, Sterling should hold press conferences every day, because demented geezer is the only card he has left to play.

The number 1 bullet in the NBA's chamber is if Sterling legitimately has Dementia. I believe I read somewhere that Incompetence (including mental) is specifically named in the NBA constitution as a method to compel a sale.

 

[PacificStorm]

Did you mean a second chance at the girl? Why not, he is less than 85.

 

[J187Money]

I think the lifetime ban is appropriate. I also am not sure they should be able to make him sell his team, given that it will cost the Sterling family hundreds of millions in taxes. If he isn't running the team or allowed to show up at all, what difference does it make who owns it? There is a good argument to be made that the owners are better off in the shadows anyway instead of being a Jerry Jones type.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The number 1 bullet in the NBA's chamber is if Sterling legitimately has Dementia. I believe I read somewhere that Incompetence (including mental) is specifically named in the NBA constitution as a method to compel a sale.

Nothing would turn Sterling into the victim quicker than the NBA forcing his family to sell the team because he has Alzheimers. That rule is a common contractual one to prevent an incapacitated or declining partner from doing something irresponsible or damaging to the other partners. If another family member is in charge, this gun can backfire easily.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I think the lifetime ban is appropriate. I also am not sure they should be able to make him sell his team, given that it will cost the Sterling family hundreds of millions in taxes. If he isn't running the team or allowed to show up at all, what difference does it make who owns it? There is a good argument to be made that the owners are better off in the shadows anyway instead of being a Jerry Jones type.

There is no argument to be made that selling the Clippers would cost the Sterlings money.

 

[J187Money]

There is no argument to be made that selling the Clippers would cost the Sterlings money.

My understanding is that if the Clippers stay with the Sterlings until Donald dies, basis is stepped-up, meaning that capital gains taxes would be avoided.

So if the franchise is worth $1.7B, ~20% of that is $340M given that his cost basis is $12M. You can argue that the tax system is all messed up (and it is), but the reality is that selling now v. selling after he dies has a real economic impact to the Sterling family overall. So maybe $340M isn't real money to you...but NOBODY facing that kind of a tax hit is going to go down without swinging.