Sterling banned for life

[Lawrinson14]

Hahaha, he would have faced lighter penalties had he killed someone.

 

[AZOrange]

Ali G would be great to interview him.

Hmmm. I'd go with Larry Johnson, magic Johnson or mike Tyson.

 

[TBCuse11]

Very excessive punishment. It perfectly exemplifies the butthurt culture of modern America. People need to realize they don't have a right to not be offended.

Agreed, this is wild. Dude was in the confines of his own home and was illegally recorded by a gold digger. There are probably dozens of pro owners who feel the same way. Of course, they are racists and a disgrace to the planet, but thats my opinion. Just as Sterling has his. Amazing that freedom of speech is going away.

That said, Sterling can sell for 700 million and vanish to any island he wants. He can even buy that island.

 

[moqui]

damn, that blows my 10 year plan to get my finances in position to purchase the Clippers!

 

[shandeezy7]

This analogy doesn't work. If a McDonald's franchisee did something in his personal/business life the was extremely detrimental to the McDonald's brand, I imagine McDonald's and other franchisees would use whatever means necessary within their franchise agreement to take away the franchise. The teams are franchises of the NBA. The owners are franchise owners. It's a pretty exclusive club and I imagine their membership rules are explicit.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/14/news/companies/mcdonalds-temporary-workers/

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I agree people get way too offended! Or is it people have way too much free time on their hands to worry about what other people are doing with their lives? Either way I really don't care what he said.

The fact is there's racism everywhere and there'll always be racism everywhere. Name a race and there is always Racism towards someone else, it's just human nature.

This will only be true if people like you continue to act like there is nothing we can do about it. We can let the NBA do the right thing here, finally, and kick this guy to the curb. And try to be better people.

 

[RF2044]

damn, that blows my 10 year plan to get my finances in position to purchase the Clippers!

Moqui, all kidding aside, aren't you a Clips fan?

What's your take on this? I imagine you're probably pretty thrilled to have Sterling forcibly extricated from the team, just to end his mostly dysfunctional era of ownership.

 

[NKR1978]

Amazing that freedom of speech is going away.

How is his "freedom of speech" being taken away? Freedom of speech is just from the government, that doesn't mean there aren't consequences to speech. If I were to embarrass my employers and hurt their business due to my speech they would have the right to fire me.

 

[Shermthegeneral]

The thing I don't get is he hasn't committed any crime and this isn't due to an incident Within the work place. Can you really be punished that severely on a recording you didn't Consent to? I think a lawyer will have a field day with this if they tray to proceed with what was announced.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Amazing that freedom of speech is going away.

Would everyone please stop saying this? And would one of the lawyers here please explain why this statement is so off base?

 

[TOL22]

Here's the thing about rights: Sterling has the right to say anything he wants, the caveat being that, as with all free speech, he has to be willing to accept that there may be consequences.

The consequences are this:

From a team standpoint, players not willing to play there, coaches not willing to coach there, fans not willing to buy tickets, product as a whole suffers.

From a league standpoint, all of the above applies, as well as concerns about advertising and sponsors, and the image of the NBA, which Stern let languish. Silver is obviously sending a message.

Sterling is an old guy, and often old guys have the filters of a 4 year old. Add to that the fact that he is rich, and probably at this stage in his life he is used to his entitled position. So he said awful things, and ordinarily it would be a story until the next one came along. But the NBA can't afford him, and the fact that he figuratively owns black men and still says those things is frankly gross.

Honestly, I find the stuff that rancher said last week to be worse, but it's not a bad thing for the NBA to rid itself of Sterling

 

[AZOrange]

Would everyone please stop saying this? And would one of the lawyers here please explain why this statement is so off base?

First amendment protections don't apply here.

 

[CuseTroop]

Clippers website reaction to the ban:
http://www.nba.com/clippers/one

 

[CuseFaninVT]

First amendment protections don't apply here.

Are you are the least verbose lawyer ever? I guess I could have said that as well.

 

[Lawrinson14]

Would everyone please stop saying this? And would one of the lawyers here please explain why this statement is so off base?

I mean, NBA ownership is essentially a private club. What you say is not automatically protected.

 

[MSOrange]

How is his "freedom of speech" being taken away? Freedom of speech is just from the government, that doesn't mean there aren't consequences to speech. If I were to embarrass my employers and hurt their business due to my speech they would have the right to fire me.

Exactly! It frustrates and amazes me how often that distinction is confused.

 

[SUbear]

even if owners dont vote to force sale, lifetime ban will still stand

How do they enforce this, he owns the team. Even if they can try to force a sale if he resists it will be in litigation till after this guy dies.

 

[JohnCuse44]

Think it's a but excessive.

Epic con/set-up job by the wife.

 

[SUbear]

The thing I don't get is he hasn't committed any crime and this isn't due to an incident Within the work place. Can you really be punished that severely on a recording you didn't Consent to? I think a lawyer will have a field day with this if they tray to proceed with what was announced.

Under California law this recorded was made illegally and the person making it would have committed a felony, not sure how this could be admissible in any kind of court proceedings.
Assuming this happened in CA and in a face to face, which is likely. If it was a phone conversation it also would have been illegal under Federal regs no matter where the parties were. Ever get one of those calls where they tell you it is being recorded before you start, well that's to make it legal.

 

[shandeezy7]

The thing I don't get is he hasn't committed any crime and this isn't due to an incident Within the work place. Can you really be punished that severely on a recording you didn't Consent to? I think a lawyer will have a field day with this if they tray to proceed with what was announced.

What does any of that have to do with this? It's not a court case. There are no standards for what is admissible evidence. There's no need for a crime to be committed. His actions/words, regardless of how the public came to know of them, are detrimental to the NBA's brand, and they are taking steps to repair the damage done to it by a reckless embarrassment of an owner.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

My prediction will be Larry King.

He and Sterling go to the same hairdresser.

 

[RF2044]

What does any of that have to do with this? It's not a court case. There are no standards for what is admissible evidence. There's no need for a crime to be committed. His actions/words, regardless of how the public came to know of them, are detrimental to the NBA's brand, and they are taking steps to repair the damage done to it by a reckless embarrassment of an owner.

It could have a LOT to do with things if Sterling opposes the forced removal. Then it would be incumbent upon the NBA to demonstrate that they had just cause to force the sale--which might be tougher to do if the main evidence condemning Sterling is not admissible to justify / validate the league's actions.

 

[CuseTroop]

How do they enforce this, he owns the team. Even if they can try to force a sale if he resists it will be in litigation till after this guy dies.

I honestly have no clue. Was just posting what I was hearing from the presser.

 

[KCJax03]

It isn't human nature, that's for sure . The nature comes from growing up within a specific culture and being taught that everything your culture does is right and everything another culture does is wrong. People need to be taught that other peoples' cultures are different, but that doesn't make them wrong. There are a lot of values from just about every culture out there. There are also negatives.

What you're failing to realize is that if he's allowed to stay then we're sending the message to several million people that racism is okay. Instead, you can use this as an example and say that racism, under any circumstances, will not be tolerated. Which is exactly how it should be.

For America to be so advanced and yet so far behind in knowing right from wrong is honestly fascinating.

Funny how you paint all around your disdain for American culture until you just cannot help yourself in the final sentence. To presume racist attitudes are found only here in America is just so incredibly naive.

Whether or not disliking others who do not look or act like you is human nature, it exists everywhere - not just in America. Ever been to a European soccer match?

Nobody here is excusing this man's attitudes or behaviors. It is a matter of whether or not his personal biases expressed in a private conversation can be used against him to this degree.

 

[shandeezy7]

It could have a LOT to do with things if Sterling opposes the forced removal. Then it would be incumbent upon the NBA to demonstrate that they had just cause to force the sale--which might be tougher to do if the main evidence condemning Sterling is not admissible to justify / validate the league's actions.

True, but wasn't there a report that Sterling knew he was being recorded, because many of his conversations are recorded for archiving purposes, or something like that? Not sure whether or not that was true though.