|
Sterling Faces NBA's Firing Squad
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
May 20, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Facing charges June 3 that he damaged the
National Basketball Association by making racist comments secretly recorded and
broadcast around the planet by Hollywood gossip site TMZ Sports April 26, the
80-year-old embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has little
recourse. While he hired
experienced Los Angeles anti-trust litigator Maxwell Blecher May 15, Sterling
doesn’t face the courts, he faces the NBA’s board of governors operating under a
different set of rules. When
Sterling bought the Clippers franchise in 1981, he signed off on the NBA
constitution, giving him no legal recourse should the league terminate his
franchise with cause. “All of these
acts provide grounds for termination under several provisions of the NBA
constitution and related agreements,” read a statement from the NBA’s
Manhattan-based corporate office, giving Sterling two weeks to respond.
Sterling, a California bar licensed attorney, is no shrinking violet when
it comes to litigation in his real estate empire where lawsuits are more common
than McDonald’s hamburgers. When
the secret tape, recorded by his 31-year-old lady-friend V. Stiviano, went viral
if was just a matter of time before Sterling paid the ultimate price. Telling “V” to not associate or
bring blacks to Clippers games, Sterling offended just about everyone in-and-out
of basketball, professional sports and the public at large. Sterling’s words were so offensive,
so painful, so hurtful, so disgraceful and so classless, that it demanded an
immediate public apology. When
Sterling finally got around to apologizing May 12 in an exclusive interview with
CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he ripped Magic Johnson for womanizing and getting
“AIDS.” Instead of apologizing
unconditionally, Sterling couldn’t contain his ire.
Now Sterling faces his day of reckoning June 3 where at least 75% [23] of
the NBA’s 29 other owners are expected to vote unanimously to evict him from the
league. After making matters worse
for himself on CNN’s “AC360” ripping Johnson, it should be apparent to just
about everyone that Sterling isn’t fit to own an NBA franchise. His inability to follow any script
without hurling more insults at Johnson and the African American community
demonstrates he lacks the judgment to own an NBA franchise. Sterling’s attorney had little
success asking the NBA to delay the vote for three months while he considers his
clients legal options. While
Sterling’s at liberty to litigate ad infinitum, he can’t stop the NBA from
voting him out. His public remarks—though meant to stay private—say more about Sterling’s poor judgment
than a clear case of garden-variety racism.
Sterling’s May 12 interview and attempted mea culpa with Cooper displayed
a lack of coherency in the octogenarian Los Angeles real estate tycoon. While admitting he was no
psychiatrist, Cooper insisted Sterling was indeed lucid at the time of the
interview. What Cooper demonstrated
was that Sterling was just as easily manipulated as he was with “V” to make him
look like a fool. Knowing Sterling
poor judgment, it’s surprising that his handlers wouldn’t have vetoed the idea
of going on national TV. Saying
Sterling was an obvious “wreck,” former director of Los Angeles NAACP chapter
head Leon Jenkins found Sterling “very distraught” after ripping Magic Johnson
to Cooper on national TV. “Once you
got off focus and started talking about Magic Johnson, whatever reconsideration
some people would have, you kind of lost it,” Jenkins told Sterling after the
interview.
Jenkins had slated Sterling to receive the NAACP’s lifetime achievement
award before the secret recording hit the media.
For whatever reasons, Jenkins was forced to resign his post once
Sterling’s racist rant surfaced.
Jenkins wanted to honor Sterling for giving a lifetime endowment to minorities
at Los Angeles Southwest College, a traditionally black community college. Sterling has given away thousands of Clippers tickets to nonprofit groups serving the
black community. “I thought if he
was going top give a lifetime endowment, he should get a lifetime award,” said
Jenkins, lamenting the fact he was forced to resign. It’s ironic that Sterling asked the
NBA and public to forgive his “one mistake in 35 years,” while, simultaneously,
going on a tirade about Magic Johnson.
Going off on Magic showed just how far Sterling is gone from any
attachment to reality and common sense.
Sterling faces permanent eviction from the NBA June 3. While Sterling’s fellow owners feel
for the eccentric octogenarian, they’re compelled to protect the league that
came dangerously close to a walkout during the NBA playoffs. Sterling’s hateful words cut the
predominantly African American sport to the quick, burdening his own team that
worked hard toward its goal of winning an NBA championship. When the Clippers were finally
dispatched by the Oklahoma City Thunder May 16 in the second round, it was clear
that Coach Doc. Rivers‘ finely oiled machine malfunctioned. Sterling has no one to blame but
himself for self-destructing, losing the privilege of owning an NBA franchise. No team owner can allow one of their
own to damage the NBA brand and disgrace the sport without draconic
consequences. Sterling now finds
out the hard way that money isn’t everything.
|
