In what surely would be a failed attempt at objectivity, I searched the Internet to see if there was any way I could give Donald Sterling the benefit of the doubt. I have to admit I was giggling at the premise.
Sterling has a long and glorious history of idiocy, so any attempt to paint him as a party wronged in his current racist controversy — or, in fact, any of his controversies — would be spectacularly futile.
But miracle of miracles, a story from the Sporting News popped up on the screen and I was sure that Sterling employees and the few apologists that he has (who I would think could be counted on one hand) could latch onto it as proof that Sterling is really an open-minded, big-hearted sort of guy. Here is the first paragraph of the story:
“Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling solicited advice on the team’s basketball operations from a woman he described as a prostitute, according to court documents cited by Sports by Brooks.”
So there you have it. Here’s a guy who described his relationship with the woman in question as one of “purely sex for money, money for sex, sex for money, money for sex.” And yet this man worth nearly $2 billion did not put any limitations on the woman. When he needed advice at running his NBA franchise, he was not above asking her – at least according to the woman, who released the following statement:
“Mr. Sterling consulted me on issues he was considering almost every day including, among others, whether he should hire Alvin Gentry to coach the Los Angeles Clippers (although I had no experience in such matters).”
And yet Sterling saw something special. Shouldn’t he get some props for being the first owner ever to create the position basketball consultant/prostitute? Maybe the NBA can make that part of its next marketing campaign:
The NBA: Hookers and Hoops: Fantastic!
Ah, but making fun of Mr. Sterling’s many foibles — and for those of you not fluent in tongue-in-cheek, we are in fact making fun of him – has been easy because there have been so many.
His latest, while obviously repulsive if true, is simply a continuation of ignorance he has expressed in the past. Wikipedia has a summary of Sterling’s controversies, including sections titled:
— “Accusations of racism and discrimination.”
— “Skid row homeless assistance pledge.”
— “Heckling Clippers players.”
When he was sued a few years ago by former GM Elgin Baylor for wrongful termination, the lawsuit included charges by Baylor that Sterling had told Baylor he wanted to fill his team with “poor black boys from the South and a white head coach.”
Sterling was also charged with expressing concern in signing top draft choice Danny Manning, saying: “I’m offering a lot of money for a poor black kid.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2006 the Justice Department filed a discrimination suit against Sterling for allegedly using race as a factor in filling some of his apartment buildings. The suit alleged that 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, according to the Times, that, “Black tenants smell and attract vermin.”
Baylor eventually dropped the race accusation and ultimately lost the lawsuit that he had been wrongfully terminated. But his revelations of Sterling’s statements behind closed doors are consistent with the sentiment expressed by the voice alleged to be Sterling’s in the TMZ tape that the NBA is currently reviewing.
It has been noted repeatedly that dealing with Sterling will be the first major test for rookie commissioner Adam Silver, who, I don’t think, will have the authority to do what he’d like to do, which is fire Sterling. Terminate him. Take his franchise away, put it on the open market, pay Sterling off and then send him to the same island where Tom Hanks was exiled in Castaway.
You can bet that Silver has the brilliant legal minds of top lawyers Joel Litvin and Rick Buchanan researching maximum punishment for Sterling, but Silver is in a no-win situation. No matter what he does – even if he suspends Sterling for a year or two years – he still can’t get rid of him permanently.
But he can try. I do differ with colleague Chris Sheridan about Silver’s initial actions because I think the No. 1 thing Silver has to establish is that the tape of Sterling is authentic. The Clippers have already started a campaign to suggest the tape was altered. Sterling’s history of buffoonery has deprived him of the being innocent until found guilty. Everything about the man screams that he is guilty. Silver no doubt believes that there is a miniscule chance that Sterling is a victim of a doctored tape, but, well, there’s a chance.
When he does find out exactly what he can do, he should do more. The test of whether Adam Silver metes out appropriate punishment can easily be measured by this:
Does Donald Sterling sue the league in response? Is the punishment so outrageously harsh that Sterling seeks to overturn it in court?
Forget a one-year suspension. Forget two. And let’s assume there is no way – because of the value of the Clippers (probably close to $1 billion on the open market – that any court would allow Silver to take the franchise away.
Here’s a thought: Suspend Donald Sterling from all NBA arenas for life. Yes, he can still own the team, but he just can’t watch its games or games of any other team in person.
In doing that, Silver would send a strong message to all of the NBA players and legends who have expressed outrage. The message would be clear: We don’t want you at our games.
Would the suspension last if challenged in court? Probably not. But it would be a profound, decisive and powerful statement by a new commissioner. Even David Stern would be impressed.
TAKE A SPIN THROUGH JAN HUBBARD’S ARCHIVE FROM SHERIDAN HOOPS.COM. FANTASTIC STUFF ON THE NBA, PAST AND PRESENT.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.