Before getting into the filthy situation of Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers (and there is a lot to get into), we’ll start off with this: may the great Dr. Jack Ramsay rest in peace. The legendary coach passed away on Monday, making it a truly sad day for so many around the league. He was a basketball genius and an inspiration to the absolute best:
Here is a moving piece by his son, Chris Ramsay – an absolute must-read:
“No matter what we say about Jack Ramsay today, it will seem inadequate. It won’t be enough.
He led such a great life. He did so many great things. He was a great man, a giver.
In his public life, he was famous, a Hall of Famer, a world champion. He had colorful friends named Cotton and Hubie and Halberstam and Talese. He traveled the world teaching, coaching and broadcasting. He brought Wilt Chamberlain home for dinner.
He was a basketball genius, a true innovator. He taught a team game. A pure form of basketball. Sharing and giving. With the right personnel, it was unbeatable. He pushed the very best to be even better: Billy Cunningham, Bob McAdoo, Bill Walton and Reggie Miller all learned from him how to elevate their games. Later, you’d see him talking with Tim Duncan, Kobe, KG and D-Wade. He was telling them how to be better players and teammates. They all listened, and they all got better.
My dad had drive, incredible determination and discipline. He was raised by his mom and three older sisters. He turned himself into a local basketball star and earned a scholarship to St. Joe’s.
As he got older, the not-normal stuff began to happen. He started to get sick. Brain tumors, lung tumors, marrow syndrome, skin cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, heart ailments, partial blindness, thrombosis, near-deadly spider bites, gout and shingles. He had hernia surgery. He had cysts removed from his eyelids. He had the bottom of his foot cut off, his lymph nodes stripped out. You probably didn’t know about those battles. He fought them in private.
He fought his personal health battles all while taking care of my mom. For 10 years, he cared for her as she got lost in the Alzheimer’s maze. He was really sweet with her. She didn’t know who he was most of the time, but he held her hand when she was scared and fed her and tried to ease her through the confusion for days and months and years. It was hard, but he did it. And he did it for a long, long time. That, too, is what he did in private.
Last summer when my dad was already very sick, a FedEx box arrived at his home with a DVD inside. On the video were dozens of kids doing basketball drills. Many of them were barefoot. The court was broken clay. The baskets were rusty and falling down. But these kids were working very hard, doing drills and more drills for 20 minutes. Kids and coaches working and sweating in the sun on a hot, hot day in Zimbabwe.
The camera panned away from the action to a sign on a fence that said, “The Jack Ramsay Grassroots Basketball Development Clinic.” As his life was ending, a hopeful project with his name on it was just beginning. Part of his legacy is there, on a basketball court in a clearing on the other side of the world.”
DOC BELIEVES STERLING IS GUILTY:
Doc Rivers has been especially emotional about Sterling’s alleged comments, and it appears he has no doubt that the owner really said and believes every word that was spoken in the recordings, from Tim Kawakami of Mercury News:
-Q: Have you talked to Sterling? Has he reached out?
-RIVERS: He has not, well, he has in the point I was asked do I need to talk with Donald and I passed, quite honestly. I don’t think right now is the time or the place for me. So I just took a pass.
-Q: Do you think you’ll ever know the extent to which your players carried this out with them to the court yesterday?
-RIVERS: I can answer it a little bit when I look at our tape basketball wise and 70% of our defensive possessions were mistakes… That’s focus. So yeah, I think a lot of it we can be better and we have to be. But I can never answer how much of it had to do with that.
-Q: After the last few days of thinking about this and the partial or non-defenses offered up, do believe Sterling said these things and that he believes those things?
-RIVERS: I don’t know one way or the other… But yeah, I believe he said those things. (Mentioned that the tape needs to be authenticated, but I didn’t get the exact wording)… But… yes, is the answer.
As far as (Sterling) believing those things, I heard what he said and (again I didn’t get the exact wording for a few seconds until...) I usually go with what people say.
I haven’t given him his due process, I haven’t given him the opportunity to explain himself and quite honestly right now I don’t want him to–to me. I’ll wait for that further judgment.
MORE WONDERFUL NEWS ABOUT STERLING:
The woman that has been in the center of all the drama surrounding Sterling, not surprisingly, is saying she has been in a relationship with him for a long time, from TMZ.com:
So much for V. Stiviano’s claims she was NEVER Donald Sterling’s girlfriend … her own court documents say she was a prop to show off the Clippers owner’s “sexual prowess.”
TMZ broke the story, Stiviano has been denying she was ever Sterling’s girlfriend — telling people she was simply his “archivist” for years and things never progressed beyond work-related interactions.
But Stiviano says the opposite in new court docs — claiming she’s been Sterling’s sexy sidepiece for 4 years, much to the mortification of Sterling’s wife Shelly.
The documents — filed this month in connection with Shelly’s lawsuit against V. claiming she duped Donald into showering her with more than $2 mil in gifts — say the relationship between V. and Donald was “neither [a] hidden, closeted, nor a clandestine ‘affair’ at any time,” adding it was “open notorious, obvious and long standing.”
The documents never use the term “girlfriend” or “boyfriend” to characterize the relationship and it doesn’t say they had sex. But it sure is coy.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS LOSING SPONSORSHIP DEALS:
With everything that has gone on, no one wants to work with or be associated with the Clippers in any way right now, from Stiletto Jill of Jocks and Stiletto Jill:
CarMax ,Virgin America, Mercedes Benz, Amtrak, and the Chumash Indians have completely ended their sponsorship deals with the Clippers. While Aquahydrate, Kia Motors America, Sprint, Loan Mart and State Farm have placed a temporary hold to wait to see how the situation unfolds. Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have endorsement deals with Kia and State Farm. Both companies have indicated that they are in full support of the players.
CarMax:
“These views directly conflict with CarMax’s culture of respect for all individuals,” the company said. “While we have been a proud Clippers sponsor for nine years and support the team, fans and community, these statements necessitate that CarMax end its sponsorship.”
State Farm:
While those involved sort out the facts, we will be taking a pause in our relationship with the organization,” State Farm said in a statement released to CNBC. “We are monitoring the situation and we’ll continually assess our options.”
Chumash Indians, presenting sponsor of Clippers season for last 4 years:“We’ve always been proud supporters of the Los Angeles Clippers, however, the recent statements attributed to the Clippers’ owner have forced us to reconsider our relationship. We remain supportive of the members of the team and we wish them the very best going forward. As a group that has long been marginalized itself, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and the Chumash Casino Resort are especially sensitive to maintaining the dignity of all people. We cannot ignore any statement that causes harm or hurts any group. As a result, we’re withdrawing our sponsorship of the Clippers organization.”
Vincent Armenta, Tribal Chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Add Amtrak to the list, from TMZ.com:
Now Amtrak’s out too. A rep for the train company tells us the company’s sponsorship expired at the end of the regular season, and it’s now working to remove ALL advertising assets from the market in the wake of the Sterling audio.
The rep tells us, “Amtrak believes the language used is unacceptable and is inconsistent with our corporate belief to treat everyone with integrity and dignity.”
THE MAYOR OF SACRAMENTO SPEAKS OUT AGAINST STERLING:
NBA legend and current mayor Kevin Johnson spoke strongly about what actions need to be taken against Sterling, from Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:
- Provide an assurance that the NBPA will be engaged as a full partner in this process. We believe that this is a defining moment for the NBA. The decisions made in this situation will send a clear message about what kind of culture, expectations and respect embody this league. We will not be passive participants in this process. The NBPA should be afforded a seat at the table as decisions are being made and the collective voice of the players must be heard.
- Ensure that Mr. Sterling does not attend any of the games for the Clippers or any other team for the duration of the playoffs. We feel that Mr. Sterling’s presence is inappropriate in light of the gravity of the accusations and want to avoid having that unnecessary distraction at our games.
- Give us a full accounting of the prior accusations of racism made against Mr. Sterling and why there were no sanctions by the NBA. It is most troubling for us to learn that the recent events may be simply one in a series of discriminatory actions by Mr. Sterling. We’ve asked for the NBA’s explanation of why the league has not taken action against him to date given the code of conduct that exists for players and owners alike.
- Explain the range of sanctions that are possible if these accusations are found true. During the Commissioner’s press conference, he stated that the NBA has the discretion to use “broad powers” to apply a range of sanctions for this type of behavior. We would like to understand that in fuller detail, specifically what the most severe consequences allowable are.
- Carry this process out swiftly and decisively. This situation must be addressed immediately. We are asking that the entire process be completed and consequences determined inside of 7 days to minimize the negative impact that this is having on the league. Additionally, once the investigation is complete, the NBA must impose the strongest sanctions allowable under the by-laws to send an unequivocal message. They must leave no doubt that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
LEAGUE CAN’T FORCE STERLING TO SELL:
Regardless of all that has gone wrong for the Clippers and Sterling, the NBA may not be able to force the owner to sell, according to TMZ.com:
The NBA owners can NOT band together to force Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers … multiple well-connected league sources tell TMZ Sports.
We’re told … the NBA has the power to fine and suspend Sterling for the racist comments he made during a conversation posted on TMZSports.com, but neither the owners nor the league can force a sale.
Bottom line — it seems if Sterling is going to leave the NBA for good, it’s going to have to be his decision.
At this point, TMZ’s sources have to be respected, given that it’s their material that has caused all this ruckus to begin with.
JACKSON SAYS CLIPPERS FANS SHOULD GET BOLD:
Mark Jackson has spoken freely about the situation the moment he heard of it, and he was at it again on Sunday, saying the fans should boycott Game 5, from Diamond Leung of Mercury News:
“The loudest statement to be made is not showing up,” Jackson said before practice Monday. “The noise of it not being tolerated, that this is a different time. It’s unfortunate, and we cannot allow someone with these feelings to profit.”
“I can only tell you what I would do, and as an African American man that’s a fan of the game of basketball and knows its history and knows what’s right and what’s wrong, I would not come to the game tomorrow whether I was a Clippers fan or a Warriors fan in the Staples Center tomorrow,” Jackson said.
He does, however, believe the Clippers players need to play:
“The biggest statement would be playing and pouring our hearts out into something we’ve dreamt about doing and doing it in a way where no matter color what we are, we do this with class, dignity and integrity,” Jackson said.
Rivers were told of Jackson’s comments and had this to say in response, from Sam Amick of USA Today:
Something that has been discussed the past couple of days is how Clippers fans could and should react.
Rivers was asked if he thought they would show up to Tuesday’s game at the Staples Center.
“We need them. I can tell you that,” he said. “We need unbelievable support right now from other people, and we’re hoping we get that tomorrow.”
“I think Mark has a right to his opinion, you know?” Rivers said. “And I don’t think there’s a wrong opinion here. … If this was a normal thing, I would say that Mark’s trying to get no fans to come because he wants to win this game. That has nothing to do with Mark’s comment. It really doesn’t. I think he’s speaking from his heart, and from his emotion, and I can’t fight Mark on anything with this, or anyone. I think everyone has their own opinion. I don’t share that. I hope it’s packed and people are cheering for us. … But if they feel differently, who can say they’re wrong?”
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR UPSET ABOUT LEAKED INFORMATION:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar knows what Sterling said was wrong. Despite having worked for him and never personally experiencing Sterling’s racism, the legendary center understands how terrible he is. Still, he can’t help but wonder why this has become such a huge problem for the league now, and is questioning if we even had the right to know what he said in the recordings:
What bothers me about this whole Donald Sterling affair isn’t just his racism. I’m bothered that everyone acts as if it’s a huge surprise. Now there’s all this dramatic and very public rending of clothing about whether they should keep their expensive Clippers season tickets. Really? All this other stuff I listed above has been going on for years and this ridiculous conversation with his girlfriend is what puts you over the edge? That’s the smoking gun?
He was discriminating against black and Hispanic families for years, preventing them from getting housing. It was public record. We did nothing. Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?
Shouldn’t we be equally angered by the fact that his private, intimate conversation was taped and then leaked to the media? Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way? Although the impact is similar to Mitt Romney’s comments that were secretly taped, the difference is that Romney was giving a public speech. The making and release of this tape is so sleazy that just listening to it makes me feel like an accomplice to the crime. We didn’t steal the cake but we’re all gorging ourselves on it.
Make no mistake: Donald Sterling is the villain of this story. But he’s just a handmaiden to the bigger evil. In our quest for social justice, we shouldn’t lose sight that racism is the true enemy. He’s just another jerk with more money than brains.
LANCE STEPHENSON’S WEDGIE:
The Indiana Pacers have seemingly lost themselves completely, and the struggles continued on Monday as they dropped to 3-2 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. With one particularly comical play, Stephenson more or less summed up how things have gone for his team:
PHOTO OF THE DAY:
Some fans are more into it than others.
Easily the coolest haircut I have ever seen: pic.twitter.com/dOJkhBDb22
— Eli J. Friedman (@Eli_NBAOKC) April 29, 2014
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.