Comments

2
@1 - It's been so long since we've had a proper tarring and feathering.

Man, I'm never going to get to use these feathers.
3
Shunning is the perfect punishment for a racist publicity hound. This guy runs ads in the LA Times every week touting himself (not his company). This kind of thing will drive him to a long overdue grave.
4
It seems harsh but when you consider that they are setting up an example here: 'say racist horrible things and you will not be welcome in our club' then maybe it's a good punishment. Although I wish the value of the team could be driven down some more before he has to sell so that he doesn't make such a fortune on it. Well he could always sell to his son (who helps manage) for a pittance.
5
He's banned for life, is being forced to pay the NBA's maximum fine, and will almost certainly be forced to sell the team by the owners' board...do you want his head on a platter?
6
@4: He could give the team away and he'd still be a billionaire.
7
The story is missing the forced sale of the team.
The commissioner is recommending the league owner Board of Governors to force Sterling to sell the team, and the commissioner expects the BOG to support and take that action. The commissioner can not unilaterally take that action.

So, it's banned from all NBA arenas for life, a fine, and loss of the privalage of owning a team.
8
@2: Want to get together this weekend and burn him in effigy? We could tar and feather the effigy first!
9
I can understand banning him from the NBA, but fining him money? Nobody should ever be materially punished just because people were offended by something they said. Being offended is the price of free speech.
10
@7, so he gets what, a 50x multiple on the 12 million he paid to buy the team? Should draw the sting quite a bit.
11
@9

He's not being fined by the government, he's being fined by an association he joined voluntarily. Free speech only applies to government censorship, not private organizations. I assume it'd be possible for him to duck the fine by leaving the NBA (ie, selling his team).
12
@6 He could, but I'm not convinced that being a complete and utter shithead merits taking away his... property? I'm not exactly sure what goes into the contract to buy an NBA team, but I think that, "I don't like what you have to say, so I'm going to take away your possessions," sets an unbelievably shitty precedent.

@4 is right; he is behaving in a way that is socially unacceptable, so we're going to kick him out of our club. He has his freedom of speech, which is an important, good thing. His speech also carries social consequences, which is ALSO an important, good thing.
13
This is a harsh penalty. @7 & @9 have points. If the BOG of the NBA force him Sterling to sell the franchise (as I recall, Marge Schott had to in MLB) that would be quite punitive enough.

The negative fallout alone from the story is another hit. This man is definitely affected by it. Just a bad end anyway one cuts it.
14
The reason for this punishment is that Donald Sterling's words and actions are harming the NBA brand. If you're in business, you don't hurt the brand. That is paramount.
15
There is a set of bylaws and so forth with the NBA. It is a weird organization, to be sure. You own a team, but that team can't just do whatever it wants. Furthermore, those who defend this slime on free speech grounds should realize that this sort of thing has been going on for a long time. Dig a little beneath the surface and you realize this isn't the rant of some old, drunk guy, but a long standing pattern (e. g. he has been sued for discrimination). The league took the toughest possible punishment, which is why players are applauding it. Now, if they could get us a team (and hell yes, I would take the Clippers in a New York minute!).
16
I'm pretty sure this was the absolute maximum punishment that the NBA has the power to impose. And though I think he's a racist shitbag, that ain't illegal, so it's hard to see what more could be done to him.
17
Seems like he could sell the team quickly and avoid paying the fine.
18
Can we bring them to Seattle and rename them the Flippers?
19
Option 1 and Option 3

And force him to live in the Big Bertha Tunnel of Doom
20
Does this even out the $1.5 million the owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder donated to anti-gay marriage campaigns?
21
@8 - Fine. You bring the effigy, I'll bring the feathers. Does anybody here have some tar we can borrow?
22

Full amnesty for billionaires!

Free Jabba the Hut!
23
Agreeing that his comments are ugly and unacceptable in this day and age, I still wonder if we should be at all concerned that it is apparently "okay" that the content of a private conversation, covertly recorded, in your own home, now justifies the confiscation of your property and the loss of your profession? Regardless of your actual public and professional conduct?

Nah... Probably not... What could possibly go wrong with that standard in a world where the NSA is recording every communication we make?
24
In fact... Do we even know where the recording came from?
25
I mean... If he had stepped up to a mike and spewed this shit in public, I'd say "start warming the tar!"

But I wonder how many of us want to be held publicly accountable for every private word of every private conversation we have...

Particularity conversations with girlfriends / boyfriends who we know are sleeping around with other people who we wish they weren't sleeping around with.

Especially when those conversations are about the people they're sleeping around with and how discreet they are or are not about it...
26
@23/24/25 by all means, keep it up with the "I have no clue what I'm talking about" posts.

Please wait...

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