Free Speech, Society

Silver Bans Sterling . . . For Life

200px-Los_Angeles_Clippers_logo.svg100px-NBALogo.svgWe previously discussed the racist comments of Clippers owner Donald Sterling. We discussed the possible sanctions under the NBA rules, which are confidential. This afternoon NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that Clippers owner Donald Sterling will be suspended for life and fined $2.5 million. That blows away any prior sanction of the NBA.

Silver announced “I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers association or the NBA. Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices, he may not be present at any Clippers facility, and he may not participate in any business or decisions involving the team.” That is pretty much a demand that he sell the team though he could use his general manager for some of those functions.

The $2.5 million fine will be donated to anti-discrimination organizations, which is a particularly nice touch.

I have little sympathy for Sterling and found his comments deeply disturbing and unsettling. However, it will be interesting to see if Sterling, who is a lawyer, will fight the fine. He is being banned and fine for private comments that he did not intend to be released publicly. While this is not the government (raising first amendment issues), it is a free speech questions. We have been discussing how government employees like teachers and police officers have been punished for statements and activities in their private lives. I have opposed that trend. In this case, Sterling did not even intend for this comments to go to anyone other than his girlfriend.

The question is where the line is drawn on private comments. No one would suggest sanctions Larry Johnson for (after the Sterling comments) reportedly called for all-black teams and league or his prior comments calling players “rebellious slaves.” He was clearly upset with the news and venting on social media. I understand that. Indeed, his call for some black owners of NBA team is understandable given this controversy and reflects a long-standing objection to the paucity of black owners in the NBA. Yet, those were intended to be public comments and might be viewed as offensive by white players or owners or fans. If the NBA rules extend to private communications, I am curious as to how it distinguishes between comments both public and private. When it comes to free speech, we tend to favor bright line rules but this is a rule that is neither published nor clear. Sterling may be the easy case due to the vile nature of these comments but Silver does not address the standard that has been and will be applied to owners and players.

The counter to this argument is that, as a NBA owner, Sterling agreed to comply with the rules, including the undisclosed rules of conduct. His comments clearly created an embarrassment for the NBA and other teams. Yet, my guess is that these rules are vaguely worded and this sanction is far beyond prior punishments. He probably could challenge it under contractual and even anti-trust theories.

In the end, he is being banned for being a racist (which he vehemently denies). However, if he did not act in a racist manner to the team or fans, should his private views be the basis for a ban. What is owners are anti-gay or anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim in private? Can they all be banned if a third party reveals their views or a private conversation surfaces?

What do you think?

402 thoughts on “Silver Bans Sterling . . . For Life”

  1. jonathanturley

    Other legal analysts have questioned Sterling’s options: …
    =================
    Great read.

    I am reminded of when Rush Limbaugh & The Donald were not allowed to be an owner of a team.

    Some types of affirmative action are, and ought to be, legal when properly carried out.

    What I mentioned in my other comment up-thread is verified in the link you supplied:

    However, according to the NBA’s website, Article 13(a) explicitly gives the NBA the power to terminate an owner’s interest with a three-fourth’s majority vote of the owners. During the press conference, Silver said that he had the full support of the owners and indicated that he expected to successfully force a sale of the team.

    Edelman believes that Sterling’s best bet would be to bring antitrust claims against the NBA. “Sterling could argue the other owners have colluded against him by refusing to do business with him,” Edelman says. “Generally, it’s illegal for a collection of businesses to reach a concerted effort to refuse to deal with a competitor.” However, Edelman says the NBA could defeat an antitrust suit if it proved that its association with Sterling was hurting the league’s image, as well as damaging its monetary value.

    (JT’s link).

    Occupy Sterling!

    1. Has anybody noticed that if the names were reversed it would be Sterling BANS Silver for life.

  2. I put the blame on David Stern for letting this kind of racist culture thrive in the NBA. He put the icing on this racist culture by rejecting the deal of Paul to the Lakers for Paul Gasol and handing him over to Sterling for nothing.

    I would like to hear from David Stern and ask him to show the paperwork about this and how long he has known about the Sterling’s racist behaviour in his everyday life and why did he kept on ignoring it and never took an action?

  3. He’s getting too old, his womenfolk got the better of him. That might be ageist.

  4. I think the really interesting thing is how this type of situation will be handled in the future. Silver made it VERY clear that his punishment was based on this one transgression. As some of you may know, back in 2007, Tim Hardaway made the following statement: “Well, you know I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”
    If he was a current player and made those comments tomorrow, would Silver have to ban him? Who knows? But my instinct says the players association would not be as supportive.

  5. I have the following questions. Wasn’t the whole Monica Lewinsky affair all based on an illegal taping of a private conversation? In Sterling’s position, being an owner of an NBA team owner does that not make him a public figure; e.g., Alec Baldwin; and, thus, he has no expectation of privacy? In my opinion, at the time Lewinsky was not a public figure and did have the expectation of privacy. However, I think Elaine M. has boiled the situation down pretty succinctly. And, as we have all learned by now, Sterling is a pretty sad excuse for a human being adding sexism to his racism.

    1. Bonnie – my understanding, and I am getting this from others, is that California is a two-party state. Both parties have to agree to the recording. In the Monica Lewinsky case they did try to convict the phone taper of wire taping. She got off. Cannot remember her name.
      I am not sure how you could think Sterling was sexist, he clearly told the gf she could bonk whomever she wanted, just not rub his face in it. 😉

  8. Sterling’s wife while coming out of the Steak House last night in LA with sterling said that all what was said was false, hence defended her hubby and yet, she released a statement earlier in the day condemning her own husband.

    Strange woman!

  9. bettykath

    Moral of story: don’t piss off your wife who sues your gf, thereby pissing her off. Ah, Karma. It took awhile, but there it is.

    *****

    Thanks for my laugh of the day!

  11. Moral of story: don’t piss off your wife who sues your gf, thereby pissing her off. Ah, Karma. It took awhile, but there it is.

    btw, UCLA has given back nearly half a million of a promised 3 million for a research lab. Sterling said they were going to name it after him, they said it was never an option.

  12. Yup. Nothing better than Al “Greek homos” Sharpton and Jesse “hymietown” Jackson.

    1. This could be good. Supposedly the 2.5 mill fine is to go to inner city projects, etc. Reval wants his piece of the pie. Jesse probably couldn’t dial fast enough.

  14. Paul, The seats are available, as well as the hoochy mama girlfriend. Sterling has given her 2 Bentley’s and a Ferrari amongst other gifts. So, the seats are a lot cheaper.

    1. Saw that the wife wants the cars, the apt and the half mill back. She is in court looking for restitution.

  15. What Mike A. said. Without access to the rules all NBA ownership, it is hard to comment on the legality of his banishment.

  17. You can be banned from a private club for private behavior. You can be banned from a casino for being a card counter. The list goes on. Sterling agreed to the bylaws and the league’s requirements to own a franchise. The commish has ruled Sterling violated those laws. All of these agreements nowadays have personal conduct clauses for stuff just like this. Don’t fret about poor little Donald Sterling. He has truckloads of cash and is very litigious savvy.

  18. I may not like him or even condone his comments. But this is tantamount to banning him for private conduct. I agree with what Mark Cuban said. I also agree with Mike A., this guy may be an ass but this has not stopped others with similar statements from participating in ownership.

    1. Keebler I see that you forget about Marge Schott, the former owner of the Reds. She opined that old Adolph Hitler was not such a bad guy since he had some positive things any person could say about him. They kicked her out of baseball. It seems like there IS crying in baseball, only it is not tears, but outrage.

  20. Paul, I have about 5 sexist jokes running through my head but I’m biting my tongue.

    1. Nick – Byron already had a post taken down because it was too sexy. Although it was kinda funny. 😉

Comments are closed.