On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver brought the gavel down hard on LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling following the racist recordings leaked last week.
Announcing a lifetime ban as part of Sterling’s punishment, Silver also fined the owner $2.5 million — the maximum amount allowed according to league guidelines — and is pushing him to sell the team he has owned since 1981.
But Tuesday also saw a renewed sense of hope for the Clippers, who lost their Sunday game after staging a silent protest against Sterling. Hours after Silver banned Sterling from the NBA for life, the team beat the Golden State Warriors 113-103, taking a 3-2 lead in their first round playoff series.
DeAndre Jordan had 25 points, a playoff career high, and 18 rebounds while Chris Paul scored 20 points.
“I think it put a lot of guys’ minds at ease,” Paul said. “It’s been tough the last few days, but we’ve been getting through it.”
Congratulations on the win! Here’s what else you need to know about the Sterling Scandal today:
NBA Players Wanted To Boycott:
According to players’ union Vice President Roger Mason Jr., NBA players were strongly considering boycotting playoff games if Adam Silver hadn’t ruled harshly against Sterling.
“We didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but we were prepared that if this decision came down, we were prepared to move forward that way,” Mason said. “We didn’t think that this was just a Clippers issue, so we didn’t want to put the pressure on Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and that team. We wanted to band behind our brothers to do the right thing.”
Even LA Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was aware that his team (and others) were serious about a playoffs boycott. He did, however, say the Clippers were just hoping for a suitable response from Silver.
“I think they had the trust that there would be,” Rivers said. “I’m glad we don’t have to find out.”
Read more here.
Donald Sterling Set To Make Millions In Sale:
Despite being banned from the NBA for life, Sterling is set to make a huge chunk of change when he sells the LA Clippers.
The team, which cost him about $12 million in 1981, is reportedly worth about $575 million now. But the Washington Post’s Matt O’Brien thinks the team could go for more than that:
I talked to Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College, and he estimated that the Clippers are worth $700 million right now. If anything, that might be the team’s price floor. They still play in the second-biggest media market. They still have their own bankable stars in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. And there’s still the Seattle group willing to pay almost any price for a team. Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that investor groups are already lining up —including one led, perfectly enough, by Magic Johnson — who’d be willing to pay at least a cool billion.
That is, if Sterling actually sells the team. Just yesterday, the owner told Fox News that the team “was not for sale.” Read about it here. Looks like he’s not going down without a fight.
Rochelle (Shelly) Sterling Also Made Racist Remarks:
A family that discriminates together, stays together.
Despite calling her husband’s remarks “unacceptable,” Rochelle (Shelly) Sterling is reportedly not an angel herself. According to the LA Times, Shelly played a role in the housing discrimination that cost the Sterlings a $2.765 million lawsuit in 2009.
In a 2009 deposition, a tenant at one of the Sterling’s apartment buildings in Los Angeles County said that Rochelle Sterling called him a “black m—f—” during a discussion at the building.”
“I asked her again, I asked her, ‘would you reduce the rent?’” Darrell Rhodes said in the deposition. “And she said, ‘who do you think you are, you black m—f—.’
“The way in which she said m—f— was more lower voiced, under her breath. She said black loud enough for me to hear, she said mother loud enough for me to hear. F— part was a little lower. I had to look at her lips to hear her say it. And I did.”
Surprised? Read about it here.
SOURCE: Wash Post, LA Times, CNN | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
