If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. I don’t feel sorry for billionaires.
One such billionaire, Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was recently caught in a compromising position, one in which a racially-inspired conversation was recorded between him and his girlfriend.
As usual, TMZ was the first to release the news. The same TMZ that just happened to be in Richie Incognito’s front yard while he was taking a bat to his Ferrari and the same TMZ that just somehow happened to have a recording of Sterling fighting with his trophy girlfriend, fifty years his junior.
When news of Sterling’s comments hit the internet, Twitter went wild. Nothing like a jolt of old school racism to shake up the world wide web.
Apparently, Herr Sterling had an issue with a picture his girlfriend posted on Instagram, one she took with Magic Johnson. He made her and basically everyone else on the planet aware of how he felt about her spending time with people of a skin tone different from his.
If you haven’t heard the recording yet, here ya’ go.
Racism and hatred are obviously nothing to laugh about but anyone familiar with Sterling’s previous antics knows this is not a one-time occurrence.
In response to his comments, the Clippers, who are currently vying for an NBA championship, contemplated boycotting their next playoff game. Instead, they wore their warm-up jerseys inside out so as not to display the team logo.
Sterling did not attend that game.
While the league decides how to properly handle the matter, none of that stopped the Twitterverse from poking a little fun at the shortsightedness and everlasting stupidity of this week’s most hated man on the planet.
My point is this TMZ story isnt even Top 10 in worst things Donald Sterling’s said/done. But hey, they got Capone on taxes, so….
What I wanna know is: who are Donald Sterling’s friends that call him to ask why his GF has a picture of a Black person on her Instagram?
Evan J’daté Kessler @EvanJKessler
The ghost of Marge Schott keeps trying to high-five Donald Sterling, but she keeps falling through him.
LOL I think its worse how he tells her that she can sleep with anyone she wants to just not to advertise it LOL
Donald Sterling doesn’t want to be seen publicly with Blacks and Hispanics but he dates a girl who’s both. WTF, confused lol
So does Donald Sterling only hate half of Blake Griffin and Matt Barnes?
We need Paul Mooney to sort out this Donald Sterling thing.
Donald Sterling wouldn’t let Al Jolson into his arena, probably.
Shandel Richardson @ShandelRich
Michael Jordan on Donald Sterling: “Does he wear Nike?”
This just in! Donald Sterling not allowed into Los Angeles Dodgers games.
Hari Kondabolu @harikondabolu
I wonder if Clippers owner Donald Sterling fired former coach Vinny Del Negro for refusing to change his last name.
Buffalo does have bad sports luck but hey, at least we don’t have Donald Sterling as our owner #yikes
Donald Sterling is shocked at the backlash. He’s like “that’s the least offensive thing I’ve said in 40 years.”
Donald Sterling just shot up to the top of the Tea Party candidates for 2016.
Christopher Rucker @cbenjaminrucker
To be fair to Donald Sterling: he seems to hate Koreans and Hispanics a lot too #equalopportunityracism
DONALD STERLING: Look, I love J.J. Reddick, but does he *have* to get photographed on the court with black people??
Guy Endore-Kaiser @GuyEndoreKaiser
Magic Johnson combines two of Donald Sterling’s least favorite things: blackness and winning championships.
Dodgers Nation @DodgersNation
Donald Sterling is one of the few owners that can make Frank McCourt look good.
CaptainTouchback @CaptTouchback
Has Donald Sterling offered up “my twitter account was hacked” as an excuse yet?
Donald Sterling doesn’t see color at all. He makes all of his minority employees use the servants entrance just to make sure that’s possible
William Batson @the_wack_mamba
“They all look alike.” – Donald Sterling on Chris & Cliff Paul #ClipperNation
Fake SportsCenter @FakeSportsCentr
Still hard to believe Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t win an Oscar for his role as Donald Sterling
Pierre The Pelican @PelicanPierre
Donald Sterling watches “Django Unchained” backwards, so it has a happy ending.
When asked what Donald Sterling was going to do for today’s game, he responded he would stay at home and watch it on his colored TV.
If Donald Sterling opened up a sushi joint, he’d be like “Ugh! No Asians allowed!”
Donald Sterling situation is just a reminder of two things you should already know 1)Prejudice is wack and 2)Hoes Ain’t Loyal.
ThatsSoTaguchi @ThatsSoTaguchi
Donald Sterling should buy the Redskins just to save everybody time and effort.
“You can sleep with him, but no pictures!” Um, Donald Sterling…that’s Magic Johnson. She should probably stick to pictures.
What do Jenn Sterger and V Stiviano have in common? They both exposed old pricks. Thank you, I’ll be here all week.
Chris
Regale me with the fifteen minutes of fame that Donald Sterling would like to have back ? It’s been a repeated pattern of behavior that has been continually overlooked over the years by the NBA and the league hierarchy, even by Stern , who repeatedly failed to address the issue of the Clippers owner’s behavior in terms of his overt racism and sexism . So much for that racial divide now having an equilibrium. How much longer can the apathy continue on both sides of the divide ? It would appear also that Sterling still didn’t learn anything having been fined by the US Justice Dept and HUD for being a slum landlord and his mistreatment of his tenants , many of whom were low-income African Americans and Latinos . Utter bulls#it to think that there are idiots suggesting that racism is a thing of the past ! Now you’ll have the moronic players and union still sticking behind a sh#thead like Donald Sterling and not seeking to act in any way to punish this @s#hole !
So again I ask you to regale me how Sterling can ask to take back fifteen minutes of fame when it has been a pattern of behavior ? How many times must the league have to put up with this type of BS and with their being nothing done on their part ? Yet the NBA can punish players with impunity for any act that they believe to detrimental to their brand and image as a whole ?
tophatal ……..
The Clippers bandwagon is unloading as quickly as it filled up thanks to Donny Bozo’s pie hole.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
How ironic would it be if the Magic Johnson led Guggenhiem group ends up owning the Clips when the league, fleeing sponsorship money and fan backlash force him to sell. What free agent will want to sign there now?
The worst owner in sports history just one-upped himself Mel Gibson style…Girlfriends are poison to millionaires. Shoulda just stayed married and kept a lid on it Mr. Slum Lord.
Sterling is choking himself with that silver spoon of his.
I mean, we always knew he was a total clown based on how his Clippers have fared over the years but MAN.
After so many decades in loserville, he FINALLY gets a squad with a semi-legit chance and he pulls the chair on himself by being jealous of his barley legal trophy girlfriend posting selfies with Magic. Fucking Classic. What a tool.
Elgin Baylor tried to tell everyone…Turns out he filed his lawsuit a few years too early.
People pay attention to the NBA? Dude is an asshat, but that goes without saying.
Donald Sterling , racist , sexist and a fu$king slumlord to boot ! What else, but the apathy of the NBA and the lack of action not only from this incident but prior improper acts of the Clippers’ owner ? The apathy is not just among the NBA hierarchy , owners , union , players but also with the dumb @ss fans who believed that either Stern or his successor Adam Silver ever gave a #hit to begin with ! LOL,LOL,LOL !!!!
tophatal …………………
Ok, the secret’s out. Sterling is a POS. Elgin Baylor, one of the greatest NBA forwards of all time cudda told us this years ago. What pisses me off is TMZ’s timing of the release. Did they bet Golden State to win the best of 7 series? I bet the fukn Clippers and am sweating worse than Sterling.
In reference to a prior post, I’d like to see Mo Williams and Beard Harden get it on for a couple rds. Their dislke for each other finally came to head in the waining seconds of Sunday’s OT win by the Rips.
Doc Rivers did exactly what the NBA has done all during Sterling’s reign…look the other way. It will be interesting to see if someone in the media actually calls him out for being an enabler of this ownership rather than a victim. The Association is guilty by association. Sterling has such a rap sheet and yet, up until his girlfriend apparently wore a wire and the results hit the airwaves the man was an owner in good standing. Regardless of how despicable he is, also setting a precedent of forcing his ownership hand doesn’t leave any wiggle room for any future owner who might have no “priors” and say something stupid. Owners have a way of being savvy when it comes to self-preservation and they aren’t going to leave themselves exposed for possible future indiscretions. The punishment and sentencing phase of this trial without jury will be fascinating.
Al…
This is gonna be the straw that broke the racist’s back, however.
Probably shouldn’t have been but it will be.
And somewhere, David Stern lies on a beach suntanning, retired and without a worry in the world.
All we can do at this point is entrust that the NBA will do the right thing here.
Bleed…
Even a blind and racist squirrel finds a nut once in a while. I mean, how many times can a team land a number one draft pick and fuck it up? Relevance was bound to happen eventually.
I think you I should put a bid in on this Clippers team. I could probably afford .00001%. Is that controlling interest enough?
Means you’d have to give up your Lakers allegiance though as I’d still want those banners down when our team played.
You cool with that?
Trust me, D.
People are paying attention now.
Oh, and D…
Still hate LeBron after listening to this?
http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/10844906/lebron-james-no-room-donald-sterling-nba
Think Michael would ever go there?
Al…
What are the odds that NBA owners vote unanimously to get Sterling to sell his shares in the team?
And do you think there are any banks out there that will spot me a loan?
Bets…
I’m assuming the Clips were only a slight favorite? You must’ve bet large. Surprised you did so.
I even Tweeted how I wondered how his comments would have affected the line in Game Four.
Guess you shoulda bet the Hawks moneyline to win that Indy series, huh?
Bets…
We’ve already seen one suspension (Nene).
Any bets as to who the next might be? Or if they’ll be one at all?
Burnsy…
I’m not too sure Doc’s looking the other way on this one.
Look, he’s always been a classy guy but not fielding Sterling’s calls is not exactly looking the other way on the matter.
You are correct, however, in your assessment that the NBA is a guilty party by essentially keeping Sterling in place all these years. That’s an image they can ill afford.
I know Stern wanted Silver to run the league on his own but I’m pretty sure a call for help has been placed for how to handle the matter.
My guess is that the league finally, somehow, forces Sterling out.
Just call it a hunch.
They can’t force Donald Sterling to do a damn thing , but what league hierarchy can do , is to force his removal from the day to day operations of the team. And let me pose this question as you have repeatedly supported , David Stern as commissioner , how is that when Donald Sterling was sued by the US government as a slum landlord , wherein the legal action, prosecuted by the US Justice Department on behalf of HUD (Housing & Urban Development) , where was the ongoing NBA commissioner , as Sterling described his tenants (living in squalor conditions in properties owned by Sterling in the greater LA area) , primarily African Americans , Latinos and Asians as parasite , niggers that would be better off in the fields or working on the railroads , after their having approached the federal government to proceed with the legal action that saw Donald Sterling pay over $600 million in fines . In the midst of this all, the idiot members of the LA city council did ##ck all from their own standpoint to punish the now disgraced NBA owner .
David Stern , much like his successor Adam Silver are two individuals , who are only prepared to fight the battles they believe that they can win , while looking in good in-front of the public from an image standpoint. If all of that was known to Stern at the time , why his inaction concerning Donald noSterling’s antics at the time ? It has been a repeated pattern of behavior by the Clippers’ owner and the NBA has simply shown that it is incapable of acting with power and real authority and is that type of apathy along with fans’ stupidity that has bought into the bull#hit of improving race relations in this country . Crock of s#it along that of the stupidity now being shown by the NBPA of which Clippers’ point guard Chris Paul is the Executive Director of the players’ union . They have long known of Sterling’s deliberate indiscretions and have never said anything publicly , as has David Stern . Still believe the former NBA commissioner is the man you believe him to be ? Like I said , he rode in on Jordan’s coattails and that is all he has ever done .
Upon his retirement David Stern was still pulling down $25 million a year on par with the = highest paid players in the league . This being the same executive , who less than two years ago was asking the union to pare down their wage demands . And you continually bought into the bull#hit Stern was selling . The continued apathy of fans and the NBA is not only a joke , but a clear indication that they have no intelligence whatsoever !
Now you have the idiotic commentary coming from the print and television media as they are all so shocked by this all . An African American is dragged and then lynched (James Byrd IV) in Jasper Texas , and barely an eyebrow was raised until Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department intervened to carry out an investigation of that crime . Now less than a decade later , the very same law enforcement (Jasper Police Dept) for that Texas city now claims that a twenty-four year old African American cut his own throat from ear to ear , having given himself a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen that bled profusely . The Police Chief and coroner (medical examiner) still stand by their findings that Alfred Wright managed to cut his own and then shoot himself with a shotgun .
James Byrd IV must be looking down from heaven and thinking …. “whitey still got it in for us nig#ers ” and so too has Donald Sterling” . Yes Chris as you have so tried to suggest race relations has indeed progressed greatly in the US . LOL,LOL,LOL !! Remind me where I can get an open invitation to the next Klan Rally (KKK) in Tampa ?
tophatal ……………….
Actually, I think the best solution is to sell the Clips to Bill Gates or Starbucks and move them to Seattle. Rename them the Supersonics and put the entire Clippers experiment in the rearview mirror.
Fresh start all the way around, two birds with one stone.
…But that should be up to Sterling.
Mark Cuban is a douche, but he is right on his take on this thing. I don’t think the league should take the team or force him to sell. The general public will take care of that by not supporting the Clippers brand.
It’s a free country and racists and clowns have as much a right to say and hold the feelings they do as politically correct sheeple do. The backlash and repercussions for what one says should be handled by the free market.
I don’t agree with what he said, but I would defend to the death his RIGHT to say it. All Americans should defend our freedom of speech. The rest will take care of itself.
Sponsors have already bailed, no free agents will want to sign for the guy and he’ll most likely end up selling anyway. Hopefully, it just makes it even more costly, drawn out and humiliating.
If the NBA forces him to sell, he’s selling a loaded team whose brand is peaking right now and he’ll just cash in. (Well, it WAS peaking before he got verbal diarriah).
It appears Doc Rivers will likely walk after the season. The players will want to leave when their contracts are up, (if not sooner as ideas of letting them all become free agents in light of this are being floated.)
As I said, I think it will rectify itself in that regard.
We can’t have thought police in America.
People have different opinions on everything. This kind of punishment for one’s feelings or beliefs leads to crap like Rush Limbaugh being denied NFL ownership. What’s next, they take a team away from an owner because he’s against illegal immigration or abortion or supports gun rights or supports legalizing drugs? Where is the line drawn?
What’s next, comedians, musicians, movie makers and painters can’t freely express themselves through their art forms because it offends someone?
Those looking to be offended will always find it -Intended or not.
Let idiots like Sterling expose themselves and reap the just rewards when they do.
Karma and the American public will take care of the rest.
I don’t hate Lebron. I hate his childish, immature antics on the court. He is an immensely talented player who, and I have said this before, needs to hire a better PR person so that half of the people who watch the NBA don’t think he is a clown. I doubt Mike would rock the boat.
Donald Sterling is a total loser who deserves whatever comes his way. Racism isn’t reserved to the white man though, but it is punished as such. Hopefully all of the racism is cleaned up but it seems to be a one way street nowadays. Jay Z has very questionable lyrics and he is a part (small) owner yet never gets vilified. Larry Johnson sounded like he wanted to return to the days of segregation with his comments. He has also made questionable racial comments in the past that seemed to get glossed over. It persists all around in our society so let’s clean it all up and stop focusing on one branch.
So Adam Silver put on his big boy pants and banned / Donald Sterling for life, but league has not indicated whether not the running of the franchise will be left to the league hierarchy or the morons within the Clippers’ organization who allowed Sterling to run amok and denigrate employees and minorities in general . Yet at the same time , with the prior bad acts of Donald Sterling , why was nothing ever done by David Stern as the NBA Commissioner ? Sterling was fined over $660 million for defrauding a government agency , for not only being a slum landlord , bearing in mind that the idiot city council in Los Angeles allowed the franchise owner to get away with his boorish antics , with a great deal of being chronicled locally and nationally. Yet moronic @$sholes were suggesting that the then NBA Commissioner had his eyes on the prize , in terms of the image of the NBA . Biggest crock of $hit to come sliding down the pike since sh#t became the persona and mantra for the league in general .
Marge Schott and Donald Sterling were cut from the very same cloth and the lack inaction by the NBA and MLB when there were previous prior bad acts , only further emphasizes how out of touch with reality both leagues still happen to be ! Bud Selig was slow to act when Schott’s actions were well known and chronicled and it has been the same with Donald Sterling during the reign of David Stern . but it took the balls of Adam Silver to show that Stern is simply a pompous self-serving @ss !
Ni#ger in the woodpile ? Donald Sterling doesn’t even have a plantation but he probably wished , he had one …….. Read ’em and weep .
tophatal …………………….
Can’t force Sterling to do a damn thing, huh, Al?
I will agree with you on this.
In one, single press conference, Adam Silver made his predecessor look a little soft.
Bye, Felicia.
You raise some interesting points, Bleed, including thoughts of moving the team to Seattle.
Doubt that’ll happen but ya never know.
I mean, L.A. needs one good team in that city, don’t they?
ZING!
I think most people would agree with you on the freedom of speech thing. I think most would also agree that V Stiviano is a money-grubbing whore that most likely set this whole thing up.
But the end result is the league can’t tolerate that kind of behavior from anyone. No one man is above the league.
It jeopardizes the entire brand and (kumbaya moment) everything the game stands for.
So regardless, they did the right thing.
Didn’t they?
D…
I was thinking the other day what would happen if a blatant case of reverse racism hit the NBA.
Or perhaps we should just sue the filmmakers of “White Men Can’t Jump.”
Al…
I have to give the league office credit for acting swiftly in this matter.
I may have to set that Adam Silver press conference to “Never Delete” status on my DVR.
Yeah the league did the right thing…which is shocking. My problem with the whole situation is a few things really. This isn’t the first time he has made questionable remarks, so why now? He should have been banned years ago and it is not only David Sterns fault but that of the other league owners and players who have turned their backs for so long.
I am really troubled by society as we seem to have a selective witch hunt mentality which winds up ruining lives over words or innocuous actions. A ton of knee jerk reactions to some stuff that is quite trivial (not in this case). I am troubled by the thought police and the subsequent mob rule mentality that follows at excoriating people who don’t agree with the masses. I hope none of the people I know find themselves on the wrong side of the majority one day and are torn down because of something that was uttered or how they think. This type of response is more scary to me than random words be spoken and people and society need to be careful in a rush fix everything wrong in the world.
Reverse racism doesn’t exist. It is racism and the white man has not cornered the market by any stretch. Imagine if Dirk Nowitzki said he wanted to play for an all white coach like Chris Paul has apparently mentioned before about a black coach. It needs to be called out across the board or it rings hollow.
Oh and White Men Can’t Jump is hilarious and I am not offended easily.
I don’t think anyone would argue with you on any of those points, D.
Here’s a pretty interesting piece that Kareem wrote for Time Magazine.
http://time.com/79590/donald-sterling-kareem-abdul-jabbar-racism/
And not only that, but Rosie Perez is pretty easy on the eyes in that flick.
I’ll take foods that start with the letter ‘Q’ for $1000 please, Alex.
Ha! Yeah Rosie Perez was awesome in the movie. We going to sizzler, we going to sizzler still cracks me up lol.
D…
My boy from my bar and I still use that line if we make a couple bucks more that night that we would have thought.
Yes, the league did the right thing…But I think it was more to appease public sentiment and potential player boycott than anything else. They had to protect their brand and investment, which is completely understandable because they are a business after all.
Sterling is a piece of shit, that’s never been a secret to us here in LA.
With him out of the picture, the Clips will no longer be the laughing stock.
HE was the cause for them being so bad for so many years.
Not due to his views or his personal feelings toward minorities, but because of his miserly ways on signing players and mismanagement of so many #1 picks.
The man’s legacy now is being branded a racist.
…Prior to that, it was for being the most inept owner running the most inept franchise in the history of professional sports.
Clippers fans should thank their lucky stars he left his wife and caught a case of the Mel Gibson’s with that gold digger. They will now finally get a legit owner who hopefully cares about winning more than stuffing his pockets or who his trophy GF takes selfies with.
My issue is more with words taking on more meaning than actions.
I mean, Latrell Sprewell choked his coach, dragging him across the gym and got less than a seson suspension.
Artest, Jackson and O’Neal physically assualted fans and still played.
This clown didn’t even drop an N-bomb and gets fined 2.5 mil and a lifetime ban basically because his GF recorded thier pillow talk fight and he’s a bigot?
Whatever. The NBA is better off with him gone, but apples to apples, it doesn’t seem like apples to apples.
Actions should always speak louder than words.
There’s definitely a touch of hypocrisy, not to mention a tad more of illegality, involved in this whole thing but the problem is nobody had Sterling’s back, not even his inner circle.
He’s gonna have to resort to buying an island somewhere with the money he has left. Only problem is there’ll be black people on the island.