April 25, 2014.
That is a date that will hold a strong meaning in NBA
history, and even sports history from now on. On this day, TMZ leaked the audio
of a phone conversation of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his
alleged girlfriend V. Stiviano (She does not have the official label as
“girlfriend” as her lawyer Mac Nehoray has said "Neither
Ms. Stiviano, nor this office has ever alleged that Ms. Stiviano is, or ever
was, Mr. Sterling's girlfriend,"). The tape is also being investigated to
make sure the man’s voice is indeed Donald Sterling’s voice and is unaltered.
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| Donald Sterling (left) watches a game with "girlfriend" V. Stiviano (right) |
Sterling is heard to have a personal quarrel with
Stiviano because of a picture she posted on her instagram alongside former Los
Angeles Lakers legend and current Los Angeles Dodgers owner Magic Johnson, who
himself is African American. In short, Sterling told Stiviano that he did not
want her publicizing her friendships with black people and also asked her not
to bring them to his (Los Angeles Clippers’) games. He also repeatedly contradicted
himself and said he was not a racist, but then went on went additional racist
comments. He claimed to be following the order of society.
To many followers of the NBA, it was not really
breaking news. Sterling has had a history of discrimination cases, including
race and gender discrimination.
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Sterling for
housing discrimination in using race as a factor in filling some of his
apartment buildings.
In 2009, Sterling paid a settlement fine of 2.73
million dollars to settle claims that he engaged in discriminatory rental
practices against Hispanics, blacks, and families with children. He also paid
close to 5 million dollars in attorney fees for that incident.
In February 2009, Sterling was sued by his
former longtime executive Elgin Baylor, for employment discrimination on the basis of age and
race. Baylor said that he (Sterling) wanted to fill his team with "poor
black boys from the South and a white head coach". He also was accused of
telling a black player "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid"
during contract negotiations. This lawsuit also said that Sterling had paid a
white coach 4 years, 22 million dollars while Elgin Baylor, a black man, had
his salary fixed at 350,000.
Most recently, Sterling was involved with the
incident highlighted in the beginning of the story.
Stiviano’s attorney also said in a statement that
Stiviano "did not release the tape to any news media.” Stiviano is facing
a lawsuit from the Sterling family for leaking that conversation as it is
against the law to do so in California. Stiviano has also been facing a lawuit
from Sterling’s estranged wife, Rochelle Sterling since March, with Rochelle
claiming that Stiviano is in the relationship for the money. Clippers president
Andy Roesen also said that Stiviano "told Mr. Sterling that
she would 'get even'" with him.
The reactions regarding this incident have been
swift and strong.
LeBron James has said "There
is no room for Donald Sterling in our league. There's just no room for
him."
President Obama said “When
ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t do really have to
do anything. You just let them talk."
Doc Rivers said "it
upsets me and upsets this team." He also added, "JJ Redick was just
pissed as Chris Paul,” to show that all races were offended by Sterling’s
comments, not just the African American community.
Magic Johnson, who was the man initially
targeted in this discussion said “I will never go to a Clippers game again as
long as Donald Sterling is the owner.” He also added, “LA Clippers owner Donald
Sterling's comments about African Americans are a black eye for the NBA.”
Kobe Bryant said “I couldn't play for him”
Baron Davis, who played under Sterling previously,
said “That's the way it is...He is honest about what he believes in..Been going
on for a long time, Hats off 2 the Team.. 4 playin above it all.”
In Game 4, the game following these comments,
the Clippers players all took off their warm up jackets and dumped them at half
court while warming up with their shirts inside out, hiding the Clippers logo.
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| Clippers turn there warmup gear inside out to hide the logo and dump there jackets at mid-court |
Tonight, April 28, there will be a conference
call with all the player reps in the NBA regarding this incident. Commissioner
Adam Silver is expected to make a decision prior to Game 5 tomorrow night, back
in LA.
If the voice is indeed Sterling’s, which most
believe it is, a suspension and fine seems almost automatic. Harsher
consequences could follow, although it should be clear to all that nobody can
literally “make” Sterling sell the team. Yesterday, Jeff Van Gundy brought up
possibly making all LA Clippers, players and coaches, free agents at the end of
the season. He said it would be unfair to make them honor their contract to
that man.
Overall, this is a very serious issue that
needs to be addressed quickly and if all allegations are true, there needs to
be the harshest punishments put down on Sterling and fans should make the
effort to make there displeasure visual (although not showing up to playoff
games would be a disservice to the players, they could show up in all black or
something and boycott next season if Sterling is the owner).
Black people should not be the only ones
offended by these comments. White people, Asians, and any person in general
that believes in equality of all humans should find this very, VERY disturbing
and unacceptable. This is something that, if not handled properly, could
escalate from being an NBA issue to a issue in general society. Some may argue
it already has. As Golden State Warriors coach said, Sterling’s comments were
not just directed to the black people on the Clippers, It was ALL black people
and even minorities in general. There have been too many sacrifices by former
Civil Rights leaders to eliminate this kind of behavior and it should not be tolerated.
If there is one positive to draw from this situation, it is how these comments
have disgusted white people just as much as they have black people. Mavericks
owner was quoted on saying the comments were just “disgusting”.
Now people of
all races need to unite to ensure that justice is served.
Below are the full audio recording of Sterling's phone call:
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