He is free to think and say what he wants to think and say. That right remains unabridged. Nobody is prosecuting him, or even accusing him of a crime.

 

The U.S. Constitution guarantees the bolded text above, but it does not protect him from punitive actions by his peers or business partners for what he says. It just protects his freedom.

 

Also, don't forget that there is a pattern of behavior here.

 

Sterling paid $16 million for the Clippers. If he sells, he may get close to a billion. I'm struggling to see the punishment here.

And this fool thinks I talk too much politics......

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.







 

And this fool thinks I talk too much politics......

 

And what did rj say that was so "political"? Feelings hurt?

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The sun's not yellow, it's chicken.

And this fool thinks I talk too much politics......

 

And what did rj say that was so "political"? Feelings hurt?

 

That's just Dakota, staying in his world, and this is me, staying in mine.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley


 

I find this to be really interesting for a few reasons.

 

First, if you dont like a group of people but dont treat them any differently, are you still a racist?  Obviously Sterling has a reputation outside of basketball but just for a moment, lets look at only his career with the Clippers.  As others have pointed out, he has hired more black head coaches than many/most other teams.  He had a black GM for 20+ years.  Has hired a number of black executives.  And as far as we can tell has paid fair market value for his players and has probably overpaid for some as well.  So from a business point of view, while he may personally dislike black people, you could argue he hasnt discriminated against them.  So I ask philosophically, if you dont like a group of people, but still treat them equally, are you still a racist?  And if yes, is being racist a crime based on that example?  Is it even an offense? 

 

Second, I find the ownership side of this interesting as well.  Sterling "owns" the Clippers but clearly only has as many rights as the other owners and the board allows.  And as has been reported, the owners will have the ability to vote him out of his "ownership" of the Clips.  How far can the owners take this power?  Lets say hypothetically Mark Cuban creates the best executive team which hires the best set of players and they run off 6 straight titles... and not to mention he rubs all the other owners the wrong way.  Can they collectively get together and vote him out just because they dont like him?  By what definition can you vote someone out?  I've read the owners could argue that Sterling will negatively impact their business.  Do they have to prove that?  And if so in what way?  You could argue that some players may boycott although how do you prove that?  And even if they did how long would a boycott once their paychecks quit hitting the bank?  The Clippers may lose some sponsorship deals but how would that impact other teams?   Maybe they could argue the NBA would lose sponsorships.  But there are a lot of "ifs" and "scenarios" in there.  Seems like that would be difficult to prove.  I've also read the owners have some kind of morality clause but who defines that?  There are have been a lot of comments/actions(as youll see in the below link) that seem just as, if not moreso, offensive as what Sterling said.  So is "morality" as the NBA defines it based on nothing more than what draws the most negative attention?  So in essence there is no morality clause?

 

Funny, but telling, article on what gets you banned in the NBA and more importantly what doesnt.  I've always enjoyed the story of teammates pulling guns on each other in the locker room.

 

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sport...by-the-NBA

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________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

Wow...........

 

Sterling has been known to underpay his players, coaches see Mike Dunleavy Sr.

 

HOF Elgin Baylor who worked for Sterling as GM has filed a lawsuit against Sterling alleging unfair labor practices, discrimination, etc.

 

Sterling was causing damage to the league with sponsors such as Carmax, and State Farm pulling their sponsorship advertising out of Staples Center.

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Whether someone has a liberal, or conservative viewpoint, a authoritative figure should not lock a thread for the sole purpose to get the last word in all the while prohibiting someone else from being able to respond.

Wow...........

 

Sterling has been known to underpay his players, coaches see Mike Dunleavy Sr.

 

HOF Elgin Baylor who worked for Sterling as GM has filed a lawsuit against Sterling alleging unfair labor practices, discrimination, etc.

 

Sterling was causing damage to the league with sponsors such as Carmax, and State Farm pulling their sponsorship advertising out of Staples Center.

 

Isnt Mike Dunleavy white?  No one wil deny that Sterling has been a lousy/cheap owner that has always been willing to hire underqualifed or less talented individuals so he could pay them less.  But there is a huge difference between that and choosing to pay someone less because of nothing more than their race.  If you are equally underpaying a position, no matter white or black, because you want to hire the less qualifed, aka cheaper candidate, that isnt discrimination.  It what the Pittsburgh Pirate owner did for years.

 

As far as Baylor, he was the GM for 20+ years and after getting let go, he claimed it was based on his race and his age.  After 20+ years!  The race claim was eventually dropped because it was too preposterous to win in court.  Eventually Baylor lost the age claim which he might have had an argument for.

 

Clearly Sterling has said a number of racist things.  And obviously he is a lousy human being that also treats women like crap.  But I haven't read anything where he openly discriminated against his black Clippers' employees.  Maybe he has and I just havent read them.  But I havent seen anything where he didnt hire a guy just because he was black, or hire a less qualifed white person just because they were white, or paid a white person more than a black person even though they were doing the same job... etc...some kind of overt discrimination.  If anything he seems to hire more black people than others and in situations where he didnt necessarily have to.  Maybe thats all based on some sort of crazy twisted "black ownership" thing he has going on... but then again if you're Baylor, why spend 20+ years working for a guy like that.

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________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

Isnt Mike Dunleavy white?  No one wil deny that Sterling has been a lousy/cheap owner that has always been willing to hire underqualifed or less talented individuals so he could pay them less.  But there is a huge difference between that and choosing to pay someone less because of nothing more than their race.  If you are equally underpaying a position, no matter white or black, because you want to hire the less qualifed, aka cheaper candidate, that isnt discrimination.  It what the Pittsburgh Pirate owner did for years.

 

As far as Baylor, he was the GM for 20+ years and after getting let go, he claimed it was based on his race and his age.  After 20+ years!  The race claim was eventually dropped because it was too preposterous to win in court.  Eventually Baylor lost the age claim which he might have had an argument for.

 

Clearly Sterling has said a number of racist things.  And obviously he is a lousy human being that also treats women like crap.  But I haven't read anything where he openly discriminated against his black Clippers' employees.  Maybe he has and I just havent read them.  But I havent seen anything where he didnt hire a guy just because he was black, or hire a less qualifed white person just because they were white, or paid a white person more than a black person even though they were doing the same job... etc...some kind of overt discrimination.  If anything he seems to hire more black people than others and in situations where he didnt necessarily have to.  Maybe thats all based on some sort of crazy twisted "black ownership" thing he has going on... but then again if you're Baylor, why spend 20+ years working for a guy like that.

 

Thoughtcrime in my NBA?

 

Its more likely than you think!

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/abdul-jabbar-taped-sterling-prison-article-1.1775937'>http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/abdul-jabbar-taped-sterling-prison-article-1.1775937</a>




“And now,” writes Abdul-Jabbar in Time, “the poor guy’s girlfriend (undoubtedly ex-girlfriend by now) is on tape cajoling him into revealing his racism. Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out.

“She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.”


Interesting take on the subject.

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/abdul-jabbar-taped-sterling-prison-article-1.1775937'>http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/abdul-jabbar-taped-sterling-prison-article-1.1775937</a>




“And now,” writes Abdul-Jabbar in Time, “the poor guy’s girlfriend (undoubtedly ex-girlfriend by now) is on tape cajoling him into revealing his racism. Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out.

“She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.”


Interesting take on the subject.

It's true, she is a gold digging fool. She's just as bad as Sterling is in my book. Sterling has stated these things before, and she knew it. She poked and prodded to get what she wanted out of him so she could produce this mess.

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TravC59, aka JacksJags. @TravC59 on Twitter
;
; "This is really good, you want a bite, Honey?"

Does anyone besides me find it funny the league is kicking him out of their club then asking him to pay a $2.5 million fine? I'm like, "hey if I'm not in your league I'm not paying!"

 

Regards..................the Chiefjag

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Does anyone besides me find it funny the league is kicking him out of their club then asking him to pay a $2.5 million fine? I'm like, "hey if I'm not in your league I'm not paying!"

 

Regards..................the Chiefjag

I hadn't thought of it like that...but you're right!!!

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???