PHILADELPHIA– When TMZ broke the story of Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling making repuslive racist comments Friday, we found it interesting that Sterling chose to berate his bi-racial ex-girl friend in an audio tape for, among other things, posting an Instagram photo of her with Magic Johnson, telling her to never bring blacks — especially Johnson– to his team’s home games at the Staples Center.
Four days later, after NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million for what he said were “deeply offensive views,” Johnson and Guggenheim Partners are now reportedly interested in buying the franchise, according to Yahoo.com, if the league owners vote to oust Sterling and force him to sell.
Although 75 percent of the players in the NBA are black, there Michael Jordan of the Charlotte Bobcats is the only majority owner who is African American. Johnson, a part-time of the LA Dodgers, would like to become the second.
In order for that to become a possibility, 22 of the 30 NBA would have to vote to expel him. Their reasoning: unethical business practices because his comments have damaged labor relations between the league and the players to a point where they considered boycotting NBA games; and sponsors, who have pulled out of deals with the Clippers.
But despite the fact most of America and the NBA Players Association has been sufficiently outraged over Sterling’s behavior and there will be
significant pressure from influential minority groups to force Sterling to cut his ties with the league, owners may be somewhat gun shy and there could be open debate before they decide to pull the trigger
for fear of an epic legal fight. The 81-year old Sterling, a lawyer, is likely to seek an immediate injunction, based on anti-trust if he feels the league has targeted a specific buyer instead of opening the bidding. Fox News is reporting Sterling said that he will not sell his franchise. Given Sterling’s litigious nature, any court case could last years and there is be the fear among some owners and, as SI.com pointed out, pre-trail discovery could embarrass other owners of any bigoted remarks or beliefs in their part.
If Sterling eventually opts to sell, the asking price could be stiff. The Clippers are reportedly worth $578 million and Sterling could start the bidding at close to $1 billion dollars.
In the meantime, the Clippers and the league are trying to heal from a major black eye. The Clippers posted a message on the home page of its web site that simply said, “We Are One.”
