With stunning ignorance, Donald Sterling, in a interview with Cooper Anderson, continued to dig himself from a hole into a crater.
In this surreal interview, LA Clipper combative owner (hopefully soon to be ex-owner) appeared to have sealed his fate.
Scandal's Olivia Pope -- played by Kerry Washington -- the ultimate "fixer" could not rescue Sterling from the predicament created by his mouth.
Sterling -- with a strange fixation -- on Magic Johnson:
“He acts so holy. He made love to every girl in every city in America, and he got AIDS,” said Sterling. “I didn’t criticize him. I could have. Is he an example to those children?”
Later, Sterling returned to the subject of Johnson, asking Cooper: “What has he done?”
When Cooper attempted to answer that Johnson is a business person, Sterling interjected: “He’s got AIDS…I think he should be ashamed of himself. I think he should go in the background.”
Sterling seemed to believe that Johnson’s race had something to do with his inability to give back to the community. (For the record, Johnson has a Magic Johnson Foundation that has given millions back to the community.)
“Jews, when they get successful, they will help their people,” said Sterling. “Some of the African Americans, they don’t want to help anyone.” source
This blathering drivel was intended to restore his image and demonstrate contrition. Sterling wanted forgiveness and redemption.
He failed miserably.
On the contrary, Mr. Sterling, unequivocally -- with numerous Freudian slips -- revealed the dark ugly world of his subconscious mind. He dwells in a Racist's Paradise. A place where one hold's strong racist views, yet insists they are not a bigot.
Once again, let's hope the NBA continues to move with swiftness to unburden the fan base with this drama.
Is he delusional? Does he suffer from some sort of dementia? These are serious questions. The man presents himself in moments as if he's a typical racist SOB, yet in others like he's a rambling old man who's losing his grip on reality. No doubt he can be both. But the nonsense overall is painting a bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteJust look at his Magic tirades minus the race-based stuff. Dafuq is he even babbling about? He isn't very coherent at all.
To NBA fans and players and anti-Sterling people everywhere, I advise a bit of caution here henceforth. The man was given the largest fine allowable, and is banned from the league for life, and there will be a vote that will most likely see him lose his team. Measures I agree with, and measures I think are more than enough given his crime and given the fact that Silver stated unequivocally that Sterling's past was not a factor.
Let that be enough. Why is it not enough? Seriously. To the Stephen A. Smiths and LeBron James' of the world, be very, very careful in your demanding of no relation owning the team and a public vote that must be 100% unanimous lest players strike and fans boycott. This is an incredibly slippery slope being created. Some want it to turn into mob rule, where justice is dictated solely by the crowd's sentiments and not the actual crime.
One finding him or herself in a position to control fate speaks volumes about the society one wishes to inhabit. We're barely past the days where anything anti-God would have received similar punishment; and before anyone points out that the comparisons are not the same, there are over 2 billion Christians who hold God to be far more important than race relations in America. Yet we've evolved past the "death penalty" for such slights, even though there are still many rabid followers who demand such.
If an owner, an atheist for example, fears similar reprisal if he's ever caught offending Christians, then I can see him hesitating to vote Sterling out. More people exist in this world with fears and feelings than just those slighted at this particular moment. To demand voting happen immediately, be public, and be unanimous, on fear of consequences, is extortion -- and has nothing to do with Sterling but rather some people believing their taste for blood demands more respect than everyone else's sense of justice.
@Josh...well stated and I agree with the after-the-fact mob mentality. IMHO, let the NBA and due process handle Mr. Sterling. All these Johnny come lately fanning a fire are just publicly venting or putting on a show (Stephen A).
ReplyDeleteAs far as the players (LBJ), I believe they have more of a vested interest (players union) to demand a non-hostile work place. A work place free of hate speech...rather the person is delusional or suffering from dementia -- which also, sadly, would render said person to be unfit for ownership.
We have been down this road before and haven't slip down a slope:
1. Leonard Tose -- ex-owner of my dear Eagles was force to sell because of drinking and gambling.
2. Marge Schott -- ex-owner of the Cincinnati Reds was force to sell by the MLB because of anti-Semitic and racist statements -- she praised Hitler although she said he eventually went to far.
3. Frank McCourt -- ex- LA Dodger owner was forced to sell because of his financial misdeeds and messy divorce. Although his divorced wife wanted to retain ownership, MLB said hell no.
This is just three examples -- here is a link to other examples going as far back as 1909 http://extramustard.si.com/2013/07/29/getting-owned-10-sports-team-owners-who-were-suspended-banned-or-forced-to-sell/2/
Owning a pro-franchise is a privilege not a right. Hence, this small fraternity of wealthy men and women sign constitutionally binding by-law agreement. Breaching an agreement to not harm the brand or jeopardize revenue (LA Clippers lost several huge endorsements) will force other owners to gather and vote on the future ownership by said person.
I don't really disagree with what you're saying, but we're also in a completely different society than ever before. Twitter, Facebook, TMZ, 24-hour media on a wide range of networks and websites -- something could easily turn into a pressure-cooker situation where offenses less severe could force the hand of some leagues and some workplaces.
DeleteI don't disagree whatsoever with the right of people to hire and fire whomsoever they wish, for whatsoever reasons chosen, in a private workplace. Like with the Mozilla guy who was fired for simply...well, being on the wrong side of the populous; that's kinda scary when you break it down. It's their right to do so, but scary. It's simply shifted. No doubt a few decades ago it would have worked the other way. Balance is more of what's needed in society, IMO, not just a single side more heavily weighted depending on which way the winds blow.
And on a more tragic note: The Clippers lost more than endorsements. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but watching the series against OKC, it appears as if the fix was in. Perhaps burying the Clippers buries Sterling; maybe the Clippers advancing embarrasses the league. I'm not sure. But never in my entire life have I witnessed such horrifically one-sided officiating. Never. And I'm a Celtics fan who witnessed the garbage in '10 when Boston went to LA via the Lakers and the horde of ghost fouls that sent Kobe to the line repeatedly.
Maybe it's just subconscious with the officials. Though after watching the games and breaking them down, the Clippers were hosed habitually and quite blatantly. I cringe to watch those calls. The team deserved far better.