Donald Sterling Banned for Life

[14ledo81]

Wow. For once, a debate among mature adults lasted several pages without anyone really going off the deep end. I think that is a win by itself! :beer:   On a side note, has anyone heard the news that Sterling is actually battling prostate cancer? I won't even say anything else. :whistle:

Blake Griffin said his prayers were with him. Interesting. One would think he had a good reason to cheer. Shows how much bigger of a man be is. Able to put the hate behind him.

[jamo]

Wow. For once, a debate among mature adults lasted several pages without anyone really going off the deep end. I think that is a win by itself! :beer:

Blah blah blah Hitler blah blah. :-D

[Golfingdad]

Yea, I also heard that the woman didn't leak the audio and is "saddened and shocked" by the penalty he received and "still thinks of him as a friend"..... Apparently she wasn't offended by what he said. Strange that.

Well, if you consider the fact that she has been with him for awhile, and his racist personality has been public knowledge for even longer, you could deduce that she wouldn't be offended by it.  It's probably a fair assumption that she's heard stuff like this the entire time, yet was OK with it [cough - pathetic gold digger - cough].

Strange yes, but moreso strange that she would even be with, or work with, or whatever, a guy like that in the first place.

[Jeremie Boop]

Well, if you consider the fact that she has been with him for awhile, and his racist personality has been public knowledge for even longer, you could deduce that she wouldn't be offended by it.  It's probably a fair assumption that she's heard stuff like this the entire time, yet was OK with it [cough - pathetic gold digger - cough].

Strange yes, but moreso strange that she would even be with, or work with, or whatever, a guy like that in the first place.

Or maybe, for the sake of argument, he wasn't as bad as it would seem. Perhaps he had moments or times where he made inappropriate comments or whatnot, but on the whole was basically pretty much "normal"? To be honest, we'll never know the whole truth about what kind of guy he was on a day to day basis. There are plenty of people who say spiteful/mean things much worse that what has been reported about this guy, but are generally good people. I'd hate to be judged on some of the things I've said in the past when I was upset, people would think I was a monster too. However, this is the risk people who are rich and famous run, you only hear about the "great" or "horrible" things they do.

[Spyder]

Well, if you consider the fact that she has been with him for awhile, and his racist personality has been public knowledge for even longer, you could deduce that she wouldn't be offended by it.  It's probably a fair assumption that she's heard stuff like this the entire time, yet was OK with it [cough - pathetic gold digger - cough].

Strange yes, but moreso strange that she would even be with, or work with, or whatever, a guy like that in the first place.

Eh, I think he did the work and she cashed the checks if you know what I mean.

[Golfingdad]

Or maybe, for the sake of argument, he wasn't as bad as it would seem. Perhaps he had moments or times where he made inappropriate comments or whatnot, but on the whole was basically pretty much "normal"? To be honest, we'll never know the whole truth about what kind of guy he was on a day to day basis. There are plenty of people who say spiteful/mean things much worse that what has been reported about this guy, but are generally good people. I'd hate to be judged on some of the things I've said in the past when I was upset, people would think I was a monster too. However, this is the risk people who are rich and famous run, you only hear about the "great" or "horrible" things they do.

I agree with everything you said here, except about the possibility that it could apply to Sterling.  So since it sounds like you don't have all of the backstory, here is a quick rundown of the things he's done or at least been accused of in the past (not counting the comments from last week):

• When Elgin Baylor suggested he interview a black coach for a vacancy one time, he responded with "Personally, I would like to have a white southern coach coaching poor black players."
• He was sued in 2003 for refusing to rent his apartments to blacks and latinos
• He bought an apartment building, noticed it smelled bad, and said "that's becaue of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean."
• He used to pay a woman for sex because "when you pay a woman for sex, you are not together with her ... you're paying her for a few moments to use her body for sex."
• He said to Rollie Massimino during a job interview that "I wanna know why you think you can coach these n****'s."
• He has had multiple players complain that he would bring women into the locker room after games while the players were showering and say things like "look at those beautiful black bodies."

So, yeah, while I totally agree that it isn't fair to judge people off of offhand remarks here or there without knowing context and stuff like that ... Sterling doesn't really fall into that category.  He has a pretty solid racist/sexist body of work.

[Jeremie Boop]

I agree with everything you said here, except about the possibility that it could apply to Sterling.  So since it sounds like you don't have all of the backstory, here is a quick rundown of the things he's done or at least been accused of in the past (not counting the comments from last week):

When Elgin Baylor suggested he interview a black coach for a vacancy one time, he responded with "Personally, I would like to have a white southern coach coaching poor black players." Yet he still hired a black coach... Not saying this comment isn't wrong though.

He was sued in 2003 for refusing to rent his apartments to blacks and latinos  <---- This would be more of a prejudice than straight up racism. Though I see your point.

He bought an apartment building, noticed it smelled bad, and said "that's becaue of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean." <--- this is old school thinking, my grandmother is 85 and thinks the same way. She doesn't dislike blacks though, she's just got this misconception of them. Definitely offensive though.

He used to pay a woman for sex because "when you pay a woman for sex, you are not together with her ... you're paying her for a few moments to use her body for sex." <-- this is a fact, not racist/sexist, because that's exactly what you are doing. Unless you are saying that paying for sex is sexist/racist in some way

He has had multiple players complain that he would bring women into the locker room after games while the players were showering and say things like "look at those beautiful black bodies." <-- not racist, in fact would seem the exact opposite of it because it's admiration

So, yeah, while I totally agree that it isn't fair to judge people off of offhand remarks here or there without knowing context and stuff like that ... Sterling doesn't really fall into that category.  He has a pretty solid racist/sexist body of work.

It could just be my personal feelings getting in the way here, because if I were to judge my grandparents (who are the same age as this man) by some of these same types of thinking they would be viewed as horrible people. My grandfather refuses to watch most sports because they are dominated by black athletes, but at the same time I was told he whooped my uncle as a kid for calling a black person the N word and won't tolerate people talking bad about them. As stated above, my grandmother believes that black people make houses smell bad but she has never said bad things about them other than that. Though she does hold to the belief that interracial relationships are bad, she does not speak bad about my fiance whose mexican american or my niece's boyfriend who's black. A lot of people have certain prejudices that they have learned from family/friends/or personal experiences. Some have been able to get over them others haven't.

I try to stay objective when it comes to conversations like this, but I think it's sounding more like I'm defending racism..... Hopefully that's not what everyone thinks.

[newtogolf]

Blake Griffin said his prayers were with him. Interesting. One would think he had a good reason to cheer. Shows how much bigger of a man be is. Able to put the hate behind him.

I don't wish cancer on anyone, no matter how ignorant they are.  I think Blake is a classy guy and taking this path will earn him a lot of good will and respect.

[Gunther]

I don't wish cancer on anyone, no matter how ignorant they are.  I think Blake is a classy guy and taking this path will earn him a lot of good will and respect.

True dat.

[Golfingdad]

It could just be my personal feelings getting in the way here, because if I were to judge my grandparents (who are the same age as this man) by some of these same types of thinking they would be viewed as horrible people. My grandfather refuses to watch most sports because they are dominated by black athletes, but at the same time I was told he whooped my uncle as a kid for calling a black person the N word and won't tolerate people talking bad about them. As stated above, my grandmother believes that black people make houses smell bad but she has never said bad things about them other than that. Though she does hold to the belief that interracial relationships are bad, she does not speak bad about my fiance whose mexican american or my niece's boyfriend who's black. A lot of people have certain prejudices that they have learned from family/friends/or personal experiences. Some have been able to get over them others haven't.

I try to stay objective when it comes to conversations like this, but I think it's sounding more like I'm defending racism..... Hopefully that's not what everyone thinks.

Sure, I agree ... all prejudices are learned.  The difference is, though, that your Grandma doesn't own an NBA team.  Nobody is suggesting Sterling should be in jail, or anything like that, for his views, but he just shouldn't own an NBA team.

However I disagree with your statement about my last comment.  Because if you combine that statement (about the beautiful black bodies) with the statement to Elgin Baylor about the Southern white coach and the poor black players, it sounds very much like he treats, or wishes he could treat, the Clippers like his very own plantation, and the players like his best slaves.  That's why that comes across as racist (really, really, racist, in fact) to me.

Oh, and I'm not 100% sure about the paying for sex thing.  I think that it was pointed out in the articles because it was a friend or a mistress he was paying JUST so he could have sex and not worry about anything else.  Not a prostitute.  But I don't actually know, and the last article didn't elaborate.

I don't wish cancer on anyone, no matter how ignorant they are.  I think Blake is a classy guy and taking this path will earn him a lot of good will and respect.

Me neither.  I completely agree.

[Spyder]

I don't wish cancer on anyone, no matter how ignorant they are.  I think Blake is a classy guy and taking this path will earn him a lot of good will and respect.

Agreed, 100%. I did anticipate some people referencing "karma" and what not though, so that's why I did not elaborate. Anyone who thinks he deserves to suffer in this manner based on what he said, or his beliefs, definitely has some issues.

[Jeremie Boop]

Sure, I agree ... all prejudices are learned.  The difference is, though, that your Grandma doesn't own an NBA team.  Nobody is suggesting Sterling should be in jail, or anything like that, for his views, but he just shouldn't own an NBA team.

However I disagree with your statement about my last comment.  Because if you combine that statement (about the beautiful black bodies) with the statement to Elgin Baylor about the Southern white coach and the poor black players, it sounds very much like he treats, or wishes he could treat, the Clippers like his very own plantation, and the players like his best slaves.  That's why that comes across as racist (really, really, racist, in fact) to me.

Oh, and I'm not 100% sure about the paying for sex thing.  I think that it was pointed out in the articles because it was a friend or a mistress he was paying JUST so he could have sex and not worry about anything else.  Not a prostitute.  But I don't actually know, and the last article didn't elaborate.

Not sure why it matters whether he should own a team or not unless it directly effected the choices he made. I mean, sure if he refused to hire a coach based on race that'd definitely be grounds to say he can't own the team. As for the women being taken to see the guys in the shower, I saw that as more of a situation where he was like "think of them while you do me" type thing, though I can see where you are coming from also. The paying for sex thing I just don't think really has any bearing on the conversation as far as racism goes. Though I seem to remember a quote "You don't pay a prostitute for sex, you pay her to leave after the sex" or something similar.

[Golfingdad]

Not sure why it matters whether he should own a team or not unless it directly effected the choices he made. I mean, sure if he refused to hire a coach based on race that'd definitely be grounds to say he can't own the team. As for the women being taken to see the guys in the shower, I saw that as more of a situation where he was like "think of them while you do me" type thing, though I can see where you are coming from also. The paying for sex thing I just don't think really has any bearing on the conversation as far as racism goes. Though I seem to remember a quote "You don't pay a prostitute for sex, you pay her to leave after the sex" or something similar.

No, it's "I don't pay you to talk, I pay you to leave."

But, yes, it does complicate things (for the other owners) when they say, supposedly, that Sterling has had a better record than most (or all, not sure) of them when it comes to hiring minorities.

[Dave2512]

Bigotry is such an odd thing. I know people that are probably appalled by this Sterling thing but likely wouldn't even catch it if they said something disparaging about someone else based on their religion, lack of it or sexual orientation. Might even being as subtle as referring to someone as "those" people.

[newtogolf]

No, it's "I don't pay you to talk, I pay you to leave."

But, yes, it does complicate things (for the other owners) when they say, supposedly, that Sterling has had a better record than most (or all, not sure) of them when it comes to hiring minorities.

One thing that we might have failed to consider is that Sterling wasn't as racist as his comments indicated.  Based on the comments I saw he made, they'd indicate that his friends or acquaintances were racist and gave him a hard time when his girlfriend took pictures of herself with minorities.

[albatross]

Sterling has a history with this stuff. Not a one time situation.

[newtogolf]

Sterling's girlfriend admitted to recording him without his knowledge because she was considering quitting her job with him and wanted to have leverage to protect herself.  "Somehow" her friend got a copy of the recording and sold it to TMZ.   She's a parasite and so are her friends, the new cars and jewelry weren't enough so she recorded him making racial comments so she could extort him for more, but her friend beat her to the money.

None of this makes what Sterling said right, but it does concern me that these recordings were allowed to be aired and used against him without his consent.  This case is no longer about Sterling, as he's not defendable but it is about one's expectations to rights of privacy.

If one can't expect privacy even in their own home, then I think we've really lost the guiding principles of what our founding fathers gave their lives for and our military risk their lives to preserve.  This combined with PA's Supreme court decision which states that police officers no longer require a warrant to search a vehicle that is stopped and immigration check points that are 50 miles from US borders are just additional steps in us having no more freedom than those in communist countries.

[prooneday]

Good riddance