The Donald Sterling controversy may have sparked up in the past few days due to his comments about African Americans, but the NBA has allegedly let this go on for much longer. As responsible as Sterling is for his own words and his own misguided views, the NBA has to take some internal responsibility as well.
The NBA allegedly allowed Sterling to get away with incident after incident without as much as a sit down with the league. The epitome of how poorly the NBA has handled Sterling if they did indeed know his views, was the trade of Chris Paul to the Clippers from the then-league owned, New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans). Lee Jenkins has put it best and pulls no punches in his column about David Stern’s role in the Paul trade and Sterling in general.
The Lakers were incredulous that Stern, acting as temporary steward of the New Orleans Pelicans, would capsize the NBA's flagship franchise so he could throw a lifeboat to the bigot, the cheapskate, the miscreant who owned the Clippers. Stern was punishing the club that brought his league nothing but plaudits and riches while rewarding the one that brought nothing but embarrassment and shame. It was like handing a Ferrari to a juvenile delinquent and expecting his behavior to improve.
Sterling was a racist before the Paul trade, and he'd have remained one regardless, but the NBA validated him. They emboldened him. They transported him, in one motion, from the margin of the league to the forefront of it. They provided him a bigger voice, knowing full well the ugliness that could emanate.
In Jenkins' column he calls out the NBA and David Stern for allegedly enabling this racist man for years. He claims instead of punishing him before this controversy, they rewarded him in the form of Chris Paul and a championship caliber team.
Michael Jordan Calls Out Donald Sterling
Donald Sterling maybe a racist and will have to live with that for the rest of his days, but the NBA needs to do some internal investigating of their own. Adam Silver has a prime opportunity to push the NBA in the right direction by hitting this issue head on.
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