On Tuesday afternoon NBA commissioner Adam Silver answered questions about his ability to stand firm during times of controversy by banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life from all NBA activities. In addition, he has said he will push to force Sterling to sell the team, invoking broad powers granted to the commissioner in the NBA's constitution.
Adam Silver bans Donald Sterling for life, fines him $2.5 million
For those who aren't caught up, Sterling was recorded on a phone conversation with his girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano making racist comments about her associating with black people, and "bringing them to his games." Sterling has had a number of previous incidents of racism, and they all culminated on Tuesday.
Three quarters of the owners need to approve the measure forcing Sterling to sell, but Silver strongly stated he expects to meet that quota. "I fully expect to get the support I need from the other NBA owners to remove him," Silver said.
V. Stiviano's Instagram pics, FULL STERLING AUDIO here
The Clippers are one of the league's prime clubs in terms of commercial viability as a Los Angeles based team sharing the Staples Center with the Lakers. In January 2014, the Clippers were valued by Forbes at $525 million.
Sterling's racist comments were sparked by Stiviano posting a photo of herself with NBA legend Magic Johnson on her Instagram--ironically, Johnson is now a rumored buyer. Johnson is backed by the Guggenheim Partners, and is a majority owner of MLB's Los Angeles Dodgers. "Magic's absolutely interested," a source close to him told Yahoo! Sports.
Another famous face throwing his hat in the ring is Floyd "Money" Mayweather, the highest-paid athlete in the world for the past two years. "I called Al [Haymon] today about that to see if me, Leonard [Ellerbe] and Al, and hopefully Richard [Schaefer] and a couple of other guys, a couple other of my billionaire guys, we can come together and see what we can come up with," Mayweather said. "Hopefully, we can do it, and it's not just talk."
