Racial Comments Made by the Owner of the Los Angeles Clippers Basketball Team

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About two weeks ago, Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, was found to be making racial comments to one of his mistresses about a picture she posted on a social media network called Instagram. Sterling also has a wife. In this picture was Sterling’s mistress, V. Stiviano, posing with a basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson at a Clippers game. Sterling found out about the picture by somebody calling him and informing him the Stiviano posted it, which infuriated him. Sterling then talked about it with Stiviano in a rage, which she recorded and later released to TMZ. In the recording, Sterling says many racial slurs regarding not only African Americans, but also minorities in general. There were many effects to this tape being brought to light, but the most important is the punishment Sterling received by the NBA commissioner. The NBA commissioner, “Adam Silver detailed Sterling's punishment of a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine -- the "maximum amount" allowed per league guidelines -- at a press conference eight hours before Sterling's Clippers were to tip off in the fifth game of a tightly contested first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors” (www.cnn.com). The harsh punishment Sterling received reflects the strict enforcement that racism in the NBA will not be tolerated.

There are many problems with the comments that Sterling made. The entire NBA is affected, all of the spectators, and the whole nation. The statements that Sterling made are proof that racism is still alive in negligent people. As I listened to the recording, I was blown away at the statements Sterling was making when the majority of the people associated with the Los Angeles Clippers are African American, ...

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...o, Greg, Matt Smith, Jill Martin, Corinna Lamb, Katie Lobosco, Steve Almasy, Paul Vercammen, Caleb Silver, Stephanie Elam, Ralph Ellis, AnneClaire Stapleton, Joe Sutton, Wayne Sterling, and Kevin Dotson. "NBA Commissioner Bans Clippers Owner Sterling, Pushes to 'force a Sale' of Team." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 02 May 2014. .

Golliver, Ben, Chris Paul, and Donald Sterling. "NBA investigating Clippers owner Donald Sterling for alleged racist comments | The Point Forward - SI.com." The Point Forward SIcom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2014. .

Keating, Peter. "Keating: Unhinged life of Donald Sterling." ESPN.com. ESPN, 1 June 2009. Web. 2 May 2014. .

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