The Basketball Thread

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Sterling is a racist but his racist actions from before were much worse than racist comments and the NBA did nothing. Silver did the right thing now though but I get the point about the media circus blowing things up.

Refusing to rent apartments to black people-No punishment

Saying he didn't want his girlfriend to post pics of black people on Instagram-Lifetime ban.

I hope Oklahoma City go out only so Scott Brooks can finally be fired. He is a disaster of a manager. I also think they have to trade Westbrook. He's a great player, but he takes too much of the ball off of Durant. Trade him and get a couple of a pass-first point guard, a 2 that can stretch the floor, and a centre that doesn't suck (Perkins does) and they will win..

[Nike 373]

It's not just words though that can be dismissed; these are the views of a billionaire with far-reaching influence who also owns a professional sports team in a league where the majority of players are Black. So what if he's old? He should be excused? And he's not 'probably' a racist, he is. Why you're giving him the benefit of the doubt and deflecting from the wider issue is baffling.

Silver said yesterday that his previous transgressions were settled out of court and as such there was no admission of guilt. The NBA is absolutely right to take action now.

AA is nothing compared to white privilege.

Old people talk a lot of gibberish. Especially, when your 80 years old. He shouldn't be excuse, however, people really should understand the situation better.

You don't understand the other issues with this case. THe NBA knew of Sterling racial tendencies prior to this leak, the NBA never did anything though. It was until the sponsors started leaving that SIlver did something and slammed the hammer. The NBA primary concern was money, not ethics. ethics is always second to money in professional sports. THat is the wider issue of this case, not sterling racist comments, the fact that NBA never did anything even though they had court cases against Sterling.

So, when Jim Brown says Kobe isnt black or when that Jalen Rose calls Grant Hill an uncle tom that is not vilified? That's racism right there. Why did we not ban Jim brown from the nfl or jalen rose from the nba or espn.

LOL at white privilege. Excuses made by minorites (guess what, i'm not white).

[Nike 373]

Sterling is a racist but his racist actions from before were much worse than racist comments and the NBA did nothing. Silver did the right thing now though but I get the point about the media circus blowing things up.

Refusing to rent apartments to black people-No punishment

Saying he didn't want his girlfriend to post pics of black people on Instagram-Lifetime ban.

I hope Oklahoma City go out only so Scott Brooks can finally be fired. He is a disaster of a manager. I also think they have to trade Westbrook. He's a great player, but he takes too much of the ball off of Durant. Trade him and get a couple of a pass-first point guard, a 2 that can stretch the floor, and a centre that doesn't suck (Perkins does) and they will win..

Exactly. these people on the board don't really know the situation.

Social media really has destroy privacy in the states.

In regards to OKC, I think one of them leaves eventually. I can see Westbrook leaving for bright lights and fancy cars first though...

[Styles 9,790]

Old people talk a lot of gibberish. Especially, when your 80 years old. He shouldn't be excuse, however, people really should understand the situation better.

You don't understand the other issues with this case. THe NBA knew of Sterling racial tendencies prior to this leak, the NBA never did anything though. It was until the sponsors started leaving that SIlver did something and slammed the hammer. The NBA primary concern was money, not ethics. ethics is always second to money in professional sports. THat is the wider issue of this case, not sterling racist comments, the fact that NBA never did anything even though they had court cases against Sterling.

So, when Jim Brown says Kobe isnt black or when that Jalen Rose calls Grant Hill an uncle tom that is not vilified? That's racism right there. Why did we not ban Jim brown from the nfl or jalen rose from the nba or espn.

LOL at white privilege. Excuses made by minorites (guess what, i'm not white).

This kind of rhetoric confirms to me there really is no point in discussing things further with you. You haven't stopped deflecting from the issue at hand from the beginning and keep making excuses for a racist. You have literally tried everything; he's old and senile, he was racist before so why the big deal now, he was tricked into exposing his views, everybody's racist (!) and finally "what about blacks being racist?"

What state are you from?

[Nike 373]

This kind of rhetoric confirms to me there really is no point in discussing things further with you. You haven't stopped deflecting from the issue at hand from the beginning and keep making excuses for a racist. You have literally tried everything; he's old and senile, he was racist before so why the big deal now, he was tricked into exposing his views, everybody's racist (!) and finally "what about blacks being racist?"

What state are you from?

If the NBA did this a long time ago, I would have absolutely no problem with it.

The fact Silver did it now, I have a lot of problem with it and everything that goes along with it. Also, the incident itself is bothersome. A gold digger blackmail him and she made the tape public. This wasn't a mistake, it was a planned scheme to blackmail him. If your girl took one thing you said to her and told all your potential employers, girlfriends, families, friends, etc something you said in private for defamation, you would understand the situation. She didn't do this to stop racism, she did this to blackmail him.

Also, not just black athletes, but athletes in general that commit vices of the world are not banned though. Like I said, it all stems down to money. When the nfl, mlb and nba employs wife beaters, pimps, alcoholics, drug users, murderers, etc doing a permanent ban on racism, but not for other things doesnt make sense at all.

En Fuego

George Diaz and his blog

Don Sterling racist outrage reeks of hypocrisy

George Diaz | En FuegoOrlando Sentinel

11:41 p.m. EDT, April 28, 2014

• Can the NBA force out Clippers owner Sterling?

Is the hypocritical blame train full yet on this messy Don Sterling racist controversy?

David Stern? Check. Fellow owners in the NBA? Yes, sir. NAACP? Yep. An A-list of NBA superstars, including Michael Jordan and LeBron James? Sure thing. Every Los Angeles Clippers player who accepted a dime from this racist clown? Done deal.

We’re full it seems. We’re down to standing room only.

Sports Illustrated's senior writer, Chris Mannix discusses the possible unprecedented sanctions that could be handed down by NBA commissioner Adam Silver to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his alleged comments.

Sterling has a long and troubled history when it comes to racial diversity. He’s against it, obviously. It’s been thoroughly documented over the years. There are federal and employment discrimination lawsuits, coupled with the pièce de résistance attributed to Sterling: “Black tenants smell and attract vermin.”

What’s appalling is that no one seemed to care for all these years until Tmz.com got involved and leaked a recording of a man they’ve indentified as Sterling having an animated conversation with his girlfriend (not wife, since Sterling, besides the racist thing, fits the description of a rich old fart trolling for much younger babes because he can provide some nice “incentives.”).

I’ll step aside now and let Kareem Abdul-Jabbar articulate my feelings. He nails it on this one. Big time.

“What bothers me about this whole Donald Sterling affair isn’t just his racism,” he wrote in an op-ed piece for Time. “I’m bothered that everyone acts as if it’s a huge surprise. Now there’s all this dramatic and very public rending of clothing about whether they should keep their expensive Clippers season tickets. Really? All this other stuff I listed above has been going on for years and this ridiculous conversation with his girlfriend is what puts you over the edge? That’s the smoking gun?

“He was discriminating against black and Hispanic families for years, preventing them from getting housing. It was public record. We did nothing. Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?”

Exactly.

I think I’m going to vomit if I read one more “passionate” cry from people willing to throw Sterling under the bus, when they didn’t have the guts to do it years ago.

Special kudos go out to Stern, the former NBA commissioner who was always quick to curtly dismiss anyone who criticized him. Sterling either played Stern like a fool (doubt it) or Stern chose to look the other way because for years, the Clippers were an irrelevant franchise and frankly, nobody cared.

And we would be remiss not to include a shout-out to the clowns at the NAACP, who were going to give Sterling a lifetime achievement award until Sterling became a poster child of hate and intolerance thanks to tmz.com.

A lifetime achievement for what? Being a racist?

As Kareem notes: “Moral outrage is exhausting. And dangerous. The whole country has gotten a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome from the newest popular sport of Extreme Finger Wagging.”

Amen, brother, amen.

George Diaz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@georgediaz

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attacked the collective outrage emanating from America’s media over Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s alleged racist remarks, calling the publication of a private conversation “sleazy” and wondering why earlier, more public manifestations of racism failed to similarly shock.

In an op-ed published in Time, Abdul-Jabbar explains that we’re witnessing a veritable “finger-wagging Olympics . . . all over the latest in a long line of rich white celebrities to come out of the racist closet.”

“Yes, I’m angry, too,” Abdul-Jabbar admits, “but not just about the sins of Donald Sterling. I’ve got a list.”

That list includes Sterling’s girlfriend, V. Stiviano, whose voice is heard on the racially-loaded tape and who likely set the Clippers’ owner up.

“Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out,” he mocked. “She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.”

And speaking of the news media? “They caught big game on a slow news day,” Abdul-Jabbar explained, “so they put his head on a pike, dubbed him Lord of the Flies, and danced around him whooping.”

The former NBA all-star, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks and L.A. Lakers from 1969 to 1989, has no sympathy for Sterling. But he is bothered by everyone acting so surprised, noting that the NBA owner has said offensive comments in the past and has been sued over both housing and employment discrimination.

“We did nothing,” Abdul-Jabbar noted. “Suddenly he says he doesn’t want his girlfriend posing with Magic Johnson on Instagram and we bring out the torches and rope. Shouldn’t we have all called for his resignation back then?”

Abdul-Jabbar, perhaps channeling his closet libertarianism, also blasted the fact that Sterling’s private conversation — however racist — was suddenly broadcast nationwide.

“Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way?” he asked, comparing the secret tape-recording to Mitt Romney’s embarrassing 47 percent remark, recorded without the then-candidate’s knowledge.

“The making and release of this tape is so sleazy that just listening to it makes me feel like an accomplice to the crime,” Abdul-Jabbar fumed. “We didn’t steal the cake but we’re all gorging ourselves on it.”

“So, if we’re all going to be outraged,” the former NBA star concluded, “let’s be outraged that we weren’t more outraged when his racism was first evident. Let’s be outraged that private conversations between people in an intimate relationship are recorded and publicly played. Let’s be outraged that whoever did the betraying will probably get a book deal, a sitcom, trade recipes with Hoda and Kathie Lee, and soon appear on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ and ‘Dancing with the Stars.’”

Follow Brendan on Twitter

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/28/kareem-abdul-jabbar-blasts-sleazy-media-glee-over-sterlings-private-racism/#ixzz30O2K0BjS

[Styles 9,790]

If the NBA did this a long time ago, I would have absolutely no problem with it.

The fact Silver did it now, I have a lot of problem with it and everything that goes along with it. Also, the incident itself is bothersome. A gold digger blackmail him and she made the tape public. This wasn't a mistake, it was a planned scheme to blackmail him. If your girl took one thing you said to her and told all your potential employers, girlfriends, families, friends, etc something you said in private for defamation, you would understand the situation. She didn't do this to stop racism, she did this to blackmail him.

Also, not just black athletes, but athletes in general that commit vices of the world are not banned though. Like I said, it all stems down to money. When the nfl, mlb and nba employs wife beaters, pimps, alcoholics, drug users, murderers, etc..

Just to be clear, you said when specific evidence was brought to the league you did act. In past cases, has Donald Sterling ever been fined or suspended for racial or offensive remarks, and if not, why not?

ADAM SILVER: He's never been suspended or fined by the league because while there have been well documented rumors and cases filed, he was sued and the plaintiff lost the lawsuit. That was Elgin Baylor. There was a case brought by the Department of Justice in which ultimately Donald Sterling settled and there was no finding of guilt, and those are the only cases that have been brought to our attention. When those two litigations were brought, they were followed closely by the league office.

I find it very hard to feel sympathy for Sterling being blackmailed by a gold-digger. He has almost certainly made life a misery for a lot of people.

EDIT TO ADD: I don't understand this view that because nothing was done before we shouldn't care now and any action taken is too late.

[Nike 373]

Wait, so let me get this straight, people were destroying the govt after the whole NSA scandal, however, even though the girl did it a step forward, it is ok now?

Hypocrites at its best.

A FEW thoughts on the Donald Sterling scandal, but first a personal disclosure: I have sometimes uttered words in the heat of a domestic squabble that I later regretted. I have expressed thoughts in personal conversation that I would never want to share with the world. On occasion I have yielded to impulses in private that I would be loath to be judged by in public.

Maybe you have too.

Torrents of contempt have been raining down on Sterling since the release of

, apparently genuine, in which the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers tells his mistress to stop posting online pictures of herself with black men, including Magic Johnson, “and not to bring them to my games.” Sterling’s comments are repulsive, vulgar, and saturated with bigotry. His girlfriend — who is black and Mexican — effortlessly goads him. “If it’s white people, it’s OK?” she asks at one point. “If it was Larry Bird, would it have made a difference?”

Related

• Video: Sterling banned for life
• Donald Sterling banned for life from NBA
• Shaughnessy: Silver delivers powerful blow

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver yesterday suspended Sterling for life and imposed a $2.5 million fine as a penalty for “the hateful opinions” heard on the recorded audio clip.

My sympathy for Sterling is nonexistent. His racist remarks are odious, and they couldn’t have come as a shock to anyone who has followed his career. Yet the most alarming part of this story has less to do with basketball or the racial prejudices of an 80-year-old plutocrat than with what it says about the rapidly disappearing presumption that things we say in our personal lives will stay personal.

Of course any decent person should be disgusted by the gross things Sterling allegedly said to the girlfriend. But as former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote on Monday: “Shouldn’t we be equally angered by the fact that his private, intimate conversation was taped and then leaked to the media? Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizens’ privacy in such an un-American way?”

There is good reason why it is illegal in many states (including California and Massachusetts) to surreptitiously record a private conversation, just as there is a good reason for the traditional common-law privilege that protects certain kinds of confidential communication — like that between husband/wife, priest/penitent, or attorney/client — from being disclosed unwillingly in court. They reflect a value critical to a free society: Private lives and private thoughts aren’t supposed to be everyone’s business.

But everywhere today that value is being eroded by the intrusions modern technology makes possible. It is becoming harder than ever to be sure anything you say or do is being said or done in true privacy. Creeps with cellphone cameras take “upskirt” photos. Intimate encounters end up on YouTube. Tens of thousands of surveillance cameras combine with ever-more-sophisticated facial-recognition software, and the upshot is that no matter where you go, you’re on candid camera. And websites like TMZ encourage the exploitation of personal embarrassments for public entertainment.

Prudent politicians must assume that everything they say is being recorded and may be used against them. Presidential candidates no longer have the luxury of speaking in privacy to groups of supporters, a lesson learned by Barack Obama from his “bitter clingers” experience in 2008, and by Mitt Romney when his “47 percent” remarks were secretly taped and disseminated. Louisiana Representative Vance McAllister announced on Monday that he would not run for reelection after a security surveillance camera showed him kissing a married female staffer, and someone leaked the video to a local newspaper.

Do you bear in mind at all times that your words, actions, and whereabouts are being captured for posterity on security cameras?

None of this is meant in defense of Sterling’s bigotry or congressional hanky-panky or any other dishonest activity. It is meant as a reminder that it isn’t only other people’s dirty laundry that the whole world can get a good look at. It is yours and mine, too. Once our privacy is gone, don’t count on getting it back.

[Nike 373]

I find it very hard to feel sympathy for Sterling being blackmailed by a gold-digger. He has almost certainly made life a misery for a lot of people.

EDIT TO ADD: I don't understand this view that because nothing was done before we shouldn't care now and any action taken is too late.

Its not why we shouldn't care now. Its wtf was nothing ever done before....

[Rmpr 8,977]

Can you at least stop spamming this thread?

[Styles 9,790]

Three game 7's and a Mayweather fight. Saturday night

[The Skipper 20,593]

Yup. Three game 7s. Can't wait.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Is this the most exciting first round of the play offs ever?

[The Skipper 20,593]

Damian Lillard's game winning 3 to win the series with 0.9 seconds left when he received the ball... Woooooow.... This guy is going to be an NBA great.

Look at this stat:

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has joined Michael Jordan (1985-86) and LeBron James (2006) as the only players in the last 35 years to average at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists over their first five career playoff games.

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Damian Lillard's game winning 3 to win the series with 0.9 seconds left when he received the ball... Woooooow.... This guy is going to be an NBA great.

Look at this stat:

That was fucking sick man.

[iseah100 5,612]

DAMIAN KILLARD! HOLYYY FUCK!!!!

[Styles 9,790]

Z-Bo suspended for game 7 is a joke decision. NBA are so blatant, they want OKC to go through. There's no point even watching that game now.

[The Skipper 20,593]

After another epic game, Clippers manage to close the series against the Warriors after some insane clutch plays from BG, DeAndre Jordan (this guy is an absolute animal) and CP3. Crazy game, Draymond Green playing like a possessed man, Curry and Iguodala coming through with huge games too. Shame GSW aren't making it through to the next round as are as good as any team out there when they're fully fit and playing well, but that's the west for you - full of quality teams.

Really excited for the Clippers - OKC series. BG, CP3, DeAndre vs. Westbrook, Durant & Ibaka.

Best playoffs ever so far.

[Reddish-Blue 2,347]

After another epic game, Clippers manage to close the series against the Warriors after some insane clutch plays from BG, DeAndre Jordan (this guy is an absolute animal) and CP3. Crazy game, Draymond Green playing like a possessed man, Curry and Iguodala coming through with huge games too. Shame GSW aren't making it through to the next round as are as good as any team out there when they're fully fit and playing well, but that's the west for you - full of quality teams.

Really excited for the Clippers - OKC series. BG, CP3, DeAndre vs. Westbrook, Durant & Ibaka.

Best playoffs ever so far.

Definitely best playoffs ever so far

Clippers - OKC should have been the Western Conference Final series...not the semi-finals!