Silver’s Swift Verdict on Sterling a Defining Moment for Commissioner, NBA

April 29th, 2014 by Howard Beck Leave a reply »

NEW YORK — Minutes after NBA commissioner Adam Silver banished Donald Sterling for life, the emails and tweets began to fly, conveying appreciation, relief, admiration, even glee. One statement stood out from the rest.

"We wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver today. Now the healing process begins."

The message was attributed simply to "the Los Angeles Clippers." As if the Clippers and Sterling were two separate entities.

Let the cognitive dissonance subside, and appreciate that statement for what it is: a truly historic moment.

Donald T. Sterling, who ran his team like a ramshackle novelty store, who refused to honor coaches' contracts, who balked at paying for an employee's cancer treatment, who paraded friends through the locker room to gawk at his players, who discriminated against blacks and Latinos in his apartment buildings and who has been a blight on the NBA for three decades, is effectively gone.

Under the terms of Silver's edict, Sterling can never set foot again in the Clippers' offices, or slouch in his courtside seat at Staples Ce ...

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