Knicks

[SMillard]

There was no law and it was the court of public opinion that forced him out.

NBA by laws that Sterling agreed to which are apparently upheld by civil law. Or at least I'm pretty sure they are since Sterling is an attorney and hasn't made a stink about violation of his civil rights or infringement of his first amendment rights.

 

[SMillard]

They didn't bow to political pressure at all. They bowed to the public, their employees, and the economics.

Sponsors certainly left the Clippers. The players threatened to sit out playoff games (after giving the NBA what they felt was a reasonable amount of time to act). Fans certainly threatened boycotting games. Those are all public pressures and economic ramifications. I castigate the mob as much as anyone but the NBA relies on the mob for it's economic success so it must respond to the mob when it's upset.

From what I've read it was the Golden State Warriors players that threatened to walk out on the game if action wasn't taken. All the Clippers players did was turn their warm ups inside out

The information is mostly word of mouth and people certainly exaggerate the extent to which NBA athletes actually communicate with each other. In a business where people are here today, gone tomorrow sometimes they don't even talk with everyone on their own roster.

And the agents have no incentive to dissuade athletes from signing contracts with the Clippers. An employed client is the only way they get paid. The agent can always claim he didn't think the allegations had any merit. And prior to this tape, there really wasn't anything that could be pointed to as clear proof of his racism.

Also, most of these guys aren't surrounded by what we'd consider adequate support figures. They're surrounded by people who either lack the experience to understand the business of high level athletics or people who are using these guys for their own economic advancement (usually that correlates to the athletes best interest but not always).

None of that is to excuse guys with first hand knowledge of Sterling's bad acts or guys like Doc Rivers who's older and more experienced or Chris Paul who's tuned in enough to take active roles in the players association. But the guys like Blake Griffin or some other newer athlete aren't in the same position.

I'm sorry but the lawsuit about the housing was apparently more wide spread than I originally heard. How word of mouth hadn't spread is almost impossible.

I understand and respect your view but lets be honest. Not one of these people gave a crap about the low income people because they are poor. There is no economic advantage to sticking up for them. Now that this came about which for the most part was just an ignorant statement from him not wanting his biracial mistress to flaunt the fact she hangs out with black guys, it has turned into a much bigger shitstorm than it really is because of this persons previous misdeeds. Let's face it, Mel Gibson has recovered from a recording far worse which was AFTER a very anti-semetic public display recorded during an arrest.

I'll give you the younger players, but the guys that have been around longer really have no excuse and they needed Silver to come white knight them in this situation, because they have all financially committed to this to a point that they'd be stuck like the fox to the tar baby if it weren't for action by Silver and the other owners. If it weren't for Silver, you'd have some comments you'd have some actions taken by players of other teams and the team would take a hit on the free agent market for a couple years but after that everything would go back to business as usual.

 

[Madmick]

They didn't bow to political pressure at all. They bowed to the public, their employees, and the economics.

Their employees aren't the public, and where is the economic disaster to which they're allegedly responding?

Sponsors certainly left the Clippers.

Who? I missed these headlines. How much did they lose?

The players threatened to sit out playoff games (after giving the NBA what they felt was a reasonable amount of time to act). Fans certainly threatened boycotting games. Those are all public pressures and economic ramifications.

No, they're not. First, the players aren't the public. Second, "threatening to boycott" is precisely the disingenuous pitchfork-puddling I was talking about. Threats mean nothing if they aren't realized (a lesson Obama would be keen to learn...anytime, now).

I castigate the mob as much as anyone but the NBA relies on the mob for it's economic success so it must respond to the mob when it's upset.

The mob hasn't demonstrated an iota of economic backlash. Prove to me that I'm wrong. Quote me a figure.

 

[UpaLoompa]

I didn't see sponsors flee the Clippers in crippling fashion. I didn't see the team boycott their own franchise. I didn't see fan attendance downturn. I didn't see the Clippers or NBA lose speculated market valuation.

Uh... what?
You're simply wrong.

http://www.latimes.com/business/mon...ls-nba-20140428,0,6525980.story#axzz30ZlnLi6H

Major sponsors of the Los Angeles Clippers are fleeing in droves as they rush to distance themselves from racist comments attributed to team owner Donald Sterling.
CarMax, Virgin America, Kia, State Farm, Red Bull and a growing list of other sponsors are canceling or suspending their deals with the basketball team amid allegations that Sterling ordered a friend to avoid publicly fraternizing with black people.
The lost revenue could give the NBA additional incentive to suspend Sterling for conduct detrimental to the league, one sports attorney said.

The Clippers previously had a shit valuation and the brief recent success turned that down. Where do you think it was headed with the loss of major sponsors?

Sprint, Adidas, and Samsung also cut out.

 

[SMillard]

Uh... what?
You're simply wrong.

http://www.latimes.com/business/mon...ls-nba-20140428,0,6525980.story#axzz30ZlnLi6H

The Clippers previously had a shit valuation and the brief recent success turned that down. Where do you think it was headed with the loss of major sponsors?

Sprint, Adidas, and Samsung also cut out.

nice find and to be honest I'm surprised these haven't been more public.

This is the first I'd heard of this too. Guess some of these things are making the national news as much as local, which is a surprise since all I see in the news is Sterling, plane crash and Ukraine in the news.

 

[Madmick]

Uh... what?
You're simply wrong.

http://www.latimes.com/business/mon...ls-nba-20140428,0,6525980.story#axzz30ZlnLi6H

The Clippers previously had a shit valuation and the brief recent success turned that down. Where do you think it was headed with the loss of major sponsors?

Sprint, Adidas, and Samsung also cut out.

Ah, there you go. Like I said: I never saw this headline. Losing sponsors like that is all the justification the NBA needs as a business.

 

[Seph]

Ah, there you go. Like I said: I never saw this headline. Losing sponsors like that is all the justification the NBA needs as a business.

This also is not like other business, NBA can force him to sell or just take away the team because of the antitrust exception they operate under. The league can do it by just proving it is in the best interest of the NBA. With this situation they bad PR would give them enough ground to get the guy.

 

[equus]

next he'll want an all black college!



wait...

 

[Amerikuracana]

I'm reaching my limit of non-sense and double standards.

 

[nixkid]

next he'll want an all black college!



wait...

Do you know why they exist?

Secondly. There is no such thing as an all black college. There are HBCUs which were historically all black because of segregation. Almost (probably all) HBCUs have non-black students and there certainly isn't one that would deny admittance of a non-black student just because of race.

 

[equus]

Do you know why they exist?

Secondly. There is no such thing as an all black college. There are HBCUs which were historically all black because of segregation. Almost (probably all) HBCUs have non-black students and there certainly isn't one that would deny admittance of a non-black student just because of race.

Yes. I do. Now do you think that those who would enroll in a "primarily" Black college, who arent in fact African American, would ever feel or be accepted into said school? And by "accepted" i mean socially by other students of the schools primary ethnicity...

 

[UpaLoompa]

Yes. I do. Now do you think that those who would enroll in a "primarily" Black college, who arent in fact African American, would ever feel or be accepted into said school?

Probably as much as the opposite.

 

[Madmick]

Yes. I do. Now do you think that those who would enroll in a "primarily" Black college, who arent in fact African American, would ever feel or be accepted into said school? And by "accepted" i mean socially by other students of the schools primary ethnicity...

Their feelings are irrelevant. As long as a white person doesn't suffer formal discrimination from one of these schools, then there is no case to be made for a double standard that I can see.

 

[nixkid]

Yes. I do. Now do you think that those who would enroll in a "primarily" Black college, who arent in fact African American, would ever feel or be accepted into said school? And by "accepted" i mean socially by other students of the schools primary ethnicity...

Yes, I went to an HBCU and I can tell you from first hand experience that non-black students are accepted on campus.

 

[equus]

Yes, I went to an HBCU and I can tell you from first hand experience that non-black students are accepted on campus.

Im speaking from the input I received from 2 brothers who went to Morehouse College. I'l send you a pm

 

[Falsedawn]

Yes. I do. Now do you think that those who would enroll in a "primarily" Black college, who arent in fact African American, would ever feel or be accepted into said school? And by "accepted" i mean socially by other students of the schools primary ethnicity...

HBCUs are typically more diverse by percentage than "standard" state universities. In fact, there are a couple where blacks are actually the minority.

Protip: The "H" stands for "Historically"

 

[equus]

HBCUs are typically more diverse by percentage than "standard" state universities. In fact, there are a couple where blacks are actually the minority.

Protip: The "H" stands for "Historically"

Protip:

Spoiler

That is the picture used for the "you don't say?" meme...

 

[James Keith]

how about an all-black college fund?

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Personally, I would find it infinitely more admirable if LJ called for creating an all black college than an all black NBA team/league.

 

[Falsedawn]

Protip:

Spoiler

That is the picture used for the "you don't say?" meme...

So, unless you're presupposing that blacks are just bigots, why would a person not feel accepted going to an HBCU?

I went to Texas A&M (with a gigantic 3.6% black population) and I did just fine. Loved it even.

What are you trying to insinuate?