SPORTS
12 Obiter Dicta
Donald Sterling’s NBA ban
The scandal that was bound to happen, and finally did
michael silver › contributor
T
here had long been rumors that Donald
Sterling was a racist. People who worked
for him, or even simply crossed paths with
him, all knew it. The NBA always knew it.
But until the events of 2014 it seemed as if there was
nothing that could be done about it.
In February 2014 NBA commissioner David Stern
retired, and was replaced by Adam Silver. Soon
after taking over as commissioner, reports surfaced of an audio recording of LA Clippers owner
Donald Sterling berating his mistress for her friendship with an African-American man. He felt that
posting photos with an African-American man on
her Instagram page reflected poorly on him. The
African-American man in question happened to be
near-billionaire, former NBA star, and current LA
Dodgers owner, Magic Johnson.
This was not the first incidence of Mr. Sterling
exhibiting socially unacceptable, racist behavior.
He earned his fortune as a property developer and
real estate mogul. He has been involved in numerous housing discrimination cases, refusing to rent
properties to people on the sole basis of race. He had
a reputation for treating the African-American players on his team in a blatantly racist manner, and did
the same to his former general manager, former NBA
star Elgin Baylor. However, until the tape of Sterling
berating his girlfriend, none of these indiscretions
had been particularly public.
The tape was a serious embarrassment to the
league. A racist team owner controlling an organization of mostly African-American players created a
negative perception of a pseudo-slave relationship.
The players responded extremely negatively, and
there were reports that the LA Clippers and other
teams considered refusing to play in any games until
the league took strong action against Sterling. This
stance was led by Clippers coach Doc Rivers, along
with NBA star Lebron James. Importantly, league
sponsors indicated that they were unhappy with
the situation. Ultimately, this is likely what forced
action.
In response to the pressure from the league and
the public, commissioner Silver took a strong,
unprecedented step. He instituted a lifetime ban
against Sterling, fined him 2.5 million dollars and
indicated that the league would act within their
power to influence the sale of the team as soon as
possible. Silver was widely praised for acting decisively to remove Sterling, who was perceived to be
bad for league image, and quite simply a bad person.
However, there was also an element of criticism,
largely centered on the premise that the lifetime ban
ê Photo credit: ra-da.com
was excessive, unprecedented, and arbitrary. Sports
leagues generally operate with little external oversight, and the decisions of the commissioner are only
truly answerable to owners. The owners accepted
and praised the decisiveness.
The events that followed are somewhat unclear.
At one point Sterling appeared to have consented to
allowing the sale of the team, to be administered by
his wife. However, he later changed his tune, and
began legal proceedings against
the NBA and his
wife which were
intended to prevent the sale.
While the legal proceedings were ongoing, Mrs.
Sterling solicited bids for the team. The highest bid
was from Steve Balmer, the former CEO of Microsoft.
The bid was for two billion dollars. This was approximately 100 times the value that Sterling paid for the
team some twenty years prior.
The court ruled that because Mr. Sterling was
suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and based on
medical opinion, he was incapable of managing the
business affairs of the team. The court declared Mrs.
Sterling to be the sole trustee of the team on that
basis. The court granted an injunction allowing the
sale of the team, and the sale to Balmer proceeded
unhindered.
The events of the Donald Sterling scandal raised
some serious concerns about the standard of conduct
required for owners of professional sports teams.
The personal views held by Mr. Sterling were clearly
unacceptable, but it is questionable if this was sufficient grounds to force him to sell his team. However,
ultimately the business structure of professional
sports leagues is such that the commissioner as
proxy for the owners legitimately has the right to
force an owner
who reflects negatively on the
league out. This
power should be
used on a limited basis, however, since it derives from the authority of the owners, making a commissioner unlikely
to act contrary to the owners’ wills. In the case of
Sterling, there were exceptional circumstances such
that it was likely appropriate for commissioner Silver
to use this power. In using the power, Silver earned
the respect and admiration of the owners, players,
and the public, and protected the reputation of the
league. u
“. . . commissioner Silver took a
strong, unprecedented ste p.”
t humbs down
The disappointing St. Louis County grand jury
decision.