NBA basketball team owner banned for life
 

I don't follow basketball, but you would have to be living under a rock to not hear about this story.

A rich old ugly white man basically pays an attractive young mixed-race woman to be his girlfriend and be with him sexually, but treats her with contempt and makes blatantly racist comments to her. She records these and other comments for him because he has a bad memory, but she releases them to the public. He happens to own a professional basketball team, and the particularly racist comment in question is where he tells her to stop bringing her black friends to the games.

Everyone is outraged at his racist statements and the head of the basketball organization bans him from the game for life and fines him $2.5 million. The NBA head also is actively trying to force him to sell his basketball team.

So those are the basic facts.

I think this guy is a jerk, and has been a jerk for much of his life. I completely disagree with his actions. (Both the buying very expensive gifts for the girl only when she satisfies him with good sex, and the racist comments.) And I find myself being outraged, along with everyone else.

But I wonder about this. Actually, I don't wonder. We have this thing in our country called the Constitution. And the 1st Amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. This asshole was in his own house, talking to his girlfriend. He wasn't shouting "fire" in a movie theater. He wasn't calling for the assassination of anyone. He wasn't breaking any of those speech laws. He was simply expressing his fucked up opinions. The 1st Amendment is not needed to protect speech that everyone agrees with. It's there for speech that is shocking and perhaps unpopular. His speech is exactly what the 1st Amendment is there to protect.

I know the NBA is a business. And as a business, it needed to respond in some way to his offensive remarks so it could distance itself from him. I know the NBA Commissioner has the authority to fine members of the NBA, and to ban people. But I think that this is out of control. The angry mob had their pitchforks and their torches, and they wanted blood. The Commissioner gave it to them/us. It's about the mob's blood lust and NBA's profits.

Meanwhile a guy who only said something in his own fucking house is having his pathetic life destroyed.

The word on the street is that she recorded him legally, as his 'archivist' she recorded their conversations because he would forget things. I guess she can't write down pertinent information as it becomes available. I will stop short of any rant, here, about this woman. My thoughts would certainly be un-pc.

As abhorrent as Sterling is, and keeping in mind the fact that the NBA is fully within its rights in their punishment, I think we do ourselves a disservice to just accept this woman's actions as status quo. Sure, we live in a world where privacy is precarious, but I don't think we should just accept this: I think we have a right, nay...an obligation... to kick and scream as we are pulled into this abyss. Think: how mad everyone is at the NSA all the time.

I believe it's all legal. What she did, taping him, was legal. What he said was legal. What the NBA has done is legal.

I also think all three parties are self serving money grabbers, and he's mostly a pathetic confused old racist man who is being destroyed.

I think it's fine to mock him in the court of public opinion. That's also free speech. But these more formal penalties are just knee jerk fear by the NBA.

I disagree that what she did was legal. Of course, I'm working off my assumption that the idea she was supposed to record every single conversation was exaggeration, if not invention, on her lawyers' part.


But the commissioner says "now the healing process begins." I truly feel for anyone who is offended, for anyone who has been the victim of racism, but I fail to see why this old codger's dumbass statements are something that society needs to heal from. But now I know that, according to Barkley, that the NBA is a black league. He then repeated that statement "We are a black league." I wonder at the hell that would have broken out had a Larry Bird or the like said anything remotely like that. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go heal.

If they banned Pete Rose for life then that's the least they should do for this guy.

I really don't think it's such a bad thing to try to hold onto some shred of sportsmanship like expectations of players and owners alike even if it is at worst a pretense or at best a spit into the wind.

I've got something that needs healing, all right...

That's it! I've had it! You, sir, are banned from Cincinnati!

Now where's my Pete Rose Pete Rose Pete Rose baseball? ;)

Band from Cincinnati? Who, the Isley Brothers?

I think you're down and confused, and you can't remember who you're talkin' to...

:p:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

CONGRESS shall make no law, the NBA can make "laws".

This was a business decision. Across the league (playoff teams) Players were about to refuse to play. The smart thing for the league was to get rid of him.

All that's left is a Banned of Gold.


And another thing about free speech, hate speech should not be protected speech. I guess this is a grey area, I assumed it fell under fighting words, but ti just misses.

eta:

There's cultural implications beyond basic racism in this situation, as well. It would have been different if he were, for example, the CEO of a company that manufactures basketballs and sells them to the players. But he is not in a business relationship with these players, he is the owner of the team, with all the possessive baggage that implies.

Plus, the woman who recorded him, his sometime-girlfriend, is mixed race herself. He doesn't like black people, he just likes screwing them. Part of the transcript had him telling her that she was welcome to bring her friend Magic Johnson to the house, "entertain him, feed him, fuck him--just don't bring him to the games." Another layer of cultural baggage, that slaves were so often used for sex.

It's like when a homophobe is outed as being gay--the outrage is greater because it's not just about the discrimination, it's about the hypocrisy. Americans will respect a racist's right to free speech, but not a hypocritical racist.

And she doesn't like to fuck old racist curmudgeons, she just likes their money?

;)

Or it could come under defamation or slander and in that case wouldn't be protected unless it was spoken in private, then he can say whatever he wants.

Coming to theaters near you.
This July.

"I WAS A TEENAGE RACIST OLD CURMUDGEON"

"Starring Jason Bateman as the Teenage Racist Old Curmudgeon, and Jerry Mathers as The Beaver."

Interesting piece. Applies to non-race situations as well


http://gawker.com/black-people-are-cowards-1568673014

I agree that he's bad, and outrage is justified.

The thing I'm having trouble with is that he's a pathetic racist hypocritical old curmudgeon in his own living room. He's not having a meeting with the board of directors saying this racist shit. He's not talking to the team saying this racist shit. He's just blathering on to his girlfriend in privacy. He didn't want his comments to be public or to be representative of the business.

Although I suppose you could argue it's about his business if his "girlfriend" is really an employee, since they had a gifts-for-sex arrangement. So that makes him the boss, and that makes it a hostile work environment, even though it's his living room. *shrug* I dunno. Maybe he can't legally be an asshole to her because their relationship is a financial one. She's a whistle blower and is protected.

Thing is, she can't be a whistle blower without defining the relationship as a financial one.

There was an interesting piece on NPR's "Tell Me More" today about this topic.

One of the women on the show was saying how This is OLD news in LA, going on 11 years old. The outrage there is what took so long?

So wait, the guy said it 11 years ago? Or everyone's known he was a racist in general for 11 years?

He was a slum lord and paid fines for housing discrimination against blacks and latinos

Understatement of the day, sheeeesh!

Good summary.

Yep, you and I are still on the same page.

Stop.

Put the car in *park*.

Nothing has happened that has abridged anyone's First Amendment Rights, nothing for no one.

The First Amendment (among other things) guarantees Free Speech (tm), and that means that the Government can't make any laws that inhibit you expressing yourself.

Here's the text:
I agree that the First Amendment needed to protect unpopular speech, and Silver's speech is the fucking posterchild of unpopular speech. And his speech **IS** protected. He would be a fool and a loser (in court) if he tried to use as his defense for his speech that his First Amendment Rights were being violated. They're not.

The NBA is a business, and the businessmen that have organized themselves into a group made membership in that group contingent on obedience to a certain set of rules, and Silver broke one, namely: "conduct ... detrimental to the Association" Here's a link to their constitution. They've hired Commissioner Adam Silver (defeating the evil Donald Sterling.... there's ... something there, I just can't get at it...) specifically to run the organization of owners. His job is to police his bosses (and all the people that work for those bosses). He's doing that, using the rules and authority granted to him BY Donald Sterling and his peers. Nothing to see here, move on.

Of course it's about the NBA's profits. Just as it would be with any other franchise operation. If the local Subway sandwich shop started something awful like this, cast the Subway name in a bad light, as Sterling has done with the NBA, Subway would have a compelling interest to protect the value of their brand, just as the NBA is doing.

I'm with the mob on this one for two reasons. One, Donald Sterling is a spectacularly unsympathetic character and your statement that his life pathetic is being destroyed is unconvincing. He bought the Clippers for $12 million and they're currently valued at something like $700 million. Cry me a fucking river. And two, I think his behavior/speech *IS* deplorable, and I wholeheartedly deplore it. Where's my torch and pitchfork?

I wonder how much his ho is worth now?

If these sorts of racist comments are not censured by society, the racist behaviour is perpetuated.

In simple english, if you don't show your disapproval, how will anyone know they're 'doin it wrong'? Yeah, he can be a racist prick if he wants, but no one needs to know about it. If you can't say something nice, don't say it at all. Any mother worth her salt teachers her kids that. I guess he failed.

Anyway, Aden is hoping Oprah buys the Clippers. They're his favourite team.

And another thing:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What if that speech is in your fucking living room to your girlfriend? Are we entitled to any privacy anywhere?

If a third party had spied on them, I'd be with you. But a conversation is realistically owned by both people in it, so she's free to do with it what she wants. I guess the lesson is, pick a better girlfriend who will keep your secrets.

1.2 Billion, IIRC.

I don't believe he's been charged with a crime, has he?

No. Haven't you been following the news for the past 20 years?
;)

Legally, the conversation is owned by both of them, in a sense. In CA both parties must be aware of the recording. So the sticking point becomes whether or not he knew he was being recorded. She (and by she I mean her lawyers) say he knew. He asked her to record him because he kept forgetting things. That doesn't make much sense to me, and I'd like to see something that corroborates that. Not much of an 'archivist' imo. (Insert here the recent things I've read that her people are stating she did not have a romantic involvement with him, though he bought her a condo and I think 3 expensive cars...complete with 'I heart V' license plate on one.)

Whether it's Oprah or Magic who buys the team, they're going to get it real cheap-like. Hmmmm.

Spexx, you're right about him being fined in the past for statements (real crappy statements) he made about his black and hispanic tenants. Did you also know the L.A. chapter of the NAACP was slated to give him another award. A recent award, despite all the hoopla regarding his fines for aforementioned comments. The price of this award? A measly 45 grand donation. Which they will now return, since it's all out there now.

People whose integrity is for sale. Why does that idea still make me sick to my stomach, when it's become so damn prevalent as to be considered almost normal?

Besides, Miss V(isor) says she's going to be president! She's a modern day civil rights activist. Right.

FOR SALE:
Integrity. Barely used. 45,000 OBO.

I missed that. WTF? :lol:

;)