DONALD STERLING GETS LIFE BAN, MAY SELL THE CLIPPERS

Donald Sterling

Yesterday, the National Basketball Associations imposed a life time ban on Donald Sterling, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for his racist comments.This may also mean that Sterling would have to sell the clippers. Guardian UK reports;


The NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, said at a news conference in New York that an inquiry had established that Sterling expressed the remarks heard on a leaked recording, which were “contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural and multi-ethnic league”.

Silver said that the 80-year-old billionaire would also be fined $2.5m, the maximum allowed under the NBA's unpublished constitution, and that he would now press the NBA's governing body of other team owners to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.

Announcing the lifetime ban, Sterling had acknowledged during an interview with NBA investigators that he had made the remarks about black people heard on a recording released last Friday. The ban means that Sterling can have nothing more to do with the NBA or the Clippers organisation, and may not attend any Clippers games, practices and official functions on behalf of the team. He is barred from participating in any business, staff or player decisions.

Silver said that he would also do everything in his power to force Sterling to sell the Clippers. Doing so would require approval by a vote of three quarters of NBA owners, the commissioner said. Silver said he “fully expected” to receive enough support from fellow NBA governors to force Sterling to sell the Clippers.

The $2.5m penalty, which is only a fraction of Sterling’s reported $1.9bn fortune, is to be donated to organisations dedicated to tackling discrimination and intolerance, Silver said.