Through a press conference today NBA commissioner Adam Silver levied the highest punishment he could on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Recordings were released of Sterling making racist remarks towards black people after his girlfriend, V. Stiviano reportedly took and posted pictures with Magic Johnson and Matt Kemp. The release caused an immense amount of backlash with people waiting for Silver’s decision. Silver decided on a lifetime ban from the NBA and a $2.5 million fine, the highest he could hand down under the NBA by-laws.
Next they are expected to force a sale of the Clippers with the bidding already beginning and expected to exceed over $1 Billion. Among the reported bidders are Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim group which successfully purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers. Though Sterling is banned from all NBA activities he still owns the team and it is up to the fellow 29 NBA owners in the league to force him out. Silver reportedly needs a 75% vote which sources say he has.
On ownership super majority needed to vote Sterling out, one Board of Governor tells Yahoo: “Adam has the votes – all of them, I believe.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 29, 2014
Bottom line: There isn’t a franchise that could withstand public backlash of failing to vote w/ Adam Silver on Donald Sterling’s ouster.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 29, 2014
Now we’ll have to wait and see how long the entire process will take as sales of teams usually take some time concerning various approvals. Considering the nature of the situation however it is expected that the process will be expedited.
– Shaina Auxilly (@Shay_Marie)
