When Donald Sterling’s racist tapes were released there were a ton of people who believed he wasn’t the only franchise owner who had those sentiments.  Many owners spoke out condemning Sterling including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.  Though he was against Sterling’s remarks, Cuban noted that Sterling’s subsequent punishment could be a “slippery slope”.  Cuban admitted to his own prejudices at Inc. Magazine’s GROWCO 2014 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I also try not to be a hypocrite. I know I’m prejudiced. I know I’m bigoted in a lot of different ways,” he said. “I’ve said this before. If I see a black kid in a hoodie at night on the same side of the street, I’m probably going to walk to other side of the street. If I see a white guy with a shaved head and lots of tattoos, I’m going back to the other side of the street. If I see anybody that looks threatening, and I try not to, but part of me takes into account race and gender and image. I’m prejudiced. Other than for safety issues, I try to always catch my prejudices and be very self-aware.”

Cuban noted that ”none of us have complete pure thoughts.”  Everybody has prejudices but it is up to us to not let them manifest themselves.

In regards to Sterling, Cuban  said “there are no laws against stupid.  I learned a long time ago that you can’t talk stupid out of people. You can’t expect stupid to disappear.”  Despite his acceptance of prejudices in everyone, Cuban agreed Adam Silver and the NBA’s actions to oust Sterling is necessary.  They will need three-quarters majority vote to do so.

“There is a lot at stake as a whole for the NBA as a business,” Cuban said.  He did not outright say whether he would vote yes to remove Sterling but he did allude to his decision.  “The thing that scares me about this whole thing is I don’t want to be a hypocrite,” Cuban said. “And I think I might have to be.”

If you want to watch the video to hear his tone and see his mannerisms for a better understanding, you can check it out here.

h/t Sporting News

– Shaina Auxilly (@Shay_Marie)