Day 3 of the Donald Sterling fiasco began with a report that Magic Johnson, the former Lakers star and the subject of a racially charged outburst by the Clippers owner, is interested in purchasing Los Angeles’ scandal-mired other team.
It’s just one of a number of scenarios that could unfold in the wake of the surfacing of an audio clip of Sterling’s comments that included him allegedly pleading with a woman to not bring black people to Clippers games or to post photos of herself with black people, including Johnson, on Instagram.
A Yahoo! Sports report, citing unnamed league sources, says Johnson and his billionaire backers, the Guggenheim Partners, want a chance to purchase the Clippers. The report also says the owners are looking for a way to force Sterling out.
The NBA announced a Tuesday press conference “to make an announcement about its investigation involving Clippers owner Donald Sterling.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, faced with the first crisis of his regime since taking over in February, said Saturday there are “broad powers in the NBA’s constitutional bylaws that include a range of sanctions” following the outcome of the investigation, which included verifying whether the recording is indeed of Sterling.
“Requiring the sale of a team would be the most severe sanction,” sports lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, told the Wall Street Journal. “But I believe the NBA would take the position that the commissioner has the necessary authority to take action.”
Kessler said Article 35 of the NBA’s constitutional bylaws — which are not public — gives Silver those powers. The article mainly covers player misconduct, so it remains unclear how it can be applied to an owner. The bylaws reportedly contain language allowing owners to force the league into selling a team without that owner’s consent. However, it reportedly only covers circumstances regarding a team’s finances, such as when an owner is unable to pay his bills.
The NBA could suspend Sterling and try to persuade him to sell. It could also take over the operations of the Clippers on a day-to-day basis, as Major League Baseball did with the Dodgers and embattled owner Frank McCourt. That was a financial issue. A fine is likely for Sterling, though that will be perceived as a slap on the wrist for the elderly billionaire.
There also is the possibility the NBA can’t force Sterling out. He refuses to sell. He has a non-active role in ownership, is barred from appearing courtside at games and slowly fades from the spotlight. In that scenario, though, it would be interesting to see what kind of a team the Clippers could field: What free agent would sign there as long as Sterling retains ownership?
There is precedent in other sports. Former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott twice was suspended for remarks about African-Americans and Adolf Hitler. George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner until his passing in 2010, received a lifetime ban — it was lifted after 15 months — for hiring a private investigator to dig up damaging information about Dave Winfield.
Furthermore, in the early 1980s, Silver’s predecessor, David Stern, brokered a deal to get Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien to sell the team after the owner made countless questionable personnel moves and was quoted in 1979 about the importance of having more white players on his team to help attendance.