LOS ANGELES — Sterling 0, Silver 1. And that score likely saved the NBA’s playoff season.
If Donald Sterling had been allowed to remain an NBA owner, the players were prepared to remain on the sidelines for at least Tuesday night’s games through a boycott. That was part of a multi-tiered message players gave Commissioner Adam Silver before he came down with his historic announcement that banned the Clippers owner for life in the wake of his horrifically racist comments that were caught on tape and released over the weekend by TMZ.
“I hit the phones and I heard from our players and all of our players felt boycotting the games [Tuesday] would have been the step,” said ex-Knick Roger Mason Jr., first vice president of the NBA Players Association.
Mason spoke at a press conference on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, former NBA star, current players union adviser and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson plus a handful of former and present players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Knicks center Tyson Chandler. All applauded the smackdown of Sterling, who was taped telling his girlfriend not to bring blacks “to my games.”
“If you see cancer, you’ve got to cut it out quickly,” Johnson said, “and Adam Silver did that.”
Those who spoke publicly indicated that on a conference call with Johnson, player reps laid out demands — with boycotting games their trump card. Three playoff games — Warriors-Clippers, Wizards-Bulls and Grizzlies-Thunder — were scheduled Tuesday.
“It got serious,” Mason said of the boycott threat. “I spoke to [Warriors forward] Jermaine O’Neal and pretty much said their team would be on board” with a boycott.
The Warriors players planned to walk off the court as the jump ball was thrown to begin their game against the Clippers.
“It would have been our only chance to make a statement in front of the biggest audience that we weren’t going to accept anything but the maximum punishment,” Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry told reporters.
“We would deal with the consequences later but we were not going to play.”
But it did not come to that as Silver announced his historic ruling, banning Sterling from the NBA for life, imposing a $2.5 million fine and saying he will attempt to force Sterling to sell the team. The move was met with universal approval.
“The Clippers have on their jersey this city’s name, a name that stands for tolerance and openness, diversity, civil rights,” Garcetti said.
The Clippers website bore one phrase: “We are one.”
Johnson, claiming he was “humbled” to be asked to serve as liaison between Silver and the players, referenced sports heroes of the civil rights movement, including Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson and Jim Brown.
“Today stands as one of those great moments where sports transcends,” Johnson said. “There will be zero tolerance for institutional racism, no matter how rich or powerful.”
At the players’ direction, Johnson presented a three-prong “must do” list to Silver. First, the players wanted “immediate action.” Second, players wanted their voices heard, they wanted to participate and not be “passive participants.”
And last, they wanted Silver to levy the maximum penalty. And “there must be a change in ownership,” Johnson said.
Obviously, the commissioner listened. The league would need a three-fourths majority of an owners’ vote to force Sterling to sell. Johnson was asked if he thinks Silver will get that.
“I absolutely do,” he said, adding he already had heard from a dozen owners shortly after Silver’s announcement 3,000 miles away.
“Anything other than Adam Silver declaring that Sterling needed to sell the team would have triggered a lot of opposition from us as players,” Mason said, reiterating that the boycott would have affected “the games tonight and moving forward.”
And Mason issued a caution amid the good vibes.
“As players, we’re very happy with the decision, but we’re not content,” Mason said. “We want immediate action. We want a timetable from the owners as far as when this vote is going to happen.”
“This was not about black and white. This was about right and wrong,” Mason added. “Anything other than Sterling selling his team would not have been good.”
And immediately, shows of support and approval began pouring in on social media.
“Commissioner Silver thank you for protecting our beautiful and powerful league!! Great leader!! #BiggerThanBasketball #StriveForGreatness” tweeted LeBron James.
“Current and former NBA players now know that in Commissioner Adam Silver we have a great leader leading our league,” tweeted Magic Johnson.
From Reggie Miller: “Commissioner Silver, FANTASTIC!!! New Sheriff lays down the law, kudos… Honest n precise.. #BannedForLife
And from Knicks guard J.R. Smith: “Great move by the @NBA today!”
“After initial outrage, disappointment and sadness, today is a very proud moment,” Lakers guard Steve Nash said in front of City Hall. “I want to thank … the players association and Adam Silver for his quick, unequivocal and concise decision.”
Abdul-Jabbar said he was “thrilled” by Silver’s action.
“He got on the case immediately. He got to the bottom of whatever mystery there was involved and figured out what to do. And his actions and focus were so on the mark,” the New York City legend said.
Former Clipper Ron Harper, who could join the Knicks coaching staff in some capacity, expressed regret for Sterling’s wife, but had nothing good to say about the man.
“Donald Sterling only has a team because he can afford it. He wanted movie stars come see his team play. Believe me. He told me that, buddy, I was there,” Harper said.
Another with bad memories of Sterling was former Clipper (and ex-Net) Eric Murdock, a New Jersey product who felt Sterling’s spendthrift budgets hurt his career for lack of proper medical attention.
“I thought the commissioner did his job,” Murdock said. “I played for Donald Sterling’s team [with] memories of a bad organization.”
Additional reporting by Marc Berman and Brian Lewis