Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro

NBA

Silver’s Sterling ban leaves no doubt he’s The Boss

The words were perfect, the tone more so. Adam Silver walked into the Gramercy Ballroom, second floor of the New York Hilton, as a neophyte, a thin man in a big job that carries the shadow of a predecessor who often seemed larger than life during a 30-year run.

Thirty minutes later, he walked out as something much more meaningful, a title much more important than simply NBA commissioner.

He is The Boss now.

The views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful; that they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage,” Silver said, seconds after dropping a metaphorical anvil directly upon Donald Sterling’s skull, Sterling having copped to his commissioner that, yes, that was his voice on that tape.

And his viewpoints trapped on that tape.

“I am personally distraught that the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations,” Silver continues, “and caused current and former players, coaches, fans and partners of the NBA to question their very association with the league.”

Adam Silver speaks during Tuesday’s press conference.EPA

It was a bravura performance, not just what he said but how he said it. There was anger filling every syllable, fury at what Sterling had done and maybe, just maybe, at the NBA’s reluctance to have used the full force of its powers and its collective conscience to anticipate that this owner would cause them this level of trouble sooner or later.

Coupled with the punishment itself — a lifetime ban, a $2.5 million fine, a banishment from future Board of Governors meetings and, ultimately, the other 29 owners deciding his fate (with the overwhelming assumption that Silver will get the necessary 75 percent to oust him) — it was a very good day for the new Boss, who came across as earnest, honest and serious. It was a good start.

Donald SterlingAP

And also the easy part.

Because this is where the road will begin to turn tricky, and ugly, assuming that Sterling isn’t willing to simply plead nolo contendere and walk away quietly. That has never been his style anyway; in the minutes before the Silver hammer struck, FOX TV reporter Jim Gray revealed he’d spoken with Sterling and Sterling had uttered the three words that guarantee this is just the opening salvo:

“Not for sale.”

So, yes, Silver can walk away from the Gramercy Ballroom feeling good about his first bold stroke as Boss, and he can move forward safe in the assurance that there aren’t likely to be any owners willing to oppose Sterling’s ouster given the certain business ramifications that would follow in the wake of a dissenting vote.

Clippers fans protest inside the Staples Center before Game 5 against the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night.UPI

That said? Sterling isn’t the only NBA owner whose private opinions and behaviors made public would cause discomfort at best and outrage at worst. The other 29 know that. Sterling certainly knows that. He is a lawyer who loves litigation, and will surely have little problem fighting the NBA on every beach available between here and the Supreme Court. And it isn’t as if he’s ever been afraid to fight dirty. Rich men have lots of closets in their mansions, after all. Some of them stuffed with skeletons.

And now, with nothing left to lose?

“When I first heard [the tape], I was shocked,” Silver said at one point. “I was hoping somehow that it was fraudulent or that it had been doctored, that possibly it wasn’t indeed Donald Sterling. I’ve known Donald for over 20 years, so I suspected it was his voice, and we set about immediately investigating, and that was my reaction, to … say, ‘Let’s get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.’ ”

And in that answer was the one fissure that is sure to shadow the league into court, the one question a smart lawyer such as Donald Sterling might ask: “You’ve known me 20 years and you never suspected I was a racist before now? What does that say about your powers of perception? Your ability to lead?”

Inside Tuesday’s press conference.Getty Images

That’s when the job gets a little tougher for Silver, and for the league that is now his league. Silver is smart. He is tough. He will have an answer for that, and will have to hope that his owners are equally tough when their own quirks and peccadillos are questioned by Sterling and the glut of depositions and discoveries that are sure to come. He did well for himself, The Boss did.

Now he has to keep doing well, when all that’s on the line is the future of his league.