#NBA Expected to Fine and Suspend Racist Beverly Hills Liberal Donald Sterling

Sterling's eventually gonna go the Marge Schott route. It's only a matter of time.

It's like Charles Barkley said: It's a "black league."

What can I say? Couldn't happen to a more classic West Los Angeles liberal.

At LAT, "Table set for NBA action on Sterling as sponsors flee":

A stream of sponsors cut ties with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Mayor Eric Garcetti called for the harshest possible punishment Monday as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver prepared to announce the results of his investigation into remarks about blacks attributed to team owner Donald Sterling.

Sterling's purported comments were widely condemned, and the commissioner, after three months as leader of the 30-team league, confronts one of the most unsettling crises the NBA has faced in recent years.

Although NBA bylaws give the pro basketball league the power to oust owners in limited circumstances, experts said Silver would more likely hit the Clippers' owner with a sizable fine and a lengthy suspension, perhaps with the intent of pressuring the real estate magnate into selling the franchise he has owned for 33 years.

"He'll tell Sterling, 'If you choose to stay, I won't let you go to any games,' " predicted Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College economics professor and a former consultant to the NBA players association. "'I won't let you make any personnel decisions. I won't let you communicate with the general manager, hire anybody in the front office, or talk to the media. You could do that, or sell the team … and walk away with a $700-million capital gain.' "

Sterling paid $12 million in 1981 for the team in San Diego and three years later moved the Clippers to Los Angeles. Years of losing would ensue, but the team's fortunes and value have risen precipitously in the last few years. Forbes magazine recently valued the team at $575 million, though some in the sports world think the franchise could sell for as much as $700 million.

The websites TMZ and Deadspin posted audio recordings over the weekend of a man they identified as Sterling chastising a female friend for making public her association with blacks. The conversation took place after the woman, V. Stiviano, posted an Instagram photo of herself posing with Lakers great Magic Johnson.

On Monday, 15 Clippers advertisers said they have terminated or suspended their sponsorship, although most expressed their continued support for the team's players, coaches and fans...

Continue reading.

Previously Donald Sterling liberal racism blogging here.