I decided yesterday I would write a blog about billionaire Donald Sterling and his banishment from the NBA following the publicity around his racist attitude. But as I read about Sterling and the situation that brought about his basketball demise I was so filled with disgust that I was not sure where to begin. I am still not sure what to say about a man with such a history of racism. Then there is the fact that the scandal broke because his girlfriend secretly taped him in order to incriminate him probably in order to build a smokescreen to protect her from a likely lawsuit from his estranged wife. It goes on and on and for the most part shows depravity, lust and greed.
The revelations forced the NBA to discipline a man who has been know to be racist but who until now was not censored for it. The ban and the $2.5 million fine will probably mean little to Sterling – what’s a couple of million to a billionaire? But the players have spoken positively, and with gratitude, for the action taken and claim that it has taken a stand against racism. Yes, but the NBA also needed to protect the game and the franchises from a scandal that could have had a serious financial impact. I am skeptical. True, the NBA stood up against racism but it was only when it hit the headlines. It seems everybody knew Sterling was repellent from the get-go.
If there is anything good that can come from this it is that racsim is in the headlines and that people have seen one person punished for statements that were reprehensible. Let’s hope the tolerance is contagious.
