Bomani Jones absolutely nailed this entire Donald Sterling situation.
I know, I know: its not Tech or NCAA related, but it is truly an amazing listen on the state of sports, racism, and tabloid journalism in our world today that'll make you think.
I figured some of y'all may be interested.
(h/t @bunkieperkins)
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Bomani Jones has the perfect voice for radio.
Bomani is tight.
LeBatard has been savvy to latch onto Bomani as much as possible. Jones provides some of the most entertaining & insightful takes on sports media these days. I don't think ESPN has determined how to best use him, though. It will be interesting to follow his path in the future.
His best path leads away from ESPN
I tend to agree with you. I turn the radio to ESPN Xtra and listen to Paul Finebaum.
That's possible, but Bomani is rather mercenary in his approach. Thus, he could end up outside the world of sports entertainment just as easily as inside. He's also talked often about having no emotion towards his employers, regardless of their status. If ESPN would devise a show featuring him in a vein similar to OTL or E60, etc. with some foils to utilize, I think he would really enhance his reputation.
So you're telling me Bomani Jones is the Joel Caleb of ESPN?
Or Chris Mangus. Take your pick.
I'm not gonna find it, but Charles Barkley was actually pretty good yesterday about this too. The problem is that he isn't the most articulate guy in the world, but his heart was in the right place.
I heard this too, and I will agree
PREACH!!!!!!!
That was awesome
Haven't listened to the audio yet, but Jones wrote about this in 2006.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jones/060810
Stephen Jackson was on there yesterday and he was quite the listen as well. He's quite a passionate guy.
I personally found Mark Cuban's view on the whole incident the most accurate and Bomani Jones hit it on the nail too.
Edit: They have just banned Sterling from the LA Clippers for life. Does that mean he no longer owns it or does he have to sell it?
Silver, himself, can't force a sale; however, he can protest to the NBA Board of Governors, the owners, to vote on a forced sale.
Banned for Life now
I personally find this a bit far fetched for the NBA commissioner to do on an incident like this but I havent heard whether he will have to force the owner to sell LA or how that all goes down.
Sources say that a 75% vote by the owners will effectively force a sale.
Not sure if the NBA wants to force the sell. Keep in mind he paid $12M for the Clippers. I've seen estimates of $500M-$1B for the franchise. Do the other owners want him to make that kind of profit based on his issues?
I don't think they care what kind of profits he makes. Right now, this is overshadowing the best playoffs we've seen in a long time. The faster Sterling is disassociated with the league, the faster the media can move past it, which means the owners can start to capitalize (and make money) off the NBA's current success.
Sadlly the issue is we know that the media wont let this rest its the best bit of news theyve had to report on in a long time and they beat it till its long dead, for example malaysia airlines.
That increases the value of their teams, they will love it. Especially when they can say to their respective fan bases - 'Hey, I voted to dump the guy. I'm the opposite of him... Build me a new arena'
He is banned and all of this is being covered but what about the openly racist comments by Larry Johnson who is currently an exec in the Knicks organization saying that black folks should start their own black only league with "our teams, our owners". Why isn't this being covered at all? Where is the outcry from this?
I am not defending anyone here but Sterling made private comments that were exposed. Johnson said this publicly and no one sees this as a bad thing.
1) Donald Sterling owns an NBA team, Larry Johnson doesn't.
2) Generally, when one race of people enslave another race of people for hundreds of years, the race that gets enslaved gets a little more leeway in terms of "making radical racial comments", even if it's a couple hundreds years after the fact.
3) Nobody gives a fuck what Larry Johnson thinks
4) Nobody gives a fuck what Larry Johnson thinks
5) Sterling has had a history of racial discrimination but "no smoking gun". After decades of being morally reprehensible, there's finally tangible proof he's a giant douchebag, which is cause for celebration...I'll give Sterling this much: someone who is able to accumulate 2 billion dollars without coming from money or going to the "right" schools has to be pretty savvy about shit. The fact it took this long to finally produce the "tipping point" moment for him was impressive on his part.
Racism is racism.
I don't give a fuck who said what, if you're going to call out Person A for racism, you sure as shit better be ready to call out Person B when they say something racist, too.
As a society we'll never be able to get past race if we aren't willing to treat all racists in the same way. But that's not what we do. We counter racism with more racism. We have Charles Barkley calling the NBA a black league on the air. We have writers for the LA Times telling Sterling to buy a NHL team so he doesn't have to deal with minorities anymore. Both of those comments are bad, and are racist in their own right, and should be called out as such.
I realize this blog doesn't cover the scope of this topic so I'll try to keep this brief...
I absolutely agree with you but unfortunately we don't live in perfect world. I'm not African-American so I only have my personal viewpoint to go by (which is in no way an authoritative view, I'm just a person with an opinion and a keyboard) but when an entire race of individuals have been subjugated to less than human status for several generations, they're probably entitled to a level of resentment and hatred towards a group of people that actively hindered their own evolution. Does it make "reverse racism" right? Of course not, but at least it's somewhat understandable.
Do I condone what Larry Johnson said? Absolutely not, he's a fucking dumbass. However, the media doesn't have enough time to call out every idiotic, racially charged opinion by any individual who have some semblance of notoriety. There are only 24 hours in a day, there isn't time to lend a bullhorn to everyone with an opinion (that's what twitter is for).
I'm pretty sure that makes you an expert on the internet.
1) Owner or executive it doesn't matter
2) That is complete bullshit. Every person should be treated the same regardless of color. Just because ancestors did something to other ancestors has nothing to do with how people should act now.
3) Nobody should give a fuck what Sterling thinks either if that is your argument.
4) See #3
5) Sterling had it coming no doubt and I am not defending his comments at all. I just hate the double standard and there is no excuse for a double standard. If one group is fighting to stop the prejudice against their race, the shouldn't be given a pass when they openly are being prejudice against a different race as well.
I just don't see why what Johnson said was any less of an issue. Imagine a MLB exec saying they should start an all white league again. There should be the same disciplinary action for the MLB exec and Johnson regardless of what color they are.
1) Agree
2) Agree
3) Agree
4) Agree
5) Agree
@NickVT10 I bet you make girls pay on the first date...
I think Johnson's comments were meant to be a tongue-in-cheek jab at the NBA for not taking immediate action/letting this go on for years, whereas Sterling has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a bigot.
Additionally, in a society where equality is assumed to be a given, but the minority is (by definition) underrepresented, the minority receives leeway regarding comments like this. Whether you believe that to be fair or offensive, it's the way it is.
There are also rumors saying Sterling can not sell the team regardless of a vote. He owns the team and if he wants to keep it he can. Also he has come out and said no players on the team can opt out for free agency this year.
The guy seems like an absolute a hole, if I were the clippers I would not even show up for the rest of the games and protest the man.
That was kind of my quick thoughts on the matter. How do other owners force him to sell if he doesn't want to. Also I don't know that the Owners are going to be quick to vote on forcing him to sell. Once an owner has been forced to sell for something other than a legal reason (or any reason) they are setting up a precedent that can then be used against them in the future.
Sterling could also say, okay I will sell for 2 billion. That is my asking price, no offers then I am keeping my team.
As for the ban, how does the NBA commissioner have the right right to ban the owner from attending his own games or calling the shots? HE OWNS THE TEAM.
As I understand it it's because of the NBA bylaws. Yes he owns the team, but that team has joined the league and agreed to the rules. Your team isn't worth much if it's not in the league. I don't know how the forced sell works, but again it's in the rules that the team has agreed to by being in the league.
Sterling agreed to certain bylaws when he purchased the team, a franchise of the Association. Thus he must abide by the regulations. Yes, he can and probably will dispute this, but he will lose. This goes to arbitration, not a court, and the treatment of the circumstances will make the difference. The other owners can 'force' the sell with a 75% approval vote, which you can be certain Adam Silver has already acquired with a comfortable cushion. I would expect a unanimous vote, and Silver to announce the result in a show of transparency. If Sterling still refuses, then the Association takes the team from him and resell it to the buyer of their choice. Sterling's conundrum is that if he fights too much, the team will be taken and the sale price will be lower. In January, Forbes valued the team at $575M. However, based on the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks, whom Forbes valued at $405M, which was $570M for a bad team in a bad market with a bad arena. Given their location, the Clippers will go for a billion or more. Sterling gets a lot more cash, but loses what he cherishes much more - his publicity and ego stroke.
These could be fun.
-Donald Sterling can come back once Derrick Rose comes back.
-Donald Sterling can come back when the Browns win a Super Bowl.
-Donald Sterling can come back when Pete Rose plays again.
-Donald Sterling can come back if UVA wins the Commonwealth Cup.
-Donald Sterling can come back when I marry Wendy Peffercorn.
- Donald Sterling can come back when this rain ends in virginia.
Donald Sterling can come back when Mike London learns how to use timeouts properly
Donald Sterling can return when someone actually attends a UVA Spring Game.
More jokes about Donald Sterling than fans at UVA's spring game
Even after all I've read it seems like the ban doesnt mean a whole lot until they board of owners meets to vote on what to do because he still owns the team so he is therefor still associated with the team. I for one hate that of all the things going on in the world this is the one thing everyone chooses to inform themselves on, there are plenty of other greater things, happier things at that, we could turn our attention too and instead we focus on a racist comment.
Another point I would add is that incase you didnt know Spike Lee actually works or is employed by the NBA and after all the lovely things he has said how come there isnt anyone going after him? Until we as society eliminate double standards these issues will continue hanging around and drag us down as a whole.
To be concise, the ban from any NBA contact is in effect now, the sale of the team waits for the owners' vote. Silver can ban someone without any input from the owners. The ban means he has zero input on the team as well.
Thought about making a comment and the further I scrolled through the comments the more I'm like
Basically sums up how I feel on the issue as a whole though.
The clippers have announced their new owner.
The best Chappelle show skit ever! Kills me every time.
I'm not sure what people (especially athletics-minded folks) think they accomplish anymore by being racist. I've met enough dumb, ignorant, lazy, and all-around crappy people of enough races to know that I never want to limit myself to associating with just one group of people.
My favorite comment that I've read on the Sterling tape came from Matt Walsh's blog:
Sadly true.