After the disgusting racist comments made by LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling were made public, the NBA fined Sterling and banned him from the league for life. The controversy has been played out in the news and on the internet for nearly a month. Now the NBA are officially seeking to strip the team from him citing breach of contract with the league.
On Monday the NBA filed official charges against Sterling asserting that Sterling has violated the terms to which the owner of an NBA team must adhere (via USA Today):
"The league said Sterling's actions and positions significantly undermine the NBA's efforts to promote diversity and inclusion; damage the NBA's relationship with its fans; harm NBA owners, players and Clippers team personnel; and impair the NBA's relationship with marketing and merchandising partners, as well as with government and community leaders. Mr. Sterling engaged in other misconduct as well, including issuing a false and misleading press statement about this matter."
Sterling, according to the document, failed to comply with the bylaws of the league, violating ethics and morality clauses in the contract. Sterling has been given a week to formally respond but has already been saying he plans to fight the decision.
According to the bylaws, a three quarters majority is required to move forward with expulsion from the league.
Most legal experts agree this will be a long and messy proceeding that, if Sterling chooses to fight, could take years to resolve.
On top of the scummy ugliness that this whole situation has wrought is that a very talented team and coach have been made to suffer through this. They fought valiantly in the playoffs and stand a good chance of contending next year- if the Clippers still exist next year.
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