On the heels of the racist Donald Sterling fiasco the nation is ready to move on. Rev. Al Sharpton met with NBA Comissioner Adam Silver yesterday to discuss how to prevent such people from rearing their heads in the league. Meanwhile The sale of Sterling's old team the LA Clippers to ex-Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer has people wondering whether he will try to be hands-on or let the company run itself, which it does rather well.
Rev. Sharpton, still a respected leader in the African-American community, sought parlay with Adam Silver yesterday to discuss a more stringent vetting process for members of the NBA community (via New York Daily News):
"'There needs to be in place [a process] where people are questioned in [regard to] their relationship to people of other races -- do they have any problems with diversity? -- so we don't end up with a Donald Sterling in the future,' Sharpton told the Daily News Tuesday."
Conversely, the attitude in the basketball world is that new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer should just keep his hands off a good thing. The team is competing at its highest level in franchise history under head coach/vice president Doc Rivers. The only thing Ballmer could do to mess it up is to get in the way (via Forbes):
"The Clippers already had a stand-alone, basketball operation under coach-VP Doc Rivers-Sterling having been miraculously neutralized over a period of years by a succession of doomed Clippers...
"Only a megalomaniac could miss this but there are some around. In any case, Doc's not shy about asserting his prerogatives...
"The new owner, Steve Ballmer, arrived like the U.S. Cavalry to rescue the fallen franchise. In fact, there's one overriding imperative, which it would be nice if he could get right, unlike so many of the new wealthy owners....
"Don't touch a thing."
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