Donald Sterling has been in the news over the past few weeks because of racist remarks recorded by his girlfriend/“archivist”. She lead him into a conversation that saw the 80 year old owner of the Los Angeles Clippers spew hateful rhetoric and then try to justify it by saying it’s just how it is.
This tape was eventually leaked, as they all are, and now we have a media storm surrounding him and what the players, coaches and NBA owners think about what should or should not have been done about what he said!
NBA brass stood up and fined him $2.5 million, banned him from having any affiliation with the NBA for life and stated that they would recommend that he be forced to sale the team! Yeah, victory!
Whelp, not so fast, he says he’s not giving up without a fight, but it’s proving hard to find council because his name is so toxic now! Law firms are afraid of being labeled as sympathetic to a racist so most of the big boys are declining what would be millions of dollars in revenues to steer clear of a sensationalized trial that would probably still lead to the inevitable, him being forced to sale the team.
In steps his wife, she claims that she should not be punished because of what Donald said, and that she should be able to purchase the team instead of someone else. What!
So in her mind, her owning the team, in California, a Community Property state, where all assets acquired while married are considered to be 50/50 for spouses, no matter who owns it, means that he doesn’t own the team! Who are you kidding, if you own it, he still owns it, thats simple.
I know that in a capitalistic society, you shouldn’t be forced to sale your company because you’re a racist, lets face it, half of the Fortune 500 owners would be selling but the NBA isn’t the same as a regular ole capitalist offering. They have rules and bylaws that govern the owners behavior as well as the players, and all levels of management.
The truth is, if the GM, CEO or President of any major corporation or any sports franchise, NFL, NHL, or MLB included made blatantly racist statements, they’d be fired also, and never would be able to associate with that sport again! (see Marge Schott)
So the fact that Sterling and his wife think that they shouldn’t be punished speaks volumes to their mentalities!
There is no way that he could think that what he said didn’t come from the mouth of a racist, as he claims that he likes helping Blacks, and Magic Johnson doesn’t, so how could he be racist!
White privilege has afforded him the life of, if I give to Black charities, but I think they stink and don’t want to rent to them, I’m not a racist!
If I objectify them and then brag about their beautiful Black bodies, like slave masters used to do, I’m not a racist!
If they work for me and they help me make $100’s of millions of dollars, and I articulate that as, “I clothe them, feed them, and buy them cars”, as opposed to, I pay them for performing a task, I’m not a racist!
Only a racist can see the comments that he has made since the incident as not racist!
He has a slave masters mentality and the business that he owns “just happens” to be a business that utilizes the athletic prowess and strength of the Black male to make money. As a Black male, knowing that my “owner” thinks of me in a similar fashion that slave owners thought about their slaves, would make me do exactly what they planned on doing. Refuse to play for the team unless something is done, and sorry Mrs Sterling, your reputation is intertwined with his, so that goes for you too! As if you didn’t know that he was a racist even though you were married to him for all those years. There’s no way on this planet that a man that would say the types of things he’s said to a half Black and Mexican to her face hasn’t spewed his vile racist opinions at the dinner table, in bed, or while watching TV, on numerous occasions. And no, the interview with Anderson Cooper didn’t help, unless he’s trying to play the senile old man card, and it still doesn’t absolve him from being a racist, he’s just a racist with dementia!
NBA Officiating #NotAsBadAsFansClaim
Since the start of the NBA Finals 2012, I’ve been hearing how bad the officiating has been. Overwhelmingly this criticism has been directed at The Miami Heat, with claims of the officials being on the side of Miami over OKC. Granted the people yelling are almost always on the losing end of any given game, so the only thing they can say is the officials blew the game.
So me being me, I decided to look at the numbers to see what they say. Are the officials really that bad or are angry fans placing their frustrations about losing square in the lap of NBA referees? So here are the numbers.
In the 4 games played as of 6-19-2012 the Miami Heat has attempted 10 more free throws than the OKC Thunder; 103 – 93. Proof positive that OKC is being shafted; the NBA wants Lebron to win a championship, right! Well if you answered yeah that’s right, then you’re wrong, and here’s why.
Game 1: OKC 20 – 27, Heat 14 – 18
Game 2: OKC 19 – 26, Heat 22 – 25
Game 3: OKC 15 – 24, Heat 31 – 35
Game 4: OKC 15 – 16, Heat 18 – 25
After 3 games Miami was leading by only 1 free throw attempt; OKC was 54 – 77 and Miami was 67 – 78. 1 more attempt but 13 more made over a 3 game span. Then in Game 4 when the complaining reached epidemic proportions the Heat went 18 – 25 vs. OKC’s 15 – 16. Those dirty referee’s were trying to help Miami win, David Stern should fire all of them and then be fired.
Well here’s a little something that you need to take into account before you go all nutty and claim the NBA is rigged. Although I think that the NBA is, and always has been skewed towards their superstar players and big market teams, the officiating still isn’t as bad as fans claim it is.
Why you might ask?
10 more free throw attempts in a 4 game series amounts to 2.5 more attempts per game which boils down to 1.25 more fouls called for Miami over the 4 game period, right. Even if we just focus on the Game 4, you still have to factor in the fact that Miami was leading at the end of the game and OKC had to foul a few times to stop the clock.
So even though Miami got 4 more fouls called for them in Game 4 than OKC, which resulted in 9 free throw attempts, 6 of those attempts (3 fouls) were in the last few minutes of the game when OKC was fouling intentionally to stop the clock and get the ball back at half court.
Now let’s look back a couple of games and then you realize that each game was close till the end, all nail biters. Anybody that knows basketball knows that in the last couple minutes of a game when it’s close, teams will intentionally foul their opponents to stop the clock and get the ball back. This has been NBA strategy since I’ve been watching basketball. The same thing occurred at the end of the last 3 games, in which Miami won. So in reality, Miami really isn’t up in attempts or actual fouls being called in their favor, because NBA strategy dictates that you foul players in close games when the clock is winding down.
But that’s not what all the animosity is about is it; it’s about a bunch of Lebron hating NBA fans being pissed that their team by default, whatever team that plays The Miami Heat, is losing in the NBA Finals, and that’s about it!
Locked Out or Chained Up
The NBA lockout over the past few months has had me wondering. Is the NBA a modern day plantation or a fair and balanced medium that helps lots of would be lower and middle class black men become multi-millionaires?
On one hand; I’d like to believe that it has helped 1000’s of black men become wealthy
individuals over the past 50+ years, which it has done, but is it a case of them selling their souls to become rich? Young black men across the nation have been afforded an opportunity to go from a position in the permanent underclass to a position of wealth and prosperity by learning how to shoot a ball through a hoop. It sounds easy when being said, but it’s actually a very impressive feat when you take into account the fact that only 64 job openings become available each year. Then you will see why being a professional NBA player is a coveted position. 64 young mostly Black men vie for these positions every year and some go on to be multi-millionaires and national names. They get a chance to provide for their families, children, and friends for generations sometimes, unless they mess the money up, which a few have done recently. So at a glance, you can’t beat it. You get a chance to become rich, famous and sought after but the price becomes evident when you decide to buck the system.
One the other hand I can’t help but notice that every criteria used to evaluate a
potential NBA player is the exact same as the criteria used to evaluate the
slave when being sold at auction. I can still remember the remarks from the Bulls Continue reading