Donald Sterling

Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen and Larry Ellison will join together in a bid to buy the Los Angeles Clippers if the NBA's board of governors votes to force Donald Sterling to sell the team, Geffen told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Wednesday.

Geffen said he and Ellison would run the team, while Winfrey would be an investor.

"Oprah is not interested in running the team," Geffen told Schaap. "She thinks it would be a great thing for an important black American to own [another] franchise.

"The team deserves a better group of owners who want to win. Larry would sooner die than fail. I would sooner die than fail. Larry's a sportsman. We've talked about this for a long time. Between the three of us, we have a good shot."

Winfrey's spokesperson, Nicole Nichols, issued a statement later Wednesday, confirming Geffen's claim.

But, if what you say is accurate - and I have no reason to doubt it - it's the same scenario as a paid sportscaster dude making a wince-worthy gaffe - and being fired.

Those were a some teachable moments among many that sparked a national conversation on race. And then, as always, once the initial shock wore off and the outrage died down or was redirected, nothing happened. As I wrote in the aftermath of the Gates arrest, there is a reason nothing happens. Conversations on race are deeply personal and require that we talk to each other, one on one and face to face. But they also require trust. Time and time again, we have seen that there is absolutely no trust at the national level to have these complicated and uncomfortable discussions.
But in the messy life of Donald Sterling here is the one thing he did right. He talked openly and honestly with a trusted friend about race.

it's the same scenario as a paid sportscaster dude making a wince-worthy gaffe - and being fired.

Sanctimony sells, and since there is no shortage of people who embrace sanctimony free of charge, now that it can turn a profit we are doomed to be inundated with it.

The situation is not anywhere near like a sportscaster being fired.

I don't quite understand your response to my post.

I think there HAS been quite a scene around Sterling's remarks - and he has been banned for LIFE from ...what? ever going to a basketball game? Plus 2 and a half million dollars? Argue if you like, but this is a HUGE response. He'll likely be forced to sell his team. He is excoriated roundly on social media. So, starting by saying we haven't burned him at the stake seem like you're just trying to hard to argue. He's pretty crispy.

He's a billionaire. $2.5M (the NBA max fine) is nothing to him. (He bought his set-up bitch 4 cars that amount to about $1M)

He deserves to be chastised for what he said. That today is a Social Media World is his misfortune, but doesn't minimize the price he should pay in this regard.

When he is "forced" to sell his team, he will make billions. I should be so lucky as to be forced to do something.

The only other thing I said was I had to learn more about the reach of the NBA against owners before I could develop a reasoned opinion. You seem to have some of those facts.

He didn't say to harm blacks, or make any enormous, stupid stereotypical statement about blacks. He just told some golddigging chick she better not post any public pictures with blacks. I'm most definitely not defending this guy. I know his racist history, but it still bothers me that he was being baited by this money-grubber, made a stupid but pretty mild racist statement - and the world acted like they caught him wearing a hood.

Whether or not you think what he said a a big deal, it turned out to be just this...a very big deal.

Although I have to defer to your superior understanding of league rules, outside that - it seems a bit overblown. But, if what you say is accurate - and I have no reason to doubt it - it's the same scenario as a paid sportscaster dude making a wince-worthy gaffe - and being fired.

Footnote Stirling was fined once for the misdeed of moving the team with out permission and he counter suit the league so they ended up settling for a greatly reduce fine.

If the agreement was rock solid there would had been no need for them to had back down over the fine.

Apparently you have no concept of economically advantageous settlements. This is why so many trial lawyers are out there abusing the system.


The bottom line is that you are caterwauling about free speech and this has nothing to do with that. Sterling can, very possibly, tie up the NBA in litigation for years to come (again, abuse of the system), but it doesn't mean he is either morally or legally right.

The man is a bigot, his team is overwhelmingly African-American and they, rightly or wrongly, are very pissed off. He can take your advice and stick it to his erstwhile "friends" with protracted litigation, or he can man-up and accept that he f*cked up and take his additional millions (if not billions) upon selling the team and doing right by the league.

BTW - This isn't the first time this bigot revealed his racism.

You are tilting at windmills and without any of the charm or nobility of Don Quixote.

What I don't get is how this has far wider societal implications.

This is an NBA issue. It is not an American issue