Chris Paul saying he might sit out if Sterling still owns the team.

No doubt this is a players league now and no doubt the scenario with sterling is unprecedented but it raises the issue of contracts and living up to them.

I can't put myself in Paul's shoes and begin to understand what it would feel like to have an employer like Sterling but........

1. Contracts can be traded, he does not alway get to choose the team he plays for unless he has a no trade clause.
2. If he blows his knee out he gets paid. His talent goes away, he gets paid.
3. If the shoe was on the other food adn a player said he don't like white people, but then said he was sorry, an owner could not refuse to pay him. His trade value would plummet and an owner would be stuck with a player who is racist. What about a white player (similar to the Eagles receiver last year) who makes a racist remark and say the NBA team owner was a black man?

Im not saying Paul is right or wrong here. He has sponsers to consider and the move may even enhance his image. What his is doing would be a statement of righteousness. He could also play and donate his salary to a cause that actually could help people as well.

There is a lot of gray area here. The NBA acted swiftly and has Dick Parsons in place to run the team. Sterling is and would be nowhere near the team.

I think the statements from Doc Rivers and CP3 might help the current litigation process that if the sale does not go thru it would hurt the franchise value. When your star coach and player make threats it further would damage the team. A judge would have to consider this.

Most franchises sell for 5-6 times revenue. Clips sold for 12x!!!!!

Basically its simple, to walk away from that valuation you'd have to be CRAZY and thus, the judge SHOULD rule along these lines. The man is arguing not the price, but that they can't make him sell!!!

They can. Problem is timing. The more he fights, the less money he gets. He don't care about that.

Man must be out of his mind right???

Keeping it simple.....If Chris Paul refuses to play, will the clips trade him? Is easy for a top player to do something like this. Players that make salaries closer to the minimum can't afford to play that game. I'm sure there might be fines involved. Maybe a period where a team could look to void a players contact? If not there should be. It's just a mess either way.

NYKBocker wrote:I applaud him for his convictions. I don't think I would do the same.

chris paul had no problem cashing those checks.. the NBA has acted swiftly and decisively with sterling, the rest is legal that can't be settled overnight, but sterling is no longer part of the NBA.. and actions like this from chris paul only keep sterling relevant..

Play ball, and shut up chris. let the NBA handle sterling..

tkf wrote:

Rookie wrote:There is no grey area. Sterling is banned from basketball for life. The sale and litigation have to run it's own course. Sterling is bat **** crazy. The dude should just take his 2B and walk away and live out the few remaining years he has left. The team is worth nowhere near the sale price. I can't believe Doc didn't know what he was walking into when he decided to take the job in the first place, so, hard to feel sorry for him. It's not like Sterling wasn't a documented racist before this last fiasco.

I think a big part of his frustration is the teams inability to sign FA's and improve the team. He hasn't had any trouble taking Sterling's money to date.

exactly, all of this talk and posturing about sitting out is ridiculous... let the legal process run it's course and focus on playing ball...

I'd say some things are bigger in basketball- if I were him, I wouldn't want to play for a racist owner, but then again I wouldn't have signed with the racist owner in the first place! I agree that it was a well known fact that he was racist for years and did a number of disgusting things- CP3 chose to turn a blind eye to that, and now unfortunately will have to live with the consequences of that.

nyvector16 wrote:Both Doc Rivers and now Chris Paul are threatening a walkout...
To me that is only to increase pressure on the sale and increase the NBA's leverage over Sterling.

This is what I believe they're trying to accomplish.

Sterling is very much in play as a major irritant going forward because his wife chose a grey area method attempt to remove his control in family trust

It may come down to how the judge interprets if he was of his right mind to maintain complete control in business decision making.

His name is the only name signed on the family trust to have final say regarding the franchise

What makes Sterling relevant is Sterling//// as he has 2 major cases of suing, possibly a 3rd coming against his wife.

As of now Steve Ballmer does not own the Clippers and all major sponsors have pulled back vowing not to return until it's completely resolved

He's taking on so much financial risk here fighting as his real estate enterprise stands to take a major blow as this drags on, as I figured it would.

Sterling has $500mil worth in real estate loans where the banks are threatening to have all loans recalled, because he's dissolving the trust

His out may come down to leveraging those properties to other potential investors//// who appear at this time not interested in touching his crumbling empire.

At the end of the day he's a stubborn fool determined to burn every bridge on his way out

Not to mention he wants to sell the franchise but on his terms for a now reported $2.5bil.

Although Ballmer was willing to pay a record fee based on a much higher multiple system

nyvector16 wrote:In January, Forbes listed the Clippers team worth at 575 Million.
http://www.forbes.com/teams/los-angeles-clippers/

A recent article I read had the present day value at a max 800 Million.
Sterling is insane to fight this as he is getting more than double what the team is actually worth.

The issue is not the price, its his competency and if the testing was valid.
Stupidity is not in question.

League has the right to snatch the franchise.

We all know Sterling is an ass for years. So did CP3 and Doc.

What about the fans who already bought season tickets? Ultimately isn't the fan who pay's the salaries?
Im watching hoop, Im not watching Sterling. NBA is taking care of its business.

My wife asked me if she thought CP3 was just doing a lot of talking to get his name out there? I mean your never going to look bad not wanting to play for a racist!

I also admire his principles but its July. Lets see them principles in November.

arkrud wrote:I am Jewish and if i will refuse to work for antisemits I will be unemployed for all of my life.
I do not even care or want to know who owns the company I am working for.
Business is business, low is low, and morale is morale. I do not see any reason to mix them up.
When it mixed up the only result is a mess.

You are also broke....compared to cp3. Just like the rest of us. So nobody cares if you decide not to work for your boss. When you talk about the nba....that's another level of money...power...And politics. The average joe would never understand or agree with cp3....I applaud his actions because he's sending a culture message while boosting his image....it's a win....win for him.

Players play, owners pay. Refuse to play or coach, no pay. Hey Chris, I'm sure State Farm's dying to do commercials with an out of work NBA player...

Donald Sterling is a bigoted old idiot who can't even manage his own private life. Maybe CP3 would like to interview all owners in the league? Maybe he should determine if the league is even worth playing in?

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