NardDogNation wrote:With the Sterling-gate unfolding, we're already seeing people distancing themselves from him and the Clippers as an organization (see Magic's comments). If the NBA is unable to get Sterling to sell, I would have to think that guys like CP3 and Blake Griffin leaving; if for no other reason than to protect their brand and marketability. Is there any way the Knicks could capitalize on this in 2015?

No, I'm pretty sure the NBA organization would make sure Sterling sell the team and keep the roster (freeze) as is. They can even own the team until a new owner buys it off their hand. Not sure if the players can automatically leave the team legally in this case.

CrushAlot wrote:

JamesLin wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:With the Sterling-gate unfolding, we're already seeing people distancing themselves from him and the Clippers as an organization (see Magic's comments). If the NBA is unable to get Sterling to sell, I would have to think that guys like CP3 and Blake Griffin leaving; if for no other reason than to protect their brand and marketability. Is there any way the Knicks could capitalize on this in 2015?

No, I'm pretty sure the NBA organization would make sure Sterling sell the team and keep the roster (freeze) as is. They can even own the team until a new owner buys it off their hand. Not sure if the players can automatically leave the team legally in this case.

Simmons was just saying he sees no way Sterling sells the team or is forced to sell.

Pretty much. Was looking at the timeline for Marge Schott's ouster with the Reds and she basically had interests in the team until the day she died. As much as it's a different sport, there are usually patterns of business protocols that are consistent in all of professional sports. The press conference that was just hosted by Adam Silver did not seem to dispute that point. The only punitive measures at his disposal seemed to be sanctions, which would probably be a slap on the wrist.

VCoug wrote:I think we should definitely try to capitalize! All we need to do is find someone who sounds like Dolan and record him going on a racist rant. Then, hopefully we can get Dolan run out of town!

Just remember what you type online is never erased. Basically u just set yourself up for anybody to do this and watch u take the blame....

smackeddog wrote:Even if he is forced to sell, it's hardly a punishment, he bought the Clips cheap- if the Bucks can get $500mil, he might get almost a billion.

It might be a little over a billion. The Knicks are worth more than a billion and you figure with the looming TV deal the NBA is expected to sign, combined with how good the team already is, with a payroll that is still below the tax apron, the Clippers could easily sell for a billion. That would, in effect, nearly double Sterling's net worth, so he certainly would not be a loser in all of this.

Nalod wrote:

dk7th wrote:i hope the league forces sterling to sell to a black billionaire like robert l. johnson. anything short of getting rid of this pathetic loser is going to severely hamper the league as a force for positive social change.

Mr Robert "BOBCAT" Johnson?

he no longer owns that team.

Nalod wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Nalod wrote:

dk7th wrote:i hope the league forces sterling to sell to a black billionaire like robert l. johnson. anything short of getting rid of this pathetic loser is going to severely hamper the league as a force for positive social change.

Mr Robert "BOBCAT" Johnson?

he no longer owns that team.

Yep, and you think he wants another one?

after his divorce his wife got half of his fortune, he went from one of the few black billionaires to not being one.. he lost his money in that divorce not sure he wants to get mixed up owning an nba franchise again...

tkf wrote:

Nalod wrote:

dk7th wrote:

Nalod wrote:

dk7th wrote:i hope the league forces sterling to sell to a black billionaire like robert l. johnson. anything short of getting rid of this pathetic loser is going to severely hamper the league as a force for positive social change.

Mr Robert "BOBCAT" Johnson?

he no longer owns that team.

Yep, and you think he wants another one?

after his divorce his wife got half of his fortune, he went from one of the few black billionaires to not being one.. he lost his money in that divorce not sure he wants to get mixed up owning an nba franchise again...

the best thing to have take place is that the clippers become a black-owned franchise. and i think there has to be a way to punish him financially in the process.

i suppose it's great news that lowlifes like him are literally a dying breed but i have to wonder if, for all the so-called progress america has made, that impressionable young people will continue to be indoctrinated into the ways of bigotry. seems like an enduring problem no matter where or when.

Nalod wrote:I read Magic and his group will make a play for it.

I don't know why a black owned group is the best for Clippers? It would be an emotional fix but I'd say you want an owner with deep pockets that can buy it, and have money to fund it.

Sterling and his wife have been separated for years. Divorce seems likely now and if so might be cause to sell the team if the finances don't work out.

I don't know how the CLippers are structured regarding ownership. Does he have partners? How is the holding company set up? Estate planning ramifications? Taxes due if sold?

Lots of questions and planning goes in when an old guy owns the team and little is anticipated when the old fool makes a mockery of himself.

We talking a billion dollar franchise, not chump change. Donald sterling is very wealthy but all the above starts to complicate a situation. The owners want him out but really just want this fixed. How that gets done? I don't know.

a black-owned group is best for the clippers, the nba, and american society. i hesitate to use the term "symbolic" because it feels patronizing. however, in a league that is predominantly african-american, we as americans need to see more black ownership so that there's a better chance of moving away from the "plantation model" that david west mentioned.

bill rhoden wrote a book called "40 million dollar slaves" that raises this issue, even calling out robert l. johnson for not doing enough as a black owner to effect genuine social change. not to say that i agree with rhoden-- johnson and michael jordan (who rhoden also takes to task) are not obliged to be social activists-- but in this instance of the clippers something positive must come out of this and black ownership would be ideal. am i right? (by the way rhoden is a terrible writer.)