Sterling’s reputation, words deserve loss of Clippers

One by one, we’re hearing NBA owners weigh in with outrage on the repugnant, racist comments alleged to have been made by dean of their lodge, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling.

Think about that for a moment: Sterling is the longest currently tenured owner in the association, having purchased the then-San Diego Clippers in 1981.

Yet, despite his history — a record $2.75 million to settle a federal housing discrimination suit in 2009 and allegations of past racist comments — nobody in the NBA had seen fit to call him on it.

Maybe they tolerated him because, until recently, his franchise was such a mismanaged pushover. Perhaps they were afraid if they pushed too hard their own discretions might become actionable. Or, maybe, as a billionaire, he and his alleged "Southern plantation-type structure" just got a pass.

But now it is the owners, as much as their newly hired commissioner, Adam Silver, the third in Sterling’s reign, who have the ball in their hands on this one.

And if the racist rant is authenticated, they need to do more than just put up an air ball.

At the least, the NBA owners, who have for so long tolerated him in their midst, must make sure that he has made his last courtside appearance and is banished.

They could, for example, suspend him indefinitely and fine him. They could take away draft picks.

But what they should do, assuming they can summon the requisite backbone, is threaten to terminate his franchise unless he pledges to sell it, pronto. That mandate would require a 75 percent vote of the 30 owners, but if the outrage we’re hearing is genuine, compel to sell is the best course of action.

They need to say they want no part of the vile comments or any association with anyone who voices them.

If disgust isn’t enough to motivate the 29 other owners to oust Sterling, then consideration of their own bottom line ought to be. For as long as Sterling operates the Clippers, even in absentia, they are going to be a drag on attendance and every other part of the financial picture that the owners find holy.

The owners knew of the vast gap in salary Sterling was paying Elgin Baylor compared to white general managers and allegations he described the NBA great as "a token." Allegations that Sterling said, "Personally, I would like to have a white Southern coach coaching poor black players," were not unknown to them.

Nor was it any secret in 2009, when Sterling settled with the government after the feds produced evidence that Sterling had made statements indicating that "African-Americans and Hispanics were not desireable tenants and they preferred Korean tenants in properties he owned."

How many times behind closed doors in plush meeting rooms with other owners, you have to wonder, did Sterling air his rubbish? And did anybody dare to call him on it?

The NBA commissioner has touted the "broad powers" of the office available in the case. After turning a blind eye and deaf ear for too long, it is about time the owners prevailed upon him to use them.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com. or 529-4820