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In surprise move, NBA bans Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life

NBA players praise a decision by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to ban Donald Sterling from the game. The Clippers owner made racially offensive comments recorded during a private conversation, the NBA confirmed Tuesday.

Acting with breathtaking speed and decisiveness, new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life on Tuesday, fining the NBA鈥檚 longest-standing owner $2.5 million for privately making racist remarks against black people.

The unprecedented decision came less than four days after news broke that a surreptitious audio recording revealed Mr. Sterling telling his girlfriend not to bring black people to Clippers games. In the recording, Sterling also chastised the woman for posting Instagram photos of Hall-of-Fame player Magic Johnson.

The recordings听caused an immediate and widespread furor during the听NBA's lucrative series of playoffs 鈥� the most visible time of the year for the league.

鈥淭he views expressed by Mr. Sterling are deeply offensive and harmful,鈥� said Commissioner Silver in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, saying the NBA had confirmed that the voice on the recordings was indeed Sterling's. 鈥淭hat they came from an NBA owner only heightens the damage and my personal outrage. Sentiments of this kind are contrary to the principles of inclusion and respect that form the foundation of our diverse, multicultural, and multiethnic league.鈥�

For the new commissioner, the stakes couldn鈥檛 be higher. In February, Silver succeeded David Stern, one of the most successful commissioners in the history of professional sports, helping to shape the NBA into a global phenomenon during his 30-year tenure.

鈥淲ow. Just wow. I did not expect this,鈥� says Mark Conrad, director of the sports business program at Fordham University in New York. 鈥淭his was really a bold, gutsy, and important move by the new NBA commissioner, and I think he鈥檒l have a lot of support in the public. He鈥檒l certainly have a lot of support from the players, and I think he will have support from many owners, given what has happened.鈥�

Silver, who said this has been a 鈥減ainful moment for all members of the NBA,鈥� will also urge the NBA鈥檚 board of governors to exercise its authority and force a sale of the team, which requires a three-fourths majority vote of NBA owners. 鈥淸I] will do everything in my power to ensure that that happens,鈥� he said at Tuesday鈥檚 press conference.

The outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, had expressed caution Monday about forcing Sterling out as owner, saying it would be a 鈥渧ery, very slippery slope鈥� to disenfranchise an owner for something said in the privacy of his home.

鈥淲hat Donald said was wrong. It was abhorrent,鈥� before Monday鈥檚 playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. 鈥淭here's no place for racism in the NBA, any business I'm associated with. But at the same time, that's a decision I make. I think you've got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It's a very, very slippery slope.鈥�

But after Tuesday鈥檚 press conference, Mr. Cuban tweeted, 鈥淚 agree 100% with Commissioner Silver's findings and the actions taken against Donald Sterling.鈥�

Sterling鈥檚 comments caused an uproar late last week, sparking protests from players and others. Even President Obama, during a trip to Malaysia, condemned the statements.

By Monday, many of the Clippers' financially critical sponsors had fled. Virgin America, State Farm, Kia Motors America each announced that it would no longer support the team, . CarMax Inc., Red Bull, and AQUAHydrate, the water brand of entertainer P. Diddy, also withdrew their sponsorships.

NBA players rallied around the commissioner, via Twitter, after Tuesday's press conference.

"Commissioner of the @NBA just showed us how he drops the hammer on ignorance," tweeted Jason Collins, the NBA's first and only openly gay player.

"Commissioner Silver thank you for protecting our beautiful and powerful league!! Great leader!!," tweeted two-time champion LeBron James, star of the Miami Heat.

"Way to go, Commissioner Silver! The NBA stands for everybody!" tweeted Magic Johnson, who had been disparaged by Sterling in the recordings.

Silver鈥檚 actions Tuesday were swift, severe, and, in many ways, unprecedented. The NBA has banned only four people for life since the 1970s 鈥� each of them minor players who had violated the league's substance abuse policies

Major League Baseball banned for life its all-time hits leader, Pete Rose, in 1989 after an extensive investigation found that he had gambled on baseball games, including those he managed. More recently, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport. 听听

Many observers surmised before Tuesday鈥檚 categorical ruling that Major League Baseball would provide some precedent for punishing owners. In 1993, the league suspended Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott for a year, fining her $25,000 鈥� or the equivalent of at least $40,000 in today鈥檚 dollars 鈥� for using racial slurs to refer to Jews and blacks.

Baseball also banned Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from day-to-day operation of his team for life in 1990, after he hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on a black player. Steinbrenner was reinstated in 1993, however.

In 2011, MLB also took over the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers, its finances in a shambles under the ownership of Frank McCourt. The Dodgers owner vigorously contested the action, but by 2012, Mr. McCourt鈥檚 ball club filed for bankruptcy, and he eventually sold the team for a record $2 billion to a consortium that included Magic Johnson.

鈥淭he one issue that鈥檚 going to be big is, can you force Donald Sterling to sell his team?鈥� says Fordham University's Mr. Conrad. 鈥淪o there is the potential for lots of litigation on something like this, and who is to say Mr. Sterling, a former litigator himself, is going to take this sitting down.鈥�

The same consortium that includes Magic Johnson and his backers at Guggenheim Partners are in buying the Clippers, which some analysts are saying could cost $1 billion. The Guggenheim group currently owns the WNBA鈥檚 Los Angeles Sparks, one of the league鈥檚 flagship teams.

For many around the NBA, a Johnson-led ownership would provide a kind of redemption to the ugly ordeal, not only buttressing black ownership in a league in which more than 3 of 4 players are black, but also making Johnson the front-and-center owner of two championship-caliber sports teams in Los Angeles, where he won five championships as a player. 听听

Currently, there is听 among the 92 teams in the three major American sports leagues, including the NFL: Michael Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Bobcats.

The NBA commissioner said Sterling鈥檚 record $2.5 million fine, the maximum amount allowed by the league鈥檚 constitution, will be donated to organizations promoting tolerance. These organizations will be selected by both the NBA and the players association.

鈥淪ilver is a brand new commissioner, he has not garnered his own gravitas yet, succeeding someone who was very powerful and successful,鈥� Conrad says. 鈥淎nd I think he could not afford a revolt in the league among the players, among the public, and among the sponsors.鈥�