Donald Sterling Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Silver Bans Sterling For Life, Issues $2.5MM Fine

April 29th, 2014 at 1:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced a lifetime ban and a $2.5MM fine for Clippers owner Donald Sterling. The NBA’s investigation found that it was indeed Sterling expressing racially charged statements on a recording. Sterling has been fined the maximum amount allowable in the NBA’s constitution. Silver will urge the board of governors to force Sterling to sell the team, and the commissioner said he’ll “do everything in my power to ensure that happens.”

Sterling admitted that it was his voice on the recording, Silver said, asserting that the NBA has the authority, with a vote of three quarters of the league’s owners, to force Sterling to sell. The effort to force him out will begin immediately, according to the commissioner, and he expects to receive the support from owners necessary to remove the longtime Clippers boss.

Silver believes the players will be satisfied with the decision, adding that he’s had multiple conversations with Kevin Johnson, who’s acting as the union’s voice during the Sterling saga. The NBA is not considering letting any of the Clippers out of their contracts, according to Silver.

The key response may come from Clippers coach and executive Doc Rivers, who’s expressed uncertainty about whether he’d return to the team if Sterling were to stay as owner. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports suggested earlier today that the Clippers players might follow his lead and ask for trades if Rivers were to leave.

Rumors have linked Magic Johnson to the team as a potential buyer, and Silver said today that Johnson is “always welcome as an owner in this league.” Johnson took to Twitter to express satisfaction with the NBA’s verdict.

The specter of a lawsuit from Sterling remains, and Silver said Sterling didn’t express remorse over his comments. Sterling, an attorney, is notoriously litigious, and there was speculation that the threat of a lawsuit would prompt Silver to opt for a light punishment.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, Chris Mannix of SI.com, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, and A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com provided detail via Twitter.

Clippers, Donald Sterling Rumors: Tuesday

April 29th, 2014 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

With commissioner Adam Silver set to address Donald Sterling’s alleged racist comments in minutes, here’s the latest on the situation:

A source tells Chris Mannix of SI.com that Sterling’s punishment will be “severe,” and while many team officials expect an indefinite suspension, at least, there’s still significant doubt about the NBA’s ability to force Sterling to sell, given the threat that he’d try to sue (Twitter links).
Stuart Pfeifer, Ben Bolch and James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times detail the exodus of sponsors from the Clippers. That might give Silver the means to come down harder on Sterling, attorney Irwin Raij, a sports business attorney of Foley & Lardner in New York, tells the Times.
The Times report includes remarks from a Clippers player who wonders whether he could cite a “hostile work environment” as grounds to escape from his contract. The player declined to be identified because he said he and his teammates were told not to comment on the matter, Pfeifer, Bolch and Rainey write.
Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso is interested in buying the Clippers if they become available, according to Pfeifer, Bolch and Rainey, while sources tell Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison may also have interest.
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, whom the players union has asked to act as its voice in the Sterling saga, acknowledges says that the players believe he should no longer own the team, as Johnson writes on Facebook. The mayor nonetheless acknowledges the league might not have the power to strip the team from Sterling, though he calls for an indefinite suspension and the maximum possible fine.
Hawks owner Bruce Levenson would vote to oust Sterling or force him to sell the team, as he told 92.9 The Game, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Mavs owner Mark Cuban, meanwhile, is concerned about the “slippery slope” that might be created if the NBA were to remove an owner based his comments alone, notes Tim McMahon of ESPN.com.

Wojnarowski’s Latest: Sterling, Rivers, Johnson

April 29th, 2014 at 8:12am CST by Chuck Myron

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has news on the Donald Sterling fiasco, with the league and the player’s union set to address the issue this afternoon. Let’s dive in:

Sources tell Wojnarowski that Doc Rivers won’t return to the team next year if Sterling remains, suggesting that it would set off a player revolt that might end up with the team’s stars demanding trades.
Several league officials, including owners and members of the Board of Governors, tell Wojnarowski that they believe the commissioner has been contemplating calling for a vote among owners to strip the franchise from Sterling and take the team under league control until it can be sold.
A former Clippers official tells Wojnarowski that Sterling is enjoying the spotlight of the scandal, glad that the focus is off Rivers and the players and back on him. Sterling is likely to fight the NBA until the very end, the source tells Wojnarowski.
Though Magic Johnson took to Twitter to deny Wojnarowski’s earlier report that he’s interested in buying the team, Johnson wants to be in a position to purchase the club if it becomes available, Wojnarowski asserts. Johnson and potential investors spent time on Monday investigating the possibility of buying the team, sources tell Wojnarowski.
Sterling’s estranged wife, Rochelle, who often goes by Shelly, believes she can wind up with the Clippers, but Silver and the rest of the league owners aren’t amenable to that solution, sensing that the team must leave the family’s hands, Wojnarowski writes.
When Sterling nearly blocked the J.J. Redick sign-and-trade last summer, people close to the owner believe that it was in part because Sterling worried that Redick’s four-year, $27.755MM deal was too much for a white player, Wojnarowski hears. Sterling believes that black players possess superior athleticism, strength, and talent, according to Wojnarowski.

And-Ones: McGary, Daniels, Rockets, Raptors

April 28th, 2014 at 8:54pm CST by Zachary Links

There were a lot of no-brainer decisions when it came to early entry players in the 2014 Draft, but it was questionable for others. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req’d) looks at who made the right call and who didn’t. Michigan’s Mitch McGary, Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis, and UCLA’s Kyle Anderson get the thumbs up. JaKarr Sampson of St. John’s, Alex Kirk of New Mexico, and New Mexico State’s Sim Bhullar are among the players who Goodman thinks should have stayed in school. More from around the Association..

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has an idea for ridding the NBA of Clippers owner Donald Sterling: letting all of his players become free agents. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle has the goods.
The Hawks, Bulls, Cavs, Bucks and Magic all had interest in Troy Daniels this February before the Rockets inked the sudden playoff hero shortly after the trade deadline, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling. Daniels was close to taking an offer from Australia for $70K last fall, Zwerling tweets. His agent advised him to instead dominate in the D-League to get an NBA offer and his gameplan worked.
Toney Douglas tells Zwerling for the same piece that the Heat had interest in him ever since he came out of college. Miami acquired Douglas via trade in January.
It’s in Kyle Lowry‘s best interests to re-sign with the Raptors, writes Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun. Lowry has never been happier, never played better, and never meant more to any of his teams at any time. The veteran guard hasn’t said much about his future, but Simmons thinks it would be best for him to stay put in Toronto.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Latest On Donald Sterling, Clippers

April 28th, 2014 at 6:55pm CST by Zachary Links

ESPN.com legal analyst Lester Munson is one of the few who’s been given access to the NBA’s constitution, and he interprets the document to give commissioner Adam Silver the power to force Donald Sterling out with the consent of three-fourths of the other owners. Munson appears to suggest that it would require the termination of the Clippers franchise, noting that it would be a drastic step. Still, Munson asserts that Sterling would have no effective legal recourse to appeal the NBA’s decision, so the NBA has leverage if the league wants him out at all costs, Munson believes. More out of L.A..

Team player reps will have a conference call tonight to discuss Sterling, tweets Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram.
Two-thirds of the league’s owners would be required to start the process to remove Sterling as an owner and 15 owners have already gone on the record blasting him, notes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
It’s time for the NBA to bounce Sterling, opines David Aldridge of NBA.com. The handling of this situation will shape Silver’s legacy, even though he’s only a couple of months into his tenure. Aldridge goes on to tell the story of his first interaction with the Clippers owner and while it’s unsettling, it’s consistent with what we heard from the leaked audio.
Where does the league go from here? Ken Berger of CBSSports.com has a question and answer session to explain how things might play out.
Head coach Doc Rivers released a statement this evening that was published on the Clippers’ website. Several team execs and owners followed suit and released statements of their own before the tip of tonight’s game between the Clippers and Warriors.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Clippers/Donald Sterling Rumors: Monday

April 28th, 2014 at 12:17pm CST by Chuck Myron

NBA owners reportedly want Donald Sterling out, but USA Today’s Sam Amick casts the notion that the NBA will force Donald Sterling to sell the team as unlikely, given that the league’s constitution and bylaws don’t provide a mechanism for that to happen. A lengthy suspension is the most serious punishment rules allow commissioner Adam Silver to dole out, at least for now, with a $1MM fine also likely to come, as Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com detail. Still the member of the NBA’s Board of Governors who spoke to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports for the story we passed along earlier indicated that he’d be in favor of changing those rules to allow the league to get rid of Sterling. Here’s more on the Sterling saga, with the NBA set to address the matter in a press conference on Tuesday:

There are some who believe that Sterling will attempt to pass ownership along to his wife and son-in-law, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. That wouldn’t be drastic enough change to assuage the anger of Doc Rivers and the Clippers players, Stein and Shelburne hear.
Rivers has raised the idea that he might leave the Clippers after the season if Sterling is still in place, but since he’s under contract, it wouldn’t be easy for him to do so, Kyler asserts, suggesting that Chris Paul and Blake Griffin would have similar problems exiting the team.
One agent tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that Sterling’s remarks will have a “gigantic impact” on the willingness of free agents to sign with the Clippers, though another says it’s too early to judge the effect, and that it could be a “non-issue.”
Still, the NBA knows many coaches and players would be hesitant to work for the Clippers in light of this weekend’s revelations, and that’s one reason why the league is indeed trying to push Sterling out, as Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group asserts (All Twitter links). The idea would be to mount enough pressure on Sterling to prompt him to sell voluntarily, rather than forcing him out, Kawakami adds (on Twitter). There are “less than 1 in 100 million odds” that the league will attempt to force Sterling to sell, a source tells Stein and Shelburne.

NBA Owners Want To Oust Donald Sterling

April 28th, 2014 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

10:58am: A source close to Johnson says he has had no conversations about buying the Clippers, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne adds in a second tweet that the Clippers aren’t for sale, pointing out the difficulty the NBA faces in forcing Sterling to give up the team.

8:21am: Owners across the NBA want Donald Sterling out, and the consortium of Magic Johnson and the Guggenheim Partners is eager to purchase Sterling’s Clippers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The sale price could be in excess of $1 billion, according to Wojnarowski. One member of the NBA’s Board of Governors tells Wojnarowski that a fine and a suspension for Sterling would be “meaningless” and would be interpreted as a failure of the league to accept responsibility for the problems set off by Sterling’s alleged racist comments.

The Guggenheim Partners, a financial services firm, and Johnson are the owners of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, and they recently bought the WNBA’s financially troubled Los Angeles Sparks. They saw purchase of the Sparks as a strategic move that would draw themselves closer to the NBA, according to Wojnarowski. They’ve wanted to purchase the Lakers, and, as Wojnarowski reports, they recently make an aggressive push to do so before the Buss family made it clear that they’re not selling.

NBA owners are pushing commissioner Adam Silver to find a way to force Sterling out of the league, cognizant of the negative perception that will persist if they don’t, Wojnarowski writes. The sale of the team to Johnson, the target of one of the racist barbs Sterling is alleged to have made, would help the league repair its image problem. It would also smooth relations with the players union, which is seeking the maximum punishment for Sterling, as fellow Yahoo! scribe Marc J. Spears writes.

Latest On Donald Sterling, Clippers

April 27th, 2014 at 4:32pm CST by Zachary Links

It has been a trying weekend for the Clippers players off the court and it hasn’t been much easier on the court thus far today. Here’s a look at the latest on owner Donald Sterling and the Clippers as they look to turn things around against the Warriors..

Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters before today’s game, including Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, that he has yet to talk to Sterling and has no desire to at this time. Rivers went on to say that he’s unsure of what he’d have to hear from the owner in order to work for him again next season. Meanwhile, in an act of silent protest today, the Clippers players turned their warm-up jerseys inside-out for today’s shootaround to conceal the team name on the front.
The Clippers likely couldn’t afford Paul Pierce this summer anyway, but a reunion between Rivers and Pierce can be safely ruled out if Sterling is still involved in Los Angeles, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson met with commissioner Adam Silver today to discuss the Sterling situation, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Johnson has agreed to take on an expanded role with the union in order to help address the ongoing case (link).
Johnson told reporters that the NBPA doesn’t want Sterling to attend any more playoff games this year and wants to know why sanctions haven’t been brought against him yet, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The mayor added that the union wants to know what the possible range of punishments could be and wants to be involved in the process (link).
Former commissioner David Stern and the NBA validated Sterling by helping to steer Chris Paul to the Clippers in December 2011, writes Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins. There has been evidence of Sterling’s racism in past court documents and the league should have taken an appropriate stance before this most recent incident.

And-Ones: Smith, Sterling, Kerr, Pressey

April 27th, 2014 at 11:25am CST by Eddie Scarito

Nolan Smith has received partially guaranteed offers from the Bulls and the Thunder for next season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Smith played in Croatia this season and averaged 17.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 4.1 APG.

Latest On Donald Sterling

April 26th, 2014 at 8:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media this evening in regards to Clippers owner Donald Sterling‘s alleged racist remarks on an audio recording which was first reported by TMZ.com.

Here’s the latest on this developing story:

Silver stated that the first priority is determining if the audio recording is authentic, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
Kennedy also tweets that Silver said, “The audio recording posting by TMZ is truly offensive and disturbing and we intend to get to the bottom of it ASAP.”
Silver said that the situation is most unfair to the Clippers’ players and coaches, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com.
Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) reports that Silver urged patience and that due process would have to occur prior to any sanctions.
Silver said, “I’m not prepared to discuss any potential sanctions against Donald Sterling. We will, however, move quickly,” per another tweet by Kennedy.
Sterling has agreed not to attend Sunday’s game against the Warriors, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link).
Markazi tweets that Silver said he hopes to have the investigation wrapped up in the next few days, hopefully before Game 5 on Tuesday.
Earlier today the Clippers players and coaches held a meeting where they discussed boycotting their next game, but they decided against it, writes Markazi.
Michael McCann of SI.com examined the NBA’s legal options in this case.
President of the NBA player’s union Chris Paul said, “On behalf of the National Basketball Players Association, this is a very serious issue which we will address aggressively. We have asked [Sacramento] Mayor Kevin Johnson to expand his responsibilities with the NBPA, to determine our response and our next steps. As players, we owe it to our teams and our fans to keep our focus on our game, the playoffs, and the drive to the Finals,” write Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today.
In the same article Johnson said, “The reported comments made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling are reprehensible and unacceptable. The National Basketball Players Association must and will play a very active role in determining how this issue is addressed.“
In an article by Ben Golliver of SI.com, Charles Barkley weighed in, saying, “This is the first test of Adam Silver. He’s got to suspend [Sterling] right now. You can’t have this guy making statements like that. [Silver] has to suspend him and fine him immediately. He has to be suspended. … When you’re in a position of power, and you can take jobs and economic opportunities from people, that’s what crosses the line. We can’t have an NBA owner discriminating against a league — we’re a black league.”