In the wake of the release of an audio recording of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling allegedly making racial comments in a conversation with his rumored girlfriend V. Stiviano, the National Basketball Association has imposed hefty penalties due to violations under the sports league's constitution.
Acknowledging that the voice on the tape released by TMZ on Saturday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said about the penalties, "The hateful opinions voiced by that of the man [on the tape] are those of Donald Sterling. I'm personally distraught the views expressed by Mr. Sterling came from within an institution that has historically taken such a leadership role in matters of race relations."
Yahoo Sports said that Sterling is banned from attending any games or practices of his own team or of any other NBA team for that matter, and is prohibited from visiting any Clippers office or facility. Moreover, he is now barred from participating any business or player personnel decisions that involved the Clippers. Also, Sterling is also prohibited from attending any Board of Governors meetings and participating in any other league activity. Sterling is also forced to pay the maximum fine under the NBA constitution of $2.5 million.
Silver also said that the sports league will also take measures to force Sterling to sell Clippers, with 75% of the NBA owners to vote to oust Sterling off the league. A league source revealed to Yahoo Sports that this is most likely to happen as Silver has all of the votes needed to secure Sterling's removal.
Other league sources disclosed that despite the scandal, the bright spot for the Clippers is that several entities have already stepped up to acquire the team. The bidding war reportedly exceeded over $1 billion, the sources said. Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners are reportedly in the running to acquire the Clippers.
Yahoo Sports said this is not the first time Sterling has been embroiled in racial discrimination. In 2009, he paid %2.7 million to settle claims that his companies had targeted and discriminated minorities with children in renting apartments in Los Angeles.
